Josiah J. Gowan v. the State of Texas

• Court: Texas Court of Appeals, 2nd District (Fort Worth)
• Decided: March 19, 2026
• Docket: 02-26-00021-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

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

No. 02-26-00021-CR ___________________________

JOSIAH J. GOWAN, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS

On Appeal from the 97th District Court Montague County, Texas Trial Court No. 25-169-DCCR-0142

Before Sudderth, C.J.; Kerr and Walker, JJ Memorandum Opinion by Justice Walker MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant Josiah J. Gowan, acting pro se, attempts to appeal from the trial

court’s “Order on Bail.”1 But we lack jurisdiction over this appeal because a trial

court’s order on a pretrial motion to reduce bail is not appealable. See McKown v. State,

915 S.W.2d 160, 161 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 1996, no pet.) (per curiam) (holding

that a court of appeals generally only has jurisdiction to consider an appeal by a

criminal defendant where there has been a judgment of conviction); see also Ragston v.

State, 424 S.W.3d 49, 52 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014) (holding that courts of appeals lack

jurisdiction to hear interlocutory appeals of pretrial orders regarding excessive bail or

denial of bail).

We notified Gowan of our concern that we lack jurisdiction over his appeal

and warned that we could dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction unless, within

ten days, he or any other party showed grounds for continuing it. See Tex. R. App. P.

43.2(f), 44.3. More than ten days have passed, and we have not received a response.

Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. Tex. R. App. P. 43.2(f);

Ragston, 424 S.W.3d at 50–52.

1 The trial court’s order reduced Gowan’s bail from $50,000 to $45,000.

2 /s/ Brian Walker

Brian Walker Justice

Do Not Publish Tex.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

Delivered: March 19, 2026