Christopher Stephen Martin v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: September 18, 2024
• Docket: 06-24-00120-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

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

No. 06-24-00120-CR

CHRISTOPHER STEPHEN MARTIN, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 6th District Court Lamar County, Texas Trial Court No. 30221

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

On May 17, 2024, Christopher Stephen Martin pled guilty to possession of a controlled

substance in the amount of less than one gram,1 and pursuant to a plea agreement, the trial court

sentenced him to ten years’ confinement in prison.2 Despite the trial court’s certification that this

was a plea-agreement case and that Martin had no right of appeal, Martin filed a notice of appeal.

After reviewing the clerk’s record in this matter, we noted potential defects in our

jurisdiction over this appeal. More specifically, it appeared that this was a plea-agreement case

in which Martin had no right of appeal. It further appeared that, even if Martin had a right of

appeal, he (1) freely and voluntarily waived that right and (2) failed to timely perfect the appeal.

The Texas Legislature has granted a very limited right of appeal in plea-bargain cases.

Rule 25.2(a) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure details that right as follows:

(2) . . . In a plea bargain case—that is, a case in which a defendant’s plea was guilty or nolo contendere and the punishment did not exceed the punishment recommended by the prosecutor and agreed to by the defendant—a defendant may appeal only:

(A) those matters that were raised by written motion filed and ruled on before trial,

(B) after getting the trial court’s permission to appeal, or

(C) where the specific appeal is expressly authorized by statute.

TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(a)(2).

1 See TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. § 481.115(b) (Supp.) 2 Martin’s punishment was enhanced by two prior convictions. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 12.42. 2 There was no indication in the record that Martin either (1) filed a motion that was ruled

on before trial or (2) obtained the trial court’s permission to appeal. To the contrary, the trial

court’s certification of Martin’s right of appeal indicated that he “ha[d] NO right of appeal.”

Further, there is no statute that expressly authorized this specific appeal. Pursuant to Rule

25.2(d) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, this Court is required to dismiss an appeal if,

as in this case, the trial court’s certification indicates that there is no right of appeal. See TEX. R.

APP. P. 25.2(d). Additionally, Martin and his trial attorney signed an explicit waiver of his right

to appeal. Consequently, even if Martin had a right of appeal, he waived it. Finally, Martin’s

notice of appeal was untimely under the requirements of Rule 26.2 of the Texas Rules of

Appellate Procedure. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2.

On August 5, 2024, we notified Martin of the potential defects in our jurisdiction over

this appeal and gave him an opportunity to either remedy the defects, if possible, or demonstrate

how we had jurisdiction over the appeal notwithstanding those defects. We informed Martin that

he had twenty days from the date of our letter to provide the Court a satisfactory response. The

Court also warned Martin that, in the event we did not receive a satisfactory response to our

letter, we would dismiss his appeal for want of jurisdiction. We did not receive a satisfactory

response from Martin.

3 Because Martin has no right of appeal due to his plea bargain with the State, because the

trial court’s certification correctly indicates that he is without a right of appeal, and because,

even if he had a right of appeal, he failed to timely perfect it and voluntarily waived it, we

dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction.

Jeff Rambin Justice

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

Do Not Publish