Fourth Court of Appeals

San Antonio, Texas

February 9, 2017

No. 04-16-00670-CR

Noe CONTRERAS,

Appellant

v.

The STATE of Texas,

Appellee

From the 79th Judicial District Court, Jim Wells County, Texas

Trial Court No. 15-08-14189-CR

Honorable Richard C. Terrell, Judge Presiding

O R D E R

The clerk’s record was filed in this court on November 30, 2016 and includes a Plea 

Memorandum, reflecting that appellant Noe Contreras pled guilty to two counts of indecency 

with a child. The record also contains a copy of the Judgment of Conviction, wherein appellant 

was sentenced to fifteen years confinement in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice –

Institutional Division. However, the clerk’s record does not contain a copy of the trial court’s 

certification of defendant’s right of appeal as required by the Texas Rules of Appellate 

Procedure. See TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(a)(2), (d). 

A clerk’s record in criminal cases must include the trial court’s certification of 

defendant’s right of appeal. TEX. R. APP. P. 34.5(a)(12). Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 

25.2(a)(2) requires the trial court to sign a certification of the defendant’s right of appeal each 

time it enters a judgment of guilt or other appealable order. Rule 25.2(d) requires the clerk’s 

record to include the trial court’s certification of the defendant’s right of appeal under Rule 

25.2(a)(2). TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(d). Although this certification “should be part of the record 

when notice is filed,” it “may be added by timely amendment or supplementation under this rule 

or . . . by order of the appellate court under Rule 34.5(c)(2).” TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(d); see also

TEX. R. APP. P. 34.5(c)(2) (explaining that “[i]f the appellate court in a criminal case orders the 

trial court to prepare and file . . . [a] certification of the defendant’s right of appeal as required by 

these rules, the trial court clerk must prepare, certify, and file in the appellate court a 

supplemental clerk’s record”). If a certification showing the defendant has the right to appeal is 

not made part of the record under these rules, the appeal must be dismissed. TEX. R. APP. P.

25.2(d). 
We therefore ordered the trial court to sign a certification, if one had not yet been signed, 

on or before February 6, 2017. We further ordered the Jim Wells County District Clerk to file a 

supplemental clerk’s record containing the signed trial court’s certification of defendant’s right 

of appeal on or before February 14, 2017. On February 3, 2017, the Jim Wells County District 

Clerk filed a supplemental clerk’s record with a certification signed by the trial court. In the 

certification, the box “the defendant has waived the right of appeal” was checked. However, the 

certification was not signed by the defendant, nor did the certification reflect whether a copy of 

the certification was provided to the defendant. Rule 25.2(d) requires the certification to be 

signed by the defendant and a copy to be provided to the defendant. Accordingly, the trial 

court’s certification is defective.1 

We therefore ORDER the trial court to correct the defective certification on or before 

February 20, 2017. We further ORDER the Jim Wells County District Clerk to file a 

supplemental clerk’s record containing the corrected certification of defendant’s right of appeal 

on or before March 1, 2017. 

_________________________________

Marialyn Barnard, Justice

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the said 

court on this 9th day of February, 2017.

___________________________________

Keith E. Hottle

Clerk of Court

 

1

 We recognize that along with the signed certification, the supplemental clerk’s record included a letter from the 

trial court acknowledging that the document would not contain the defendant or his counsel’s signature. 

Nevertheless, the trial court shall utilize whatever means necessary to secure a certification in compliance with Rule 

25.2(d).