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Date: 02-20-2021
Case Style:
Austin Callaway Sellers v. The State of Texas
Case Number: 07-20-00359-CR
Judge: Per Curiam
Court: Court of Appeals
Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo
Plaintiff's Attorney: Robert A. Love II
Defendant's Attorney:
OR
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Description:
Amarillo, TX - Criminal defense attorney represented Austin Callaway Sellers with an Assault charge.
The trial court sentenced appellant on November 4, 2020. Because no motion for
new trial was filed, appellant’s notice of appeal was due within thirty days after sentence
was imposed, i.e., by December 4, 2020. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a)(1) (requiring a
notice of appeal to be filed within thirty days after sentence is imposed). Appellant filed
a notice of appeal on December 17, 2020, without filing a motion for an extension of time
to file the notice of appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.3 (allowing appellate courts to extend
the time to file a notice of appeal if the notice and a motion for an extension is filed within
fifteen days of the deadline).
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). If a
notice of appeal is not timely filed, a court of appeals has no option but to dismiss the
appeal for lack of jurisdiction. Id. When a notice of appeal, but no motion for an extension
of time, is filed within the fifteen-day extension period, an appellate court lacks jurisdiction
to dispose of the purported appeal in any manner other than by dismissing it for want of
jurisdiction. 2 Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 523 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996) (en banc).
By letter of December 22, 2020, we notified appellant of the consequences of his
late notice of appeal and directed him to file a response showing how we have jurisdiction
by December 31. Appellant did not file a response and has had no further communication
with this Court.
Outcome: Because appellant’s notice of appeal was untimely filed, we dismiss the appeal for
want of jurisdiction.3
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: