Thomas L. Varkonyi v. State

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS EIGHTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS EL PASO, TEXAS

THOMAS VARKONYI, § No. 08-08-00160-CR Appellant, § Appeal from the v. § 120th Judicial District Court § THE STATE OF TEXAS, of El Paso County, Texas § Appellee. (TC# 20040D05081) §

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Pending before the Court is a motion to permanently abate this appeal due to Appellant’s

death. The motion was filed by Appellant’s counsel on July 20, 2009, and states that Appellant

died on July 2, 2009. The motion includes duplicate of Appellant’s death certificate indicating

the same.

The death of an appellant during the pendency of an appeal deprives this Court of

jurisdiction. See Ryan v. State, 891 S.W.2d 275 (Tex.Crim.App. 1994); Barrera v. State, No.

PD-1642-07, 2008 WL 5050552 *1 (Tex.Crim.App. 2008)(not designate for publication). When

an appellant dies after an appeal has been perfected, but before this Court issues the mandate, the

appeal is to be permanently abated. See TEX .R.APP .P. 7.1(a)(2). Accordingly, we order the

appeal be permanently abated.

September 23, 2009 DAVID WELLINGTON CHEW, Chief Justice

Before Chew, C.J., McClure, and Rivera, JJ. (Do Not Publish)

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