Ricardo Gomez v. the Office of the Attorney General

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: November 6, 2008
• Docket: 08-08-00294-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS

EIGHTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

EL PASO, TEXAS

RICHARD GOMEZ, Appellant, v. THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS, Appellee.

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No. 08-08-00294-CV Appeal from the 383rd Judicial District Court of El Paso County, Texas (TC# 2002CM7903)

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Richard Gomez attempts to appeal from the trial court's ruling holding him in contempt of court, and sentencing him to 90 days imprisonment. Finding that the trial court has not entered a final, appealable order in this case, we dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

The trial court held Mr. Gomez in contempt on September 23, 2008. Mr. Gomez filed a notice of appeal on October 2, 2008. There is no record that a final, appealable order has been entered by the trial court.

Appellate courts generally have jurisdiction over final judgments, and such interlocutory orders as the Legislature deems appealable. See Tex.Civ.Prac.&Rem.Code Ann. § 51.012 and § 51.014 (Vernon 2008); Ruiz v. Ruiz, 946 S.W.2d 123, 124 (Tex.App.--El Paso 1997, no pet.). This Court lacks jurisdiction to consider a contempt order on direct appeal. See Vernon v. Vernon, 225 S.W.3d 179, 180 (Tex.App.--El Paso 2005, no pet.). Given the absence of a final, appealable order in this case, we dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

November 6, 2008

DAVID WELLINGTON CHEW, Chief Justice

Before Chew, C.J., McClure, and Carr, JJ.