Jamall Ricardo Fisher v. The State of Texas

Summary

The Fourth Court of Appeals of San Antonio dismissed Jamall Ricardo Fisher’s criminal appeal under Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 25.2(d). The court concluded that Fisher entered a plea bargain, knowingly and voluntarily waived his limited right to appeal, had no qualifying pretrial motions or statutory authorization for appeal, and lacked an amended certification establishing a right to appeal.

Holdings

1. In a plea-bargain case, a defendant may appeal only matters raised by written motion and ruled on before trial, matters for which the trial court grants permission to appeal, or matters expressly authorized by statute. A defendant may voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently waive those limited appellate rights.
2. An appeal must be dismissed when the record does not contain a trial court certification showing that the defendant has the right of appeal. Because the existing certification accurately stated that Fisher had no right to appeal and no amended certification was filed, the appeal was dismissed.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the court of appeals had jurisdiction to consider an appeal from a plea-bargain case when the trial court certified that the defendant had no right of appeal and the defendant had waived his limited appellate rights.
2. Whether the appeal was required to be dismissed under Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 25.2(d) because the record contained no certification showing a right of appeal.

Disposition

dismissed