D ismiss and Opinion Filed January 4, 2021

In The 

### Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas

No. 05
- 20
- 00999
- CR No. 05
- 20
- 01000
- CR JESSIE JAMES CASTON JR. , Appellant

V. THE STATE OF TEXAS , Appellee On Appeal from the 382nd Judicial District Court

Rockwall County, Texas Trial Court Cause Nos. 2
- 20
- 0163 & 2
- 20
- 0164 MEMORANDUM OPINION Before Justices Myers, Osborne, and Carlyle Opinion by Justice Myers Jessie James Caston Jr. was conv ict ed of credit or debit card abuse against an elderly indiv id ual and aggravated robbery of a person 65 years of age or older. Appellant entered into a plea agreement with the State in each case , waiving his right to appeal as part of the agreement. The tr ial court followed the plea agreement and assessed punishment at ten and fifteen years , respectively, in prison

. As required by rule 25.2, t he trial court prepared and signed a certification of the right to appeal, stating each case is a plea bargain case and appellant had no right to appeal. A fter

a ppellant filed notice s of appeal with this Court , the State filed a motion to dismiss– 2

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the appeals

. After the clerk’s records were filed, we sent a letter questioning our jurisdiction. Appellate counsel responded , agreeing that the State’s motion was
proper. A defendant in a criminal case has the right of appeal as set out in the code of criminal procedure and the rules of appellate procedure. See T EX
. C ODE C RIM
. P ROC
. A NN
. art. 44.02; T EX
. R. A PP
. P . 25.2(a). Rule 25.2 provides t hat in “a plea

- bargain

case

— that is, a case in which a defendant ’ s plea was guilty

. . . and the punishment did not exceed the punishment recommended by the prosecutor and agreed to by the defendant,” a defendant may appeal only “those matters that were raised by written motion filed and ruled on before trial,” or “after getting the trial court ’ s permission to appeal.” T EX
. R. A PP
. P. 25.2(a)(2). When an appellant waives his right to appeal as part of his plea bargain agreement with the State, a subsequent notice of appeal filed by him fails to “initiate the appellate process,” thereby depriving this Court of jurisdiction over the appeal. Lundgren v. State , 434 S.W.3d 594, 599, 600 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014). Here, appellant entered into plea agreement s with the State, agreeing to plead guilty in exchange for the State ’ s recommendation that he be assessed ten years in prison for the credit/debit card abuse case and fifteen years in prison for the aggravated assault case. He also waived his rig ht to appeal. On October 22, 2020 , the trial court followed the plea bargain agreement s, found appellant guilty, and assessed punishment at ten and fifteen years in prison.– 3

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The clerk’s records show there were no adverse rulings in any pretrial written

mot ions. And t he trial court ’ s certification s of appellant ’ s right to appeal each state the case involves a plea bargain agreement , and appellant has no right to appeal. Under these circumstances, appellant ’ s notice s of appeal are ineffective to initiate
the appellate process, and we lack jurisdiction over th e appeal s . See id

. We grant the State’s motion and dismiss th ese appeal s for want of jurisdiction.

Do Not Publish T EX
. R. A PP
. P. 47.2(b) 200999 F

. U 05 /Lana Myers/ LANA MYERS JUSTICE– 4

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### Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas

JUDGMENT
JESSIE JAMES CASTON JR., Appellant
No. 05

- 20

- 00999

- CR V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee On Appeal from the 382nd Judicial District Court, Rockwall County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 2

- 20

- 0163. Opinion delivered by Justice Myers. Justices Osborne and Carlyle participating. Based on the Court’s opinion of this date, we DISMISS this appeal for want of jurisdiction.
Judgment entered this 4th day of January , 2021

.– 5

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### Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas

JUDGMENT
JESSIE JAMES CASTON JR., Appellant
No. 05

- 20

- 0 1 0 00

- CR V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee On Appeal from the 382nd Judicial District Court, Rockwall County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 2

- 20

- 016 4

. Opinion delivered by Justice Myers. Justices Osborne and Carlyle participating. Based on the Court’s opinion of this date, we DISMISS this appeal for want of jurisdiction.
Judgment entered this 4th day of January , 2021

.