Damon Jesus Sias v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: April 10, 2025
• Docket: 02-25-00085-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

In the Court of Appeals Second Appellate District of Texas at Fort Worth ___________________________

No. 02-25-00085-CR ___________________________

DAMON JESUS SIAS, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS

On Appeal from the 396th District Court Tarrant County, Texas Trial Court No. 1815031

Before Womack, Wallach, and Walker, JJ. Memorandum Opinion by Justice Womack MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant Damon Jesus Sias attempts to appeal his July 16, 2024 conviction for

evading arrest or detention with a vehicle. See Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 38.04(b)(2)(A).

Because Sias did not file a motion for new trial, his notice of appeal was due

August 15, 2024. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.2(a)(1). Sias’s notice of appeal, however, was

not filed until March 19, 2025.

On March 20, 2025, we notified Sias of our concern that we lack jurisdiction

over this appeal because his notice of appeal was not timely filed. We warned Sias

that unless he or any party desiring to continue the appeal filed a response by

March 31, 2025, showing grounds for continuing the appeal, we could dismiss it for

want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 44.3. We have received no response.

A timely notice of appeal is essential to vest this court with jurisdiction. See

Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 522–23 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996). We may extend the

jurisdictional deadline if a notice of appeal is filed in the trial court within fifteen days

of its due date, and within that same period, the appellant also files a motion for

extension of time complying with Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 10.5(b). See

Tex. R. App. P. 26.3; Olivo, 918 S.W.2d at 522; see also Tex. R. App. P. 10.5(b). Here,

while Sias’s notice of appeal was accompanied by a motion for extension of time to

file the notice of appeal, that motion and the notice were untimely as they were filed

on March 19, 2025. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3; Olivo, 918 S.W.2d at 522. Because Sias’s

notice of appeal and his motion for extension were untimely, we deny Sias’s motion

2 and dismiss his appeal for want of jurisdiction.1 See Tex. R. App. P. 43.2(f); Olivo, 918

S.W.2d at 522–23; Szabo v. State, No. 01-17-00024-CR, 2017 WL 1149210, at *1 (Tex.

App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Mar. 28, 2017, no pet.) (per curiam) (mem. op., not

designated for publication) (denying untimely motion for extension to file notice of

appeal and dismissing appeal for want of jurisdiction because of untimely notice of

appeal); Thompson v. State, No. 2-05-367-CR, 2005 WL 2898648, at *1 (Tex. App.—

Fort Worth Nov. 3, 2005, no pet.) (per curiam) (mem. op., not designated for

publication) (same).

/s/ Dana Womack Dana Womack Justice

Do Not Publish Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b)

Delivered: April 10, 2025

1 Moreover, even if Sias’s notice of appeal had been timely filed, he had no right of appeal because this case involved a plea bargain. The Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure are clear that in a plea-bargain case, an appellant may appeal only 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. R. App. P. 25.2(a)(2). In this case, the trial court certified that this is a plea-bargain case and that Sias “has NO right of appeal,” and the record does not indicate that Sias intends to challenge a ruling on a written motion filed and ruled on before he pleaded guilty. Thus, Sias has no right to appeal from his plea bargain. See Powe v. State, No. 02-24-00399-CR, 2024 WL 5162849, at *1 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Dec. 19, 2024, no pet.) (per curiam) (mem. op., not designated for publication) (dismissing appeal for lack of jurisdiction because the appellant’s notice of appeal was not timely filed and because he had no right to appeal from his plea bargain); Larez-Rivero v. State, No. 02-21-00200-CR, 2022 WL 1183348, at *1 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Apr. 21, 2022, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for publication) (same).