Cameron Marquette Lewis v. the State of Texas

Summary

The Second Court of Appeals of Texas dismissed Cameron Marquette Lewis’s appeal from a driving-while-intoxicated conviction for want of jurisdiction. The court held that Lewis’s notice of appeal and motion for extension were untimely, and noted that the plea-bargain case independently lacked appellate jurisdiction under Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 25.2(d).

Holdings

1. A timely notice of appeal is essential to the court of appeals' jurisdiction, and because Lewis filed his notice of appeal after the applicable deadline, the court lacked jurisdiction and had to dismiss the appeal.
2. The motion for extension did not cure the untimely notice of appeal because it was itself filed outside the fifteen-day period permitted by Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 26.3.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the court of appeals had jurisdiction over an appeal filed more than thirty days after sentencing when the defendant did not file a motion for new trial.
2. Whether an untimely motion for extension could cure the untimeliness of the notice of appeal.

Disposition

dismissed