NO. 07-02-0290 -CR IN THE COU RT OF APP EALS FOR THE SEVENT H DISTRICT OF TEXAS

AT AMA RILLO PANE L C NOVEM BER 25, 2002

______________________________ JOHN STEVEN M CLAIN, APPELLANT

V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, APPELLEE

_________________________________ FROM THE CRIMINAL JUDICIAL DIST RICT COURT OF JEFF ERSON COUNTY;

NO. 84830; HON ORABLE LARRY GIST, JUD GE

_______________________________ Before QUINN and REAVIS and JOHNSON, JJ. Appellant Joh n S tev en M cLa in appea ls from his conv iction for possession of a controlled substance. We dismiss for want of jurisdiction. Appellant filed a gener al Notice of Appeal from his plea-bargained judgm ent of conviction dated May 16 , 2002, in Cause No. 84830 in th e Cr im inal District Court of Jefferson County. Sentence w as impose d on May 13, 2002.1 A rule of appella te proce dure will be ref erred to a s “TRAP_” here aft er. 2 In his original Notice of Appeal appellant di d not allege that (1) his appeal was based on a jurisdicti onal defect , (2) the substance of the appeal was raised by written mot ion ruled on before trial or (3) the trial court granted perm ission to appeal. See T EX . R. A PP . P. 2 5.2(b)(3)
. 1 On Novem ber 12, 2002, appellant filed an Am ended Notice of Appeal alleging that the trial court gave permission for the appeal. A threshold question in any case is whethe r the court has j urisdiction over the pending controversy. See State v. Ro berts , 940 S.W.2d 655, 657 (Tex.Crim .App. 1996). Courts will addr ess t he question of jurisdiction sua sponte; for, unless a court has jurisdiction over a m atter, its actions in the m atter are without v alidity. Id . at 657 n.2. The Rules of

AppellateProce dure do not establi sh jurisdicti on of courts of appea ls, but, rather, the Rules provide proced ures whi ch must be followed in orde r to invoke jurisdiction over a particular appeal. Se e W hite v. State , 61 S.W.3d 424, 427-28 (Tex.Crim .App. 2001)
. If the j urisdiction of a court of appeals is not properly invoked, the power of the appell ate court to act i s as absent as if i t did not exist , and theapp eal w ill be dismissed for lack of

jurisdiction. See id . at 428, 429. Appellate jurisdiction is invoked bygiving timely and proper notice of appeal. See id
. at 428. To perfect appea l from a j udgme nt which w as rendered on the defendant’ s plea of guilty or nolo conten dere und er C ode of C rim inal P roc edu re a rtic le 1.15, and in which the punishment

assessed did not ex

ceed the punishm ent recom mende d bythe prosecutor3

and agreed to by the defendant, th e notice of app eal must(a) specify that the appeal is for a jurisdictional defect; (b) specify that t he substance of th e appeal was raised by written mot ion and ruled on before tri al; or (c) state that the tri al court gr anted permiss ion to app eal. See T EX . R. A PP . P. 25.2(b)(3); W hite , 61 S.W.3d at 428 . Dism issal of an issue or theent ire m att er isapp rop riat e un lessthefor m of t he n otic e of appeal is proper to perfect appeal as to the issue or m atter. Id . TRAP 25. 2(d) does not permit an app ellate court to grant a m otion to am end the notice of appeal if the am endme ntsought to be m ade to the notice of appeal is a jurisdictional amendm ent. See Sta te v. R ie we , 13 S.W.3d 408, 413-14 (Tex.Crim .App. 2000 ). That is, if the ori ginal notice of appe al fai ls to invo ke jurisdiction of the appellate court , an out-of-ti me am endment cannot serve to invo ke jurisdiction. Id . Once jurisdiction is lost, an appellate court lacks the power to invoke any rule to thereafter obtain jurisdiction. Id. at 413; see TRAP 2. App ella nt’s original Notice of Appeal did not contain one of the three al legation s necess aryto invoke our appellate jurisdiction over an appeal from his conv iction. See TRAP 25.2(b)(3); W hite , 61 S.W.3d at 428. Accordingly, our jurisdiction wasnot invoked bythe original Notice. The out-of-time am ended Notice is ineffective to invoke our jurisdiction. See Ri ewe , 13 S.W.3d at 413-14. W e dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.

Phil Johnson4 Justice

Do not publish.