Benito Renteria v. The State of Texas--Appeal from 243rd District Court of El Paso County

COURT OF APPEALS

EIGHTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

EL PASO, TEXAS

BENITO RENTERIA, )

) No. 08-05-00223-CR

Appellant, )

) Appeal from the

v. )

) 243rd District Court

THE STATE OF TEXAS, )

) of El Paso County, Texas

Appellee. )

) (TC# 950D05229)

)

O P I N I O N

Appellant Benito Renteria is attempting to appeal from his conviction for driving while intoxicated, third or more. See Tex.Pen.Code Ann. ' 49.04(b)(Vernon 2003), ' 49.09 (Vernon Supp. 2005). Appellant filed a pretrial motion to set aside the indictment based on alleged violations of his constitutional right to a speedy trial. The trial court denied Appellant=s motion to dismiss the indictment and he pleaded guilty to the offense pursuant to a plea-bargain agreement. The trial court imposed a sentence of three years in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in accordance with the recommendation made by the State.

As part of the plea-bargain, Appellant acknowledged that AI, the undersigned defendant, have also been informed of my right to pursue a motion for new trial and/or appeal, and that I may waive this right, and after having consulted with my attorney, I do hereby voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently waive my right to appeal.@ Counsel for Appellant also signed the plea agreement certifying that Appellant had waived his rights and was fully aware of the terms of the plea agreement as well as the consequences of entering into the plea agreement. Appellant subsequently filed a notice of appeal and the trial court certified his right to appeal.

Pending before the Court is the State=s motion to dismiss the appeal, which was filed on June 2, 2006.[1] The clerk=s record establishes the punishment assessed by the court does not exceed the punishment recommended by the prosecutor and agreed to by the defendant. Generally, A[i]n a plea bargain case . . . a defendant may appeal only: (A) those matters that were raised by written motion filed and ruled on before trial, or (B) after getting the trial court=s permission to appeal.@ Tex.R.App.P. 25.2(a)(2). However, as part of his plea-bargain, Appellant signed a waiver of this limited right of appeal.

A defendant in a noncapital case may waive any right secured to him by law, including the right to appeal. Tex.Code Crim.Proc.Ann. art. 1.14(a)(Vernon 2005); Monreal v. State, 99 S.W.3d 615, 622 (Tex.Crim.App. 2003). A valid waiver which is voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently made will prevent a defendant from appealing a conviction absent permission from the trial court. Monreal, 99 S.W.3d at 617. Consequently, Appellant may not appeal without the permission of the trial court. See id. at 622. The clerk=s record does not indicate the trial court gave Appellant permission to appeal. On the contrary, the record indicates that although the trial court certified Appellant=s right to appeal, it did not give Appellant permission to do so. Thus, we have no jurisdiction to consider Appellant=s appeal. Therefore, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. See Tex.R.App.P. 42.3(a).

July 13, 2006

DAVID WELLINGTON CHEW, Justice

Before Barajas, C.J., McClure, and Chew, JJ.

(Do Not Publish)

[1] We note Appellant neither responded to the State=s motion to dismiss nor did he challenge the waiver as being involuntary or a result of coercion in his brief.