C O U R T O F A P P E A LS EI GHTH D I STRI CT OF TEX AS ELPASO, TEXAS

I N THE MATT ER OF R.A., A J U V E N ILE § § § § § § No . 0 8- 09 -0 00 73 -C V

Appea l from 65th District Court of El Paso County , Texas (TC # 07,01209)
M EM OR

AN DU M OP IN ION R.A., a juvenile, filed notice of appe al from an order of the juvenile c ourt waiving jurisdiction and transfe rring the ca se for prosec ution in a criminal court. Pending befor e the Court is the State’s motion to di smiss t he appe al fo r j urisdiction. We gr ant the motion and dismiss t he
a pp e a l. Th e State fi le d a

pe tit ion to w a ive juv e nil e c ourt

jur isd ic tio n a

nd to trans fe r t

he c a se to criminal cour

t. See T EX .F AM .C ODE ANN . §54 .0 2 ( Ve rn on 20 08 )( pr ov idi ngfo r w a ive r o f j uv e nil e court’s e x clusive orig inal jurisdiction and transfe r t o criminal cour t). The pe tition allege s that R.A.
c omm itt e d tw o c ounts of a g g ra vate d s e xua l a ssa

ult of a chi ld . Fo llo wi nga

he a ri ng , th e juv e nil e court e ntere d an orde r wa iving the court’s ex clusive j urisdiction and transf err ing the case to a district court for prosec ution. The County Attorney ’s Offic e forwa rded the case to the District Attorney ’s Offic e. R
. A. fi l ed n o t i ce of appea l. The State has f

iled a motion to dism iss the attempted appe al from the tra

nsfer order
. A juvenile has the rig ht to appea l a s provided for by the Family Code. T EX .F AM .C ODE ANN . § 56.01(d)( Ver

non 2008). The Family Code authorizes an a ppeal by or on beha lf of a c hild from anorder

enter ed under : Section 54.03 with reg ard to de linquent conduct or c onduct indicating a nee d for s u p e r v is io n ; Se c ti o n 5 4
. 0 4 d is p o s in g o f th e c a s e ; Se c ti o n 5 4
. 0 5 r e s p e c ti n g mo d if ic a ti o n of a pr e vio us juv e nil e c ourt

dis po sit ion ; or

Cha pte r 5 5 by a juv e nil e c ourt

c omm itt inga

c hil d to a fa c ili ty for the me ntally

ill or mentally

reta rded. T EX .F AM .C ODE ANN . § 56 .0 1( c). A pe rs on may a lso appea l an orde r ente red unde r Section 54.11(i)( 2) trans fe rr i n g t h e per son to the custody of the instit ution al di vision of the Texas Depar tment of Criminal J ustice. T EX .F AM .C ODE ANN . § 56.01(c) (2). The Family Code does not authorize an int erloc utory appea l of a tra nsfer order enter ed pursuant to Section 54.02. The Code of

Criminal Procedure provides fo r an appeal of an or der of a juvenile c ourt
cer tify ing the defe ndant to stand trial as an adult and transferr ing the defe ndant to a cr iminal court under Sec tion 54.02 of t he Family Code. T EX .C ODE C R IM .P R OC .ANN . art. 44.47(a )(Ve rnon 2006). Howeve r, such a

n appea l ma

y be taken “ only

in conjunction with the appea l of a c onviction of or an order of deferr ed adjudication for the off ense f or which the defe ndant was tra nsfer red to c riminal
cou rt .” T EX .C ODE C R IM .P R OC .ANN . art. 44.47(b) . The re cord e stablishes that the criminal prosec ution of R.A. remains pending. Consequently , he does not have a r ight to appe al the tra nsfer
or de r at th is s ta g e of

the pr oc e e din g s. We g ra nt t he State ’s mot ion

a nd dis mis s th e a

pp e a l.
November

24, 2009 ANN CRAWFORD McCLURE, J ustice B e f o r e C h e w , C
. J. , M c C l u r e , a n d R i v e r a , JJ.