Stonecipher, Timothy Wayne v. The State of Texas--Appeal from 178th District Court of Harris County

Dismissed and Opinion filed October 24, 2002.

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals

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NOS. 14-02-001038-CR &

14-02-001039-CR

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TIMOTHY WAYNE STONECIPHER, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 178th District Court

Harris County, Texas

Trial Court Cause Nos. 609,882 & 609,883

M E M O R A N D U M O P I N I O N

Appellant pled no contest to multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child. On February 14, 1992, in accordance with a plea agreement between appellant and the State, the trial court sentenced appellant to twenty-eight years= confinement in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice--Institutional Division. No motion for new trial was filed. Appellant=s general notice of appeal was not filed until September 24, 2002.

A defendant=s notice of appeal must be filed within thirty days after sentence is imposed when the defendant has not filed a motion for new trial. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.2(a)(1). A notice of appeal which complies with the requirements of Rule 26 is essential to vest the court of appeals with jurisdiction. See Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 210 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998). If an appeal is not timely perfected, a court of appeals does not obtain jurisdiction to address the merits of the appeal. Under those circumstances it can take no action other than to dismiss the appeal. See id.

Moreover, to invoke an appellate court=s jurisdiction over an appeal, an appellant must give timely and proper notice of appeal. White v. State, 61 S.W.3d 424, 428 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001) (emphasis added). Beyond appellant=s failure to timely file his notice of appeal, appellant=s notice did not comply with the requirements of Rule 25.2(b)(3) of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. See Tex. R. App. P. 25.2(b)(3). Rule 25.2(b)(3) provides that when an appeal is from a judgment rendered on a defendant=s plea of guilty or nolo contendere and the punishment assessed does not exceed the punishment recommended by the State and agreed to by the defendant, the notice of appeal must: (1) specify that the appeal is for a jurisdictional defect; (2) specify that the substance of the appeal was raised by written motion and ruled on before trial; or (3) state that the trial court granted permission to appeal. Id. The time for filing a proper notice of appeal has expired; thus appellant may not file an amended notice of appeal to correct jurisdictional defects. State v. Riewe, 13 S.W.3d 408, 413-14 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000). Because appellant=s notice of appeal did not comply with the requirements of Rule 25.2(b)(3), we are without jurisdiction to consider any of appellant=s issues, including the voluntariness of the plea. See Cooper v. State, 45 S.W.2d 77, 83 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001) (holding that appellant who files general notice of appeal may not appeal voluntariness of negotiated plea).

Accordingly, for the reasons stated above, the appeals are ordered dismissed.

PER CURIAM

Judgment rendered and Opinion filed October 24, 2002.

Panel consists of Justices Yates, Anderson, and Frost.

Do Not Publish Tex. R. App. P. 47.3(b).