Daontray Vashon Jones v. the State of Texas

Opinion

In The

Court of Appeals

Ninth District of Texas at Beaumont

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NO. 09-25-00418-CR

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DAONTRAY VASHON JONES, Appellant V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

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On Appeal from the 221st District Court Montgomery County, Texas

Trial Cause No. 24-02-02863

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MEMORANDUM OPINION

On October 23, 2025, Daontray Vashon Jones filed a notice of appeal in a case that the trial court dismissed on a motion by the State. The Clerk of the Court issued a notice to the parties that our jurisdiction was not apparent from the notice of appeal and warned that the appeal would be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction unless the Court received a response. Neither party responded to the notice.

Generally, an appeal may be taken by a defendant in a criminal case only after a final conviction. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.2(a) (establishing time for appeal by a

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defendant after a sentence is imposed in open court or the trial court signs an appealable order). In criminal cases, the courts of appeals have jurisdiction only of appeals authorized by a statute. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 44.02; Abbott v. State, 271 S.W.3d 694, 697 n.8 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008) (A defendant’s general right to appeal under article 44.02 has always been limited to appeal from a final judgment.); Workman v. State, 343 S.W.2d 446, 447 (Tex. Crim. App. 1961) (Judgment discharging defendant on charge of aggravated assault after conviction for simple assault was not a judgment of conviction.). Neither of the parties has shown that the trial court has imposed sentence in open court or signed an order that may be appealed at this time. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.2(a).1 Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. See id. 43.2(f).

APPEAL DISMISSED.

PER CURIAM

Submitted on January 6, 2026 Opinion Delivered January 7, 2026 Do Not Publish

Before Golemon, C.J., Johnson and Chambers, JJ.

1 On October 23, 2025, Jones filed a notice of appeal from his convictions in Trial Cause Numbers 24-02-02495 and 24-02-02953. Upon receiving the notices of appeal, we docketed Appeal Numbers 09-25-00417-CR and 09-25-00419-CR. Those appeals are unaffected by the dismissal of Appeal Number 09-25-00418-CR.