Joyce Marie Vickers-Azih v. Casmir Chidiebere Azih

Becker v. State COURT OF APPEALS EIGHTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS EL PASO, TEXAS

JOYCE MARIE VICKERS-AZIH, Appellant, v. CASMIR CHIDIEBERE AZIH, Appellee.	§ § § § § §	No. 08-07-00119-CV Appeal from 383rd District Court of El Paso County, Texas (TC # 2006CM5788)

MEMORANDUM OPINION  

This appeal is before the Court on its own motion for determination of whether the appeal should be dismissed for want of jurisdiction. Having determined that Appellant failed to timely file her notice of appeal, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.

A civil appeal is perfected when the notice of appeal is filed. Tex.R.App.P. 26.1; see Restrepo v. First Nat'l Bank of Dona Ana County, N.M., 892 S.W.2d 237, 238 (Tex.App.--El Paso 1995, no writ)(applying former Tex.R.App.P. 40(a)(1)). The notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days after the judgment is signed or within 90 days if any party timely files a motion for new trial. Tex.R.App.P. 26.1(a)(1). The motion for new trial is due to be filed within thirty days after the judgment is signed. Tex.R.Civ.P. 329b(a). The final decree of divorce was signed by the trial court on December 1, 2006. Therefore, Appellant's notice of appeal was due to be filed no later than December 31, 2006 unless she filed a motion for new trial within this same time period. Appellant, however, filed both her motion for new trial and notice of appeal on April 20, 2007. By letter dated April 23, 2007, the Court notified Appellant that her notice of appeal was untimely and gave Appellant ten days' notice of our intent to dismiss this appeal. Tex.R.App.P. 42.3. The appeal is dismissed for want of jurisdiction.

June 14, 2007

ANN CRAWFORD McCLURE, Justice

Before Chew, C.J., McClure, and Carr, JJ.