Connely Bradley, Jr. v. State ( 2019 )

In The
Court of Appeals
Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo
No. 07-19-00002-CR
CONNELY BRADLEY, JR., APPELLANT
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, APPELLEE
On Appeal from the 137th District Court
Lubbock County, Texas
Trial Court No. 2016-410,149, Honorable John J. “Trey” McClendon III, Presiding
January 24, 2019
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before CAMPBELL and PIRTLE and PARKER, JJ.
Pursuant to a plea bargain agreement, appellant Connely Bradley, Jr., was
convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon1 and sentenced to twelve years’
confinement. Appellant has filed a notice of appeal, proceeding pro se, challenging his
conviction. We dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction and because appellant has no
right of appeal.
1 TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 22.02(a)(2) (West 2011).
The timely filing of a written notice of appeal is a jurisdictional prerequisite to
hearing an appeal. Castillo v. State, 369 S.W.3d 196, 198 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012). In a
criminal case, the notice of appeal must be filed within thirty days after sentence is
imposed or within ninety days after sentence is imposed if the defendant timely files a
motion for new trial. TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a). If a notice of appeal is not timely filed, we
have no option but to dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. Castillo, 369 S.W.3d at
198. We have no authority to invoke appellate rule 2 to enlarge the time in which to file
a notice of appeal. TEX. R. APP. P. 2; Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 210 (Tex. Crim.
App. 1998).
Appellant was sentenced on August 17, 2017. Because no motion for new trial
was filed, his notice of appeal was due within thirty days, by September 18, 2017. See
TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a)(1), 4.1(a). Appellant did not file a notice of appeal until December
27, 2018. Accordingly, his untimely filed notice of appeal prevents this Court from
acquiring jurisdiction over the appeal.
Furthermore, the Trial Court’s Certification of the Defendant’s Right to Appeal
certifies that this is a plea-bargain case from which appellant has no right of appeal and
that appellant has waived the right of appeal. We are required by appellate rule 25.2(d)
to dismiss an appeal “if a certification that shows the defendant has the right of appeal
has not been made part of the record.” TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(d).
By letter dated January 4, 2019, this Court notified appellant of the consequences
of the late notice of appeal and the trial court’s certification and invited him to demonstrate
2
other grounds for continuing the appeal. Appellant has filed a response but has not
established good cause for continuing this appeal.
Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction and based on the trial
court’s certification.
Per Curiam
Do not publish.
3