Xavier Napolean Pierre Jones v. Mei Yang

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: June 26, 2025
• Docket: 02-25-00222-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

In the Court of Appeals Second Appellate District of Texas at Fort Worth ___________________________ No. 02-25-00222-CV ___________________________

XAVIER NAPOLEAN PIERRE JONES, Appellant

V.

MEI YANG, Appellee

On Appeal from the 324th District Court Tarrant County, Texas Trial Court No. 324-728492-23

Before Birdwell, Bassel, and Womack, JJ. Per Curiam Memorandum Opinion MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant Xavier Napolean Pierre Jones, proceeding pro se, attempts to appeal

from the trial court’s final decree of divorce. The trial court signed the final judgment

on January 24, 2025. Appellant timely filed a motion for new trial, making his notice

of appeal due April 24, 2025. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(a); see also Tex. R. Civ. P.

329b(a) (requiring motion for new trial to be filed within 30 days after date judgment

signed). But Appellant did not file his notice of appeal until May 14, 2025.

On May 15, 2025, we notified Appellant by letter of our concern that we lack

jurisdiction over this appeal because the notice of appeal was untimely. See Tex. R.

App. P. 26.1(a). We warned Appellant that we could dismiss this appeal for want of

jurisdiction unless he filed a response showing grounds for continuing the appeal. See

Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a), 44.3. Appellant responded by filing an “Appellant’s Brief,”

but it does not show grounds for continuing the appeal.

The time for filing a notice of appeal is jurisdictional in this court, and absent a

timely filed notice of appeal or extension request, we must dismiss the appeal. See Tex.

R. App. P. 2, 25.1(b), 26.1, 26.3 (permitting appellate courts to extend time for filing

notice of appeal on party’s motion for extension filed within 15 days after notice-of-

appeal deadline); Jones v. City of Houston, 976 S.W.2d 676, 677 (Tex. 1998) (recognizing

implied motion for extension); Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2d 615, 617 (Tex. 1997)

(“[O]nce the period for granting a motion for extension . . . has passed, a party can no

longer invoke the appellate court’s jurisdiction.”). Because Appellant’s notice of

2 appeal was untimely, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App.

P. 42.3(a), 43.2(f); Amick v. Campbell, No. 02-24-00540-CV, 2025 WL 285339, at *1

(Tex. App.—Fort Worth Jan. 23, 2025, no pet.) (mem. op.).

Per Curiam

Delivered: June 26, 2025