Opinion issued November 8, 2016

In The

Court of Appeals 

For The 

First District of Texas 

————————————

NO. 01-16-00486-CR

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MAURICIO IZAGUIRRE, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 179th District Court

Harris County, Texas

Trial Court Case No. 1341419

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant, Mauricio Izaguirre, pleaded guilty to the first-degree felony 

offense of murder, without an agreed punishment recommendation, pending a presentence investigation report. 1 Following a pre-sentencing investigation report and 

 

1 See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 19.02(b)(1), (c) (West Supp. 2016).
2

hearing, the trial court assessed appellant’s punishment at thirty-five years’ 

confinement on April 4, 2016. This sentence is within the applicable range.2 The 

trial court certified appellant’s right of appeal because this was not a plea-bargain 

case and appellant had a right of appeal as to punishment. See TEX. R. APP. P.

25.2(a)(2)(B). Appellant filed his pro se notice of appeal on June 1, 2016. We 

dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction.

A criminal defendant’s notice of appeal must be filed within thirty days after 

the sentence is imposed, if the defendant has not filed a motion for new trial. See

TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a)(1). An appellant may obtain an extension by filing both 

the notice of appeal in the trial court and a motion for extension of time in the 

appellate court within fifteen days after the deadline passes. See id. 26.3.

A notice of appeal that complies with the requirements of rule 26 is essential 

to vest the court of appeals with jurisdiction. See Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 

210 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998); Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 522–23 (Tex. Crim. 

App. 1996). If an appeal is not timely perfected, a court of appeals does not obtain 

jurisdiction to address the merits of the appeal. See Slaton, 981 S.W.2d at 210.

Here, the trial court signed appellant’s judgment of conviction on April 4, 

2016, and imposed the sentence on that date. Appellant did not timely file a motion 

 

2 See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 12.32(a) (West Supp. 2016).
3

for new trial or an extension of time to file a notice of appeal, making his notice of 

appeal due by May 4, 2016. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a)(1), 26.3. Appellant’s notice 

of appeal was not filed until June 1, 2016, fifty-eight days after the judgment was

signed. See id. 26.2(a)(1). Thus, under these circumstances, we can take no action 

other than to dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction. See Slaton, 981 S.W.2d at 

210; Olivo, 918 S.W.2d at 526.

Accordingly, we withdraw this Court’s July 19, 2016 Order and dismiss this

appeal for want of jurisdiction.3 See TEX. R. APP. P. 43.2(f). We dismiss any 

pending motions as moot.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Keyes, Higley, and Lloyd.

Do not publish. TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).

 

3 This Court’s July 19, 2016 Order had abated this case for the appointment of counsel 

before this Court discovered that the pro se notice of appeal was untimely. 

However, we note that appellant is not without a remedy and may file a writ of 

habeas corpus in the trial court, made returnable to the Texas Court of Criminal 

Appeals, seeking leave to file an out-of-time appeal. See, e.g., Ex parte Parodi, PD1740-11, 2012 WL 669981, at *1 (Tex. Crim. App. Feb. 29, 2012) (not designated 

for publication) (noting “Article 11.07 writ practice of granting an out-of-time 

appeal when either the appellate attorney fails to properly file a notice of appeal or 

when there is a breakdown in the system that prevents the filing of a proper notice 

of appeal”) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).