Gerald Stevens v. State

Opinion

ACCEPTED 03-15-00676-CV 8131239 THIRD COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS 12/8/2015 10:22:29 AM JEFFREY D. KYLE No. 03-15-00675-CV CLERK

No. 03-15-00676-CV FILED IN 3rd COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS In the Third Court of Appeals 12/8/2015 10:22:29 AM Austin, Texas JEFFREY D. KYLE Clerk

GERALD STEVENS, Appellant,

v.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee.

On appeal from the County Court-at-Law Number Five, Travis County, Texas Trial Cause No. C-1-CR-15-100026

STATE’S BRIEF

DAVID A. ESCAMILLA TRAVIS COUNTY ATTORNEY

GISELLE HORTON ASSISTANT TRAVIS COUNTY ATTORNEY State Bar Number 10018000 Post Office Box 1748 Austin, Texas 78767 Telephone: (512) 854-9415 TCAppellate@traviscountytx.gov

December 8, 2015 ATTORNEYS FOR THE STATE OF TEXAS

ORAL ARGUMENT IS NOT REQUESTED TABLE OF CONTENTS

INDEX OF AUTHORITIES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii

STATEMENT OF THE CASE.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

ISSUE PRESENTED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

ARGUMENT

Reply Point: The Court is without jurisdiction to hear Stevens’s interlocutory appeal.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

PRAYER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

i INDEX OF AUTHORITIES

Statutes Page TEX. CODE CRIM. P. art. 44.17 (West 2006). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

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

Cases Ex parte Apolinar, 820 S.W.2d 792 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 McKown v. State, 915 S.W.2d 160 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 1996, no pet.). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Ragston v. State, 424 S.W.3d 49 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Workman v. State, 170 Tex. Crim. 621, 343 S.W.2d 446 (Tex. Crim. App. 1961).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

ii STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On March 27, 2015, a Travis County justice-court jury found Stevens

guilty of speeding, and assessed punishment at a $200 fine. CR 11, 12.1 On

April 10th, he filed an appeal bond to appeal this Class C misdemeanor

conviction to a Travis County court-at-law. CR 53.

On June 5th, Stevens filed with the county clerk a document entitled

“Respondent’s Special Appearance and Plea to the Jurisdiction.” CR 57–87.

Stevens now appeals the trial court’s adverse ruling on his “special

appearance and plea to the jurisdiction.” CR 164 [adverse ruling]; CR

165–67 [Stevens’s “notice of interlocutory appeal”].

ISSUE PRESENTED

Did the county court-at-law err in failing to dismiss the criminal case

against Stevens because the court was without personal or subject-matter

jurisdiction, as he contends?

1 The record does not reflect whether the other Class C misdemeanor arising out of the same transaction went to trial in the justice court. 1 SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT

This a an interlocutory matter that the Third Court does not have

jurisdiction to review.

Reply Point: The Court is without jurisdiction to hear Stevens’s interlocutory appeal.

Appeal to county court from justice court is trial de novo. See TEX.

CODE CRIM. P. art. 44.17 (West 2006). Stevens has not had trial de novo in

the county court-at-law, and therefore has not been convicted or sentenced

in this criminal case. As a general rule, a court of appeals has jurisdiction to

consider a criminal defendant’s appeal only where there has been a

judgment of conviction. See TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(a)(2); Workman v. State, 170

Tex. Crim. 621, 343 S.W.2d 446, 447 (Tex. Crim. App. 1961). A court of

appeals does not have jurisdiction to review rulings on interlocutory

orders in a criminal case unless that jurisdiction has been expressly granted

by law. Ragston v. State, 424 S.W.3d 49, 51 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014); Ex parte

Apolinar, 820 S.W.2d 792, 794 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991).

2 No jurisdiction has been granted by law permitting the Court to

interlocutorily review an order denying a “special appearance and plea to

the jurisdiction” in a criminal case. See McKown v. State, 915 S.W.2d 160,

161 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 1996, no pet.) (concluding that appeal from

pretrial order denying motion to suppress evidence was not immediately

appealable and dismissing appeal for lack of jurisdiction).

PRAYER

For these reasons, on behalf of the State of Texas, the Travis County

Attorney asks the Court to dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.

Respectfully submitted,

Giselle Horton Assistant Travis County Attorney State Bar Number 10018000 Post Office Box 1748 Austin, Texas 78767 Telephone: (512) 854-9415 TCAppellate@traviscountytx.gov

ATTORNEYS FOR THE STATE OF TEXAS

3 CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE

Relying on Corel WordPerfect’s word-count function, I certify that

this document complies with the word-count limitations of TEX. R. APP. P.

9.4. The document contains 729 words.

Giselle Horton

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I certify that I have sent a complete and legible copy of this State's

Brief via U.S. postage-prepaid mail to Mr. Gerald Stevens, at 3117 Fontana

Drive, Austin, Texas 78704, on December 8, 2015.

Giselle Horton Assistant Travis County Attorney