Ronald Dwayne Whitfield v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: October 2, 2008
• Docket: 14-08-00838-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

Dismissed and Memorandum Opinion filed October 2, 2008

Dismissed and Memorandum Opinion filed October 2, 2008.

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals

____________

NO. 14-08-00838-CR

NO. 14-08-00841-CR

RONALD DWAYNE WHITFIELD, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 337th District Court

Harris County, Texas

Trial Court Cause Nos. 528856 & 525468

M E M O R A N D U M   O P I N I O N

Appellant, acting pro se, filed a document on August 7, 2008, in which he challenges his 1989 convictions.  The document was construed as a notice of appeal, which was assigned to this Court.  This Court has previously dismissed untimely appeals from these convictions.  See Whitfield v. State, Nos. 14-05-00094-CR & 14-05-00095-CR, (Tex. App.CHouston [14th Dist.] Feb. 10, 2005), no pet.) (not designated for publication).

According to the record, appellant=s probation of the sentence in his conviction for theft in cause number 525468 was revoked and appellant was sentenced to confinement in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for five years on July 26, 1989.  After a plea of guilty, appellant was convicted of burglary of a motor vehicle with intent to commit theft in cause number 528856, and on August 11, 1989, appellant was sentenced to confinement for five years in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.  No timely notices of appeals were filed.  Appellant filed a pro se notice of appeal of these convictions on December 30, 2004.  Because our record did not reflect that the Court of Criminal Appeals granted appellant leave to file out-of-time appeals, this Court dismissed the appeals for want of jurisdiction in 2005.  Id.; see Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 210 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998) (court of appeals lacks jurisdiction and must dismiss appeal in absence of timely notice of appeal). 

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).  Only the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has jurisdiction over post‑conviction matters in final felony convictions through a writ of habeas corpus  in accordance with article 11.07 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.  See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 11.07 (Vernon Supp.2008);  Board of Pardons & Paroles ex rel. Keene v. Court of Appeals for the Eighth District, 910 S.W.2d 481, 483 (Tex. Crim. App. 1995);  Ater v. Eight Court of Appeals, 802 S.W.2d 241 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991) (providing that remedy of writ of habeas corpus governs out‑of‑time appeals in felony cases pursuant to article 11.07 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure).  Therefore, we lack jurisdiction over these appeals.

Accordingly, the appeals are ordered dismissed.

PER CURIAM

Judgment rendered and Memorandum Opinion filed October 2, 2008.

Panel consists of Chief Justice Hedges and Justices Guzman and Brown.

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