Marvin Gabriel Holmes v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: January 31, 2024
• Docket: 09-23-00390-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

In The

Court of Appeals

Ninth District of Texas at Beaumont

__________________

NO. 09-23-00390-CR __________________

MARVIN GABRIEL HOLMES, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

__________________________________________________________________

On Appeal from the Criminal District Court Jefferson County, Texas Trial Cause No. F22-39923 __________________________________________________________________

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Acting pro se, Marvin Gabriel Holmes filed a notice of appeal that omitted

any reference to a conviction or an appealable order. The Clerk of the Court issued

a notice to the parties that our jurisdiction was not apparent from the notice of appeal

and warned that the appeal would be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction unless the

Court received a response showing grounds for continuing the appeal. Neither party

responded to the Clerk’s notice.

1 Generally, an appeal may be taken by a defendant in a criminal case only after

a final conviction. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.2(a) (establishing time for appeal by a

defendant after a sentence is imposed in open court or the trial court signs an

appealable order). In criminal cases, the courts of appeals have jurisdiction only of

those appeals authorized by a statute. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 44.02;

Abbott v. State, 271 S.W.3d 694, 697 n.8 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008) (A defendant’s

general right to appeal under Article 44.02 has always been limited to appeal from a

final judgment.). A court of appeals lacks appellate jurisdiction to review an order

before final judgment unless an interlocutory appeal is expressly provided by statute.

See Ragston v. State, 424 S.W.3d 49, 52 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014). Neither of the

parties have shown that the trial court has imposed sentence in open court or signed

an order that may be appealed at this time. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.2(a). Accordingly,

we dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. See id. 43.2(f).

APPEAL DISMISSED.

PER CURIAM

Submitted on January 30, 2024 Opinion Delivered January 31, 2024 Do Not Publish

Before Golemon, C.J., Horton and Wright, JJ.