Andrew Patrick Dougherty v. the State of Texas

• Court: Texas Court of Appeals, 4th District (San Antonio)
• Decided: March 25, 2026
• Docket: 04-25-00752-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

Fourth Court of Appeals San Antonio, Texas MEMORANDUM OPINION No. 04-25-00752-CR

Andrew Patrick DOUGHERTY, Appellant

v.

The STATE of Texas, Appellee

From the 198th Judicial District Court, Bandera County, Texas Trial Court No. XX-XXXXXXX Honorable M. Patrick Maguire, Judge Presiding

Opinion by: Rebeca C. Martinez, Chief Justice

Sitting: Rebeca C. Martinez, Chief Justice Irene Rios, Justice Lori I. Valenzuela, Justice

Delivered and Filed: March 25, 2026

DISMISSED FOR LACK OF JURISDICTION

On August 22, 2025, the trial court imposed sentence on appellant following a jury trial.

On September 19, 2025, appellant timely filed a motion for new trial. See TEX. R. APP. P. 21.4(a).

Therefore, a notice of appeal was due to be filed on November 20, 2025. See id. R. 26.2(a)(1). A

motion for extension of time to file the notice of appeal was due on December 5, 2025. See id. R.

26.3. Appellant filed a notice of appeal on November 21, 2025. He did not file a motion for 04-25-00752-CR

extension of time. A timely notice of appeal is necessary to invoke a court of appeals’ jurisdiction.

See Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 522 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996).

Because appellant did not timely file a notice of appeal, we ordered appellant to show cause

why this appeal should not be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. In response, appellant’s counsel

agreed “that this Court does not have jurisdiction to hear this appeal as it is currently filed, due to

an untimely filed notice of appeal by Appellant’s trial counsel.” Appellant’s counsel stated the

“remedy is to file a post-conviction application for writ of habeas corpus alleging ineffective

assistance of counsel so that the Court of Criminal Appeals may grant him relief to pursue an out-

of-time appeal.”

Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal for lack of jurisdiction. See Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d

208, 210 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998) (holding that if appeal is not timely perfected, court of appeals

does not obtain jurisdiction to address merits of appeal, and court may take no action other than to

dismiss appeal; court may not suspend rules to alter time for perfecting appeal).

Rebeca C. Martinez, Chief Justice

DO NOT PUBLISH

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