Ruben Vargas v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: June 4, 2025
• Docket: 09-25-00170-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

In The

Court of Appeals

Ninth District of Texas at Beaumont

__________________

NO. 09-25-00170-CR __________________

RUBEN VARGAS, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

__________________________________________________________________

On Appeal from the 221st District Court Montgomery County, Texas Trial Cause No. 23-03-03505 __________________________________________________________________

MEMORANDUM OPINION

On February 26, 2025, the trial court sentenced Ruben Vargas in Trial Cause

Number 23-03-03505. Vargas did not file a motion for new trial within 30 days after

the date on which the trial court imposed sentence in Trial Cause Number 23-03-

03505.1 See Tex. R. App. P. 21.4(a). Notice of appeal was due to be filed on March

We note that Vargas timely filed a motion for new trial in Trial Cause 1

Number 23-08-11856. That appeal has been docketed as Appeal Number 09-25- 00171-CR, Ruben Vargas v. State and remains pending. 1 28, 2025. Vargas’s time for filing a motion for extension of time to perfect his appeal

expired on April 14, 2025. On May 8, 2025, the District Clerk received and filed

notice of appeal for Trial Cause Number 23-03-03505.

On May 13, 2025, the Clerk of the Court notified the parties that the notice of

appeal had been filed outside the time for which an extension of time may be granted

for filing notice of appeal and warned the parties that the appeal would be dismissed

unless grounds were shown for continuing the appeal. Vargas did not respond to the

Clerk’s notice.

When a defendant appeals from a conviction in a criminal case, the time to

file a notice of appeal runs from the date sentence is imposed or suspended in open

court. See id. 26.2(a). An appellate court may extend the time to file the notice of

appeal if, within 15 days after the deadline for filing the notice of appeal, the

defendant files a notice of appeal in the trial court and files a motion for extension

of time in the appellate court. See id. 26.3. Vargas failed to file a notice of appeal

and a motion for an extension of time within the time permitted by the rule. See id.

“Timely filing of a written notice of appeal is a jurisdictional prerequisite to

hearing an appeal.” Castillo v. State, 369 S.W.3d 196, 198 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012).

“If a notice of appeal is not timely filed, the court of appeals has no option but to

dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.” Id. Vargas does not argue that he

2 obtained an out-of-time appeal from the Court of Criminal Appeals. We dismiss the

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

APPEAL DISMISSED.

PER CURIAM

Submitted on June 3, 2025 Opinion Delivered June 4, 2025 Do Not Publish

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