Brittany Nicole Litchfield v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: March 22, 2023
• Docket: 09-23-00036-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

In The

Court of Appeals

Ninth District of Texas at Beaumont

__________________

NO. 09-23-00035-CR NO. 09-23-00036-CR __________________

BRITTANY NICOLE LITCHFIELD, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

__________________________________________________________________

On Appeal from the 252nd District Court Jefferson County, Texas Trial Cause Nos. 21-37098 and 21-37099 __________________________________________________________________

MEMORANDUM OPINION

On December 12, 2022, the trial court sentenced Brittany Nicole Litchfield on

separate indictments for abandoning a child, but suspended imposition of the

sentences and placed Litchfield on community supervision. See Tex. Penal Code

Ann. § 22.041(f); see also Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 42A.053(a)(1). On

January 26, 2023, Litchfield filed notice of appeal for Trial Cause Numbers 21-

37098 and 21-37099. We questioned whether we had jurisdiction over the appeals.

1 In a criminal case, a timely notice of appeal is necessary to invoke this court’s

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

notice of appeal was due on January 11, 2023. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.2(a)(1). An

appellate may, however, extend the time to file the notice of appeal if, within 15 days

after the deadline for filing the notice the party files a motion to extend the time to

file the appeal, which contains the information required by Rule 10.5(b) of the Texas

rules of Civil Procedure. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3 Here, a motion for extension of

time was due to be filed no later than January 26, 2023, but Litchfield did not file

one. “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,

918 S.W.2d at 522.

We dismiss the appeals for lack of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 43.2(f).

APPEALS DISMISSED.

PER CURIAM

Submitted on March 21, 2023 Opinion Delivered March 22, 2023 Do Not Publish

Before Golemon, C.J., Horton and Wright, JJ.