Lawrence Ray Crooks III v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: November 19, 2009
• Docket: 14-09-00916-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

Dismissed and Memorandum Opinion filed November 19, 2009.

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals

____________

NO. 14-09-00916-CR

NO. 14-09-00917-CR

LAWRENCE RAY CROOKS III, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 263rd District Court

Harris County, Texas

Trial Court Cause Nos. 1175810 & 1175811

M E M O R A N D U M   O P I N I O N

            Appellant entered guilty pleas to aggravated robbery and burglary of a habitation with intent to commit a felony. After a pre-sentence investigation report, on August 20, 2009, the trial court sentenced appellant to confinement for fifteen years in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in each case, with the sentences to be served concurrently. No timely motion for new trial was filed in either case. Appellant’s notices of appeal were not filed until October 22, 2009.

            A defendant’s notice of appeal must be filed within thirty days after sentence is imposed when the defendant has not filed a motion for new trial. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.2(a)(1). A notice of appeal that complies with the requirements of Rule 26 is essential to vest the court of appeals with jurisdiction. Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 210 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998). If an appeal is not timely perfected, a court of appeals does not obtain jurisdiction to address the merits of the appeal. Id. Under those circumstances it can take no action other than to dismiss the appeal. Id.

            Accordingly, the appeals are ordered dismissed.

                                                                        PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Chief Justice Hedges and Justices Seymore and Sullivan.

Do Not Publish—Tex.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