BENITO GONZALEZ v. THE STATE OF TEXAS--Appeal from 105th District Court of Nueces County

NUMBER 13-00-576-CR

COURT OF APPEALS

THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

CORPUS CHRISTI

___________________________________________________________________
BENITO GONZALEZ , Appellant,

v.

THE STATE OF TEXAS , Appellee.

___________________________________________________________________

On appeal from the 105th District Court

of Nueces County, Texas.

__________________________________________________________________

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Before Justices Dorsey, Hinojosa, and Rodriguez

Opinion by Justice Rodriguez

Appellant, Benito Gonzalez, entered a plea of nolo contendere to state jail felony possession of cocaine. (1) The plea was pursuant to a plea bargain agreement. The court deferred adjudication of guilt and placed appellant on community supervision for three years. The State filed a motion to adjudicate guilt alleging eleven violations of his community supervision. At a hearing on the motion, appellant pled true to all allegations. The court revoked appellant's community supervision, adjudicated his guilt, and sentenced him to twenty months in a state jail. We dismiss for want of jurisdiction.

As this is a memorandum opinion not designated for publication and the parties are familiar with the facts, we will not recite them here. See Tex. R. App. P. 47.1.

Trial counsel filed a timely general notice of appeal, accompanied by a motion to withdraw as counsel. On the same day, the trial court signed an order appointing appellate counsel. In the order, the trial court made a finding that appellant's notice of appeal did not meet the requirements of appellate rule 25.2(b)(3)(C) because it failed to state that the trial court had granted permission to appeal.

Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 25.2(b)(3) applies to judgments adjudicating guilt after deferred adjudication community supervision has been revoked, where the punishment does not exceed that recommended by the prosecutor and agreed to by the defendant. See Tex. R. App. P. 25.2(b)(3); Watson v. State, 924 S.W.2d 711, 713-14 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996). Rule 25.2(b)(3) requires that a notice of appeal must specify that (1) the appeal is for a jurisdictional defect, (2) 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. SeeTex. R. App. P. 25.2(b)(c). A general notice of appeal is insufficient to confer jurisdiction on a court of appeals. See Davis v. State, 870 S.W.2d 43, 46 (Tex. Crim. App. 1994); Lyon v. State, 972 S.W.2d 732, 736 (Tex. Crim. App. 1994) (both construing former appellate rule 40(b)(1), now rule 25.2(a), (b), (c)).

We have reviewed the record and conclude the trial court did not grant appellant permission to appeal. Neither does appellant's notice specify that his appeal is for jurisdictional defects or that it is from a ruling on a pre-trial motion. SeeTex. R. App. P. 25.2(b)(3). Additionally, appellant's punishment did not exceed the punishment recommended by the prosecutor. Appellant therefore has not complied with the provisions of rule 25.2(b)(3). Because his general notice of appeal is insufficient to confer jurisdiction on this Court, we are without jurisdiction to consider this appeal.

Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction.

Furthermore, appellant's attorney has asked permission to withdraw as counsel for appellant. We grant the attorney's motion to withdraw.

NELDA V. RODRIGUEZ

Justice

Do not publish .

Tex. R. App. P. 47.3.

Opinion delivered and filed

this 21st day of June, 2001.

1. See Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. 481.115(a)(b) (Vernon Supp. 2001).