Ross Thomas Brantley, III v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: August 7, 2025
• Docket: 02-25-00231-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

In the Court of Appeals Second Appellate District of Texas at Fort Worth ___________________________

No. 02-25-00231-CR ___________________________

ROSS THOMAS BRANTLEY, III, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS

On Appeal from Criminal District Court No. 1 Tarrant County, Texas Trial Court No. 1609793

Before Sudderth, C.J.; Kerr and Birdwell, JJ. Memorandum Opinion by Chief Justice Sudderth MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant Ross Thomas Brantley, III attempts to appeal the trial court’s denial

of his motion for postconviction forensic DNA testing. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc.

Ann. art. 64.05. But Brantley’s notice of appeal is untimely—it was due “within 30

days . . . after the day the trial court enter[ed the] appealable order,” Tex. R. App. P.

26.2(a)(1), but it was filed more than 100 days after the order was signed.

Because “[o]ur appellate jurisdiction is triggered through a timely notice of

appeal,” we lack jurisdiction over Brantley’s untimely appeal and “can take no action

other than to dismiss [it].”1 Evans v. State, No. 02-22-00093-CR, 2022 WL 2252632, at

*1 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth June 23, 2022, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for

publication) (dismissing untimely appeal from order denying motion for DNA

testing); Manns, 2015 WL 5893122, at *1 (same); McCain v. State, No. 02-13-00459-CR,

2013 WL 6157123, at *1 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Nov. 21, 2013, no pet.) (per

curiam) (not designated for publication) (same).

Accordingly, we dismiss Brantley’s appeal for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R.

App. P. 43.2(f).

1 When we notified Brantley of our jurisdictional concern, he sought leave to pursue an untimely appeal, explaining that he had mailed a notice of appeal to a federal district court before the deadline but the mail had been returned for insufficient postage. However, “we cannot suspend the rules of appellate procedure to extend the time for filing a notice of appeal.” Manns v. State, No. 02-15-00247-CR, 2015 WL 5893122, at *1 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Oct. 8, 2015, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for publication).

2 /s/ Bonnie Sudderth

Bonnie Sudderth Chief Justice

Do Not Publish Tex.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

Delivered: August 7, 2025