NUMBER 13-21-00277-CR

COURT OF APPEALS

THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

CORPUS CHRISTI – EDINBURG 

____________________________________________________________

ROBERT EUGENE BARGANSKI, Appellant,

v.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee.

____________________________________________________________

On appeal from the 36th District Court

of Aransas County, Texas.

____________________________________________________________

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Before Chief Justice Contreras and Justices Hinojosa and Silva

Memorandum Opinion by Justice Silva

Upon review of the documents before the Court, it appears there is no final 

appealable order. On August 27, 2021, appellant attempted to appeal the waiver of his 

defendant’s right to appeal in cause number A-06-5019-CR and argues there was no 

evidence to support the conviction. On August 30, 2021, the Clerk of the Court notified 
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appellant that the notice of appeal was untimely. On September 16, 2021, appellant filed 

an amended notice of appeal which does not cure this defect.

Generally, a state appellate court only has jurisdiction to consider an appeal by a 

criminal defendant where there has been a final judgment of conviction. Workman v. 

State, 170 Tex. Crim. 621, 343 S.W.2d 446, 447 (1961); McKown v. State, 915 S.W.2d 

160, 161 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 1996, no pet.). Exceptions to the general rule include: 

(1) certain appeals while on deferred adjudication community supervision, Kirk v. State, 

942 S.W.2d 624, 625 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997); (2) appeals from the denial of a motion to 

reduce bond, TEX. R. APP. P. 31.1; McKown, 915 S.W.2d at 161; and (3) certain appeals 

from the denial of habeas corpus relief, Wright v. State, 969 S.W.2d 588, 589 (Tex. App.—

Dallas 1998, no pet.); McKown, 915 S.W.2d at 161. Therefore, we conclude the trial 

court’s certification of defendant’s right to appeal is not a final, appealable order.

Furthermore, this Court's appellate jurisdiction in a criminal case is invoked by a 

timely filed notice of appeal. Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 522 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996). 

Absent a timely filed notice of appeal, a court of appeals does not obtain jurisdiction to 

address the merits of the appeal in a criminal case and can take no action other than to 

dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 210 (Tex. 

Crim. App. 1998). Appellant may be entitled to an out-of-time appeal by filing a 

post-conviction writ of habeas corpus returnable to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals; 

however, the availability of that remedy is beyond the jurisdiction of this Court. See TEX.

CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 11.07, § 3(a) (Vernon 2005); see also Ex parte Garcia, 988 
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S.W.2d 240 (Tex. Crim. App. 1999). Therefore, we conclude appellant’s notice of appeal, 

which was filed more than fifteen years after the final judgment was entered, is untimely.

The Court, having examined and fully considered the notice of appeal, is of the 

opinion that the trial court’s certificate of defendant’s right to appeal is not a final, 

appealable order, and, in all other ways, this Court lacks jurisdiction over the matters 

herein. Accordingly, appellant’s motion to appoint attorney is dismissed for lack of 

jurisdiction, and the appeal is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

CLARISSA SILVA

Justice

Do not publish.

TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).

Delivered and filed on the

23rd day of September, 2021.