John Edward Rodarte v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: October 23, 2024
• Docket: 04-24-00370-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

Fourth Court of Appeals San Antonio, Texas MEMORANDUM OPINION No. 04-24-00370-CR

John Edward RODARTE, Appellant

v.

The STATE of Texas, Appellee

From the 186th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas Trial Court No. 2003CR6651 Honorable Catherine Torres-Stahl, Judge Presiding

PER CURIAM

Sitting: Liza A. Rodriguez, Justice Lori I. Valenzuela, Justice Lori Massey Brissette, Justice

Delivered and Filed: October 23, 2024

DISMISSED FOR LACK OF JURISDICTION

On May 20, 2024, John E. Rodarte filed a pro se notice of appeal in Trial Court Cause No.

2003-CR-6651 in the 175th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas. Rodarte states in his

notice of appeal that he seeks to appeal from the trial court’s January 30, 2024 order dismissing

his pleadings. The clerk’s record has now been filed.

The clerk’s record reflects that in Trial Court Cause No. 2003-CR-6651, John E. Rodarte

Sr. was found guilty by a jury of aggravated sexual assault of a child on Count I of the indictment

and sentenced to life imprisonment. With respect to Count II, he was found guilty of indecency 04-24-00370-CR

with a child by contact and sentenced to twenty years of imprisonment. For both counts, his

sentence was imposed on September 3, 2004.

The clerk’s record further reflects the following: on October 30, 2023, Rodarte filed a

pleading titled: “Relator John E. Rodarte Motions for the Court to Reinvoke Jurisdiction in Cause

2003-CR-6651 Pursuant to Texas Rules of Civ. Pro. 21, 165a3,4, 306a, 316, 239b; Relator Rodarte

Motions for Leave of Court to Proceed with Motions and Pleadings, With Brief in Support

Thereof.” On November 6, 2023, Rodarte also filed a pleading titled: “Relator John E. Rodarte

Motions for Leave of Court; To Also Utilize the Application of Nunc Pro Tunc to the Submissions

Dated October 26, 2023; With Brief in Support Thereof.”

On January 30, 2024, the trial court signed an order dismissing the above motions for lack

of jurisdiction, stating that it “no longer ha[d] jurisdiction” and that Rodarte had not “filed a

pleading that would invoke the trial court’s jurisdiction or trigger any other statutory duty requiring

action by this court.” As noted above, Rodarte did not file his notice of appeal until May 20, 2024.

He did file a “motion for new trial,” but that motion was also not filed until May 20, 2024. Thus,

even if we assume the trial court’s January 30, 2024 order is an appealable order, Rodarte’s notice

of appeal was not timely filed and could not invoke the jurisdiction of this court. See TEX. R. APP.

P. 26.2(a) (requiring notice of appeal in a criminal case to be filed within thirty days after the day

the trial court signs an appealable order); Taylor v. State, 424 S.W.3d 39, 43 (Tex. Crim. App.

2014) (“A timely notice of appeal is necessary to invoke [a court of appeals’s] jurisdiction.).

In his notice of appeal, Rodarte asked this court “for an extension of time in excess of the

allotted 90 days for perfecting [an] appeal.” We have no authority to grant such an extension for

an out-of-time appeal. See Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 210 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998) (holding

that if appeal is not timely perfected, court of appeals does not obtain jurisdiction to address merits

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of appeal, and court may take no action other than to dismiss appeal; court may not suspend rules

to alter time for perfecting appeal).

On July 23, 2024, we ordered Appellant John E. Rodarte to show cause on or before August

12, 2024 why this appeal should not be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Rodarte has not filed a

written response that shows we have jurisdiction over this appeal. Therefore, we dismiss this

appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

DO NOT PUBLISH

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