Carolyn Kinnison v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: February 28, 2008
• Docket: 13-07-00528-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

NUMBER 13-07-528-CR

COURT OF APPEALS

THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

CORPUS CHRISTI - EDINBURG

______________________________________________________________

CAROLYN KINNISON, Appellant,

v.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee.

___________________________________________________________

On appeal from the 377th District Court

of Victoria County, Texas.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Before Justices Rodriguez, Garza, and Vela

Memorandum Opinion Per Curiam

Appellant, Carolyn Kinnison, was convicted of credit card abuse on August 23, 2007. The Victoria County District Clerk mistakenly treated the "Defendant's New Trial, Writ, [and] Appeal Rights" as a notice of appeal and forwarded the same to this Court. This document, signed by appellant, states that appellant does not desire to appeal her conviction.

Upon receipt and review of this document, the Clerk of this Court notified appellant that it appeared appellant did not desire to appeal the above cause. In response, appellant's counsel has confirmed that appellant is not appealing her conviction.

To perfect an appeal, the defendant must file a timely notice of appeal. See Tex. R. App. P. 25.2(b). In this case, no notice of appeal was filed. Our appellate jurisdiction in a criminal case is invoked by a timely filed notice of appeal. Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 522 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996). Absent a timely filed notice of appeal, a court of appeals does not have jurisdiction to address the merits of the appeal in a criminal case, and can take no action other than to dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 210 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998). Appellant may be entitled to an out-of-time appeal by filing a post-conviction writ of habeas corpus returnable to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals; however, the availability of that remedy is beyond the jurisdiction of this Court. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 11.07, § 3(a) (Vernon 2005); see also Ex parte Garcia, 988 S.W.2d 240 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999).

The appeal is DISMISSED FOR WANT OF JURISDICTION. PER CURIAM

Do not publish. See Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b).

Memorandum Opinion delivered and filed

this the 28th day of February, 2008.