Steve Scott Wilt v. State

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: September 27, 2002
• Docket: 06-02-00153-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

In The

Court of Appeals

Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana

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No. 06-02-00153-CR ______________________________

STEVE SCOTT WILT, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

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On Appeal from the County Court at Law Lamar County, Texas Trial Court No. 41410

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Before Morriss, C.J., Grant and Ross, JJ. Opinion by Justice Ross

O P I N I O N

Steve Scott Wilt appeals his conviction by a jury for evading arrest and detention, a Class B misdemeanor. See Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 38.04(b) (Vernon Supp. 2002). The jury assessed his punishment at 180 days' confinement in the county jail, but recommended that the trial court suspend the imposition of his sentence and that he be placed on two years' community supervision. The trial court sentenced him accordingly.

In the same proceeding, Wilt was also convicted of criminal trespass and of resisting arrest. He was sentenced to three months' confinement for the criminal trespass offense and 365 days' confinement for the resisting arrest offense, but the trial court suspended the imposition of both sentences and placed him on two years' community supervision for each conviction. Wilt has also filed appeals from those convictions, which we address in separate opinions.

The record shows the trial court pronounced sentence May 1, 2002. Wilt filed a motion for new trial May 31, 2002. Rule 26.2(a)(2) requires the notice of appeal to be filed "within 90 days after the day sentence is imposed or suspended in open court if the defendant timely files a motion for new trial." Tex. R. App. P. 26.2(a)(2).

The motion for new trial was timely, see Tex. R. App. P. 21.4(a), making the notice of appeal due by July 30, 2002. The notice of appeal was filed on August 14, 2002. Therefore, the notice of appeal is untimely, and this Court is without jurisdiction over the appeal. Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 522 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996).

The appeal is dismissed for want of jurisdiction.

Donald R. Ross

Justice

Date Submitted: September 26, 2002

Date Decided: September 27, 2002

Do Not Publish

directing counsel to file the reporter's record, to show adequate efforts to secure the reporter's record, or to file his brief based on the clerk's record alone. Therefore, under the authority of Rule 37.3(c), we will consider the issues raised by the clerk's record alone. See Tex. R. App. P. 37.3(c) (court may consider and decide issues not requiring reporter's record).

Garcia pled guilty to intentionally and knowingly engaging in sexual contact with a child under the age of seventeen, who was not Garcia's wife, by touching the victim's genitals. Indecency with a child, as alleged in this case, is a second degree felony. See Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 21.11 (Vernon 2003). The record before us indicates Garcia's guilty plea was made voluntarily with full knowledge of the consequences of his plea, including sex offender registration. Garcia signed a written statement that he was mentally competent at the time of his plea and understood the nature of the charge against him. In short, there is nothing in the record that causes us to question the validity of Garcia's plea.

Similarly, there is nothing in the record that causes us to question the propriety of the sentence assessed. Although the trial court denied Garcia's motion for community supervision, Garcia's four-year sentence was within the range provided for second degree felonies. See Tex. Pen. Code Ann. § 12.33 (Vernon 2003) (punishment range for second degree felony is two to twenty years). When a trial court assesses punishment within the statutory range, we shall presume the sentence was proper absent evidence to the contrary. See Alberto v. State, 100 S.W.3d 528, 529-30 (Tex. App.-Texarkana 2003, no pet.) (punishment not cruel or excessive if within statutory range). In this case, the record demonstrates no evidence to the contrary.

For the reasons stated, we find the record raises no issues requiring reversal. We affirm the trial court's judgment.

Date Submitted: July 16, 2003

Date Decided: July 17, 2003