Christopher Frank Diaz v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: August 15, 2023
• Docket: 01-23-00293-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

Opinion issued August 15, 2023

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-23-00292-CR NO. 01-23-00293-CR ——————————— CHRISTOPHER DIAZ, Appellant V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 351st District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Case Nos. 1705819 & 1695693

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant Christopher Frank Diaz pleaded guilty to the felony offenses of

assault of a family member.1 The trial court found appellant guilty, and, in

1 See TEX. PENAL CODE § 22.01. accordance with the terms of appellant’s plea bargain agreement with the State,

sentenced appellant to 14 years in jail for each offense, to run concurrently.

Appellant filed pro se notices of appeal. We dismiss the appeals.

In a plea bargain case, a defendant may only appeal those matters that were

raised by written motion filed and ruled on before trial or after getting the trial

court’s permission to appeal. TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. art. 44.02; TEX. R. APP. P.

25.2(a)(2). An appeal must be dismissed if a certification showing that the

defendant has the right of appeal has not been made part of the record. TEX. R.

APP. P. 25.2(d).

Here, the trial court’s certification is included in the record on appeal. See id.

The trial court’s certification states that this is a plea bargain case and that the

defendant has no right of appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(a)(2). The record

supports the trial court’s certification. See Dears v. State, 154 S.W.3d 610, 615

(Tex. Crim. App. 2005). Because appellant has no right of appeal, we must

dismiss this appeal. See Chavez v. State, 183 S.W.3d 675, 680 (Tex. Crim. App.

2006) (“A court of appeals, while having jurisdiction to ascertain whether an

appellant who plea-bargained is permitted to appeal by Rule 25.2(a)(2), must

dismiss a prohibited appeal without further action, regardless of the basis for the

appeal.”).

2 Accordingly, we dismiss the appeals for want of jurisdiction. We dismiss

any pending motions as moot.

PER CURIAM Panel consists of Chief Justice Adams and Justices Hightower and Countiss.

Do not publish. TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).