Antone Joseph Czajkowski v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: September 18, 2024
• Docket: 06-24-00135-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

In the Court of Appeals Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana

No. 06-24-00135-CR

ANTONE JOSEPH CZAJKOWSKI, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 71st District Court Harrison County, Texas Trial Court No. 23-0302X

Before Stevens, C.J., van Cleef and Rambin, JJ. Memorandum Opinion by Chief Justice Stevens MEMORANDUM OPINION

Antone Joseph Czajkowski pled guilty to possession of a controlled substance in an

amount of less than one gram. See TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. § 481.115 (Supp.). The

trial court imposed a sentence in this matter on June 24, 2024, making the notice of appeal due

on or before July 24, 2024. To avail himself of the fifteen-day grace period contemplated by

Rule 26.3 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, Czajkowski was required to file both a

notice of appeal and a motion for an extension of time within fifteen days after July 24, 2024, or

on or before August 8, 2024. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.3. The notice of appeal in this matter was

filed on August 6, 2024, but Czajkowski’s motion for an extension of time was not filed until

August 9, 2024, which is one day after the deadline. Consequently, we denied his motion.

On August 14, 2024, Czajkowski filed a motion to rehear his motion for an extension of

time to file his notice of appeal. In that motion, Czajkowski’s counsel stated that she mistakenly

mis-calendared the due date for the motion and asked the Court to reconsider its ruling to avoid

the need for seeking an out-of-time appeal from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has been clear on this issue: “When a notice of appeal is filed

within the fifteen-day period but no timely motion for extension of time is filed, the appellate

court lacks jurisdiction.” Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 522 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996); see also

Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 209 n.3 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998) (per curiam). Accordingly, the

Court denied Czajkowski’s motion to rehear his motion for extension of time to file his notice of

appeal.

2 On August 16, 2024, we notified Czajkowski of this potential defect in our jurisdiction

over this appeal, giving him ten days to show the Court how it had jurisdiction over this appeal.

We also warned him that, if he did not file a satisfactory response on or before August 26, 2024,

we would dismiss his appeal for want of jurisdiction. The Court did not receive a satisfactory

response.

We, therefore, dismiss Czajkowski’s appeal for want of jurisdiction.

Scott E. Stevens Chief Justice

Date Submitted: September 17, 2024 Date Decided: September 18, 2024

Do Not Publish