Gary Donald Evans v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: September 11, 2025
• Docket: 02-25-00045-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

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

No. 02-25-00045-CR No. 02-25-00046-CR No. 02-25-00047-CR ___________________________

GARY DONALD EVANS, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS

On Appeal from the 43rd District Court Parker County, Texas Trial Court Nos. CR24-0301, CR24-0302, CR24-0303

Before Kerr, Birdwell, and Bassel, JJ. Memorandum Opinion by Justice Kerr MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Appellant Gary Donald Evans sought to appeal his convictions for three

charges of aggravated assault of a public servant. Since filing Appellant’s brief, his

counsel has now filed a “Motion to Permanently Abate Appeal Due to Appellant’s

Death” in which he refers us to Appellant’s custodial death report that is maintained

by the Attorney General of Texas. See https://oag.my.site.com/cdr/cdrreportdeaths

(last visited Sept. 10, 2025). We have viewed that report to confirm that Appellant

died on August 22, 2025, which was after Appellant had perfected his appeals but

before this court has issued its mandate. See Tex. R. App. P. 7.1(a)(2).

The death of an appellant in a criminal case deprives this court of jurisdiction.

Molitor v. State, 862 S.W.2d 615, 616 (Tex. Crim. App. 1993); Dawson v. State,

No. 02-23-00204-CR, 2025 WL 2177181, at *1 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth July 31, 2025,

no pet. h.) (mem. op., not designated for publication). Under such circumstances, the

appropriate disposition is the permanent abatement of the appeal. See Tex. R. App. P.

7.1(a)(2) (“If the appellant in a criminal case dies after an appeal is perfected but

before the appellate court issues the mandate, the appeal will be permanently

abated.”). Accordingly, we grant Appellant’s motion and order that his appeals are

permanently abated. See id.; Dawson, 2025 WL 2177181, at *1.

2 /s/ Elizabeth Kerr Elizabeth Kerr Justice

Do Not Publish Tex.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

Delivered: September 11, 2025