Ronald Whitfield v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: July 15, 2025
• Docket: 01-25-00305-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

Opinion issued July 15, 2025

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-25-00304-CR NO. 01-25-00305-CR ——————————— RONALD WHITFIELD, Appellant V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the County Criminal Court at Law No. 10 Harris County, Texas Trial Court Case Nos. 5829 and 5830

MEMORANDUM OPINION

A municipal court found appellant, Ronald Whitfield, guilty of the traffic

offenses of failure to change lanes without signaling and failure to signal a turn.1

1 TEX. TRANSP. CODE § 545.104(a), (b). Appellant appealed to the county criminal court at law. On November 11, 2022, the

county criminal court at law issued an opinion dismissing the appeals for lack of

jurisdiction, concluding that (1) no final judgments appear in the record and (2)

appellant had not posted the required appeal bonds. See TEX. GOV’T CODE §§

30.00014(a) (“A defendant has the right of appeal from a judgment or conviction in

a municipal court of record.”); 30.00015(a) (“If the defendant is not in custody, the

defendant may not take an appeal until the defendant files an appeal bond with the

municipal court of record.”). On April 22, 2025, appellant filed a notice of appeal to

this Court attempting to appeal the November 11, 2022 dismissal opinion. We

dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

A person convicted of an offense in a municipal court of record may appeal

that conviction to a county criminal court. TEX. GOV’T CODE § 30.00014(a). The

county criminal court may not retry the case but determines the appeal on the basis

of any errors set forth in appellant’s motion for new trial and shown in the municipal

court record. See id. § 30.00014(b); Swain v. State, 319 S.W.3d 878, 879 (Tex.

App.—Fort Worth 2010, no pet.).2 The county criminal court may affirm, reverse,

or reform the municipal court’s judgment. TEX. GOV’T CODE §

2 To perfect an appeal, the appellant must file a written motion for new trial with the municipal clerk not later than the 10th day after the date on which judgment is rendered. TEX. GOV’T CODE § 30.00014(c). The appellant must also give notice of the appeal. Id. 30.00014(d). 2 30.00024(a); see Alexander v. State, 240 S.W.3d 72, 74 (Tex. App.—Austin 2007,

no pet.). The defendant may then appeal to the court of appeals if (1) the county

criminal court affirms the municipal court’s judgment and the fine assessed against

the defendant exceeds $100, or (2) the sole issue is the constitutionality of the statute

or ordinance on which a conviction is based. TEX. GOV’T CODE §

30.00027(a); see Flores v. State, 462 S.W.3d 551, 552 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st

Dist.] 2015, no pet.).

Here, the county criminal court at law did not affirm any judgments; rather,

the court dismissed the appeals for lack of jurisdiction. See TEX. GOV’T CODE §

30.00027(a). And the record filed in this Court reflects that appellant’s sole issue in

the county criminal court at law was not the constitutionality of the statutes on which

his convictions were based. See id. Accordingly, we conclude that appellant does not

have a statutory right to appeal the county criminal court at law judgment to this

Court, and we do not have jurisdiction over the appeal. See Flores, 462 S.W.3d at

552; Jamshedji v. State, 230 S.W.3d 224, 225 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.]

2006, pet. ref'd).

Even if appellant had a statutory right of appeal, we cannot exercise

jurisdiction over an appeal without a timely filed notice of appeal. See TEX. R. APP.

P. 26.2(a); see also Castillo v. State, 369 S.W.3d 196, 198 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012);

Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 522 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996); see also TEX. GOV’T

3 CODE § 30.00027(b). A defendant’s notice of appeal is timely if filed within thirty

days after the date sentence is imposed or suspended in open court or the trial court

enters an appealable order. TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a)(1); see Swain, 319 S.W.3d at

879–80.

Here, the county criminal court at law signed its dismissal opinion on

November 2, 2022. Appellant’s notice of appeal from the dismissal opinion,

therefore, was due to be filed no later than December 2, 2022. See TEX. R. APP. P.

26.2(a)(1). Appellant’s notice of appeal filed on April 22, 2025—over twenty-eight

months after the deadline—was untimely to perfect an appeal of the county criminal

court at law’s opinion, and we have no basis for jurisdiction over the appeal. See

Swain, 319 S.W.3d at 880; see also Carrillo v. State, No. 01-11-00495-CR, 2011

WL 4507218, at *1 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Sept. 29, 2011, no pet.) (mem.

op., not designated for publication).

Accordingly, we dismiss the appeals for want of jurisdiction. We dismiss any

pending motions as moot.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Chief Justice Adams and Justices Caughey and Johnson.

Do not publish. TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).