Opinion issued June 16, 2015

In The

Court of Appeals 

For The

First District of Texas 

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NO. 01-13-00960-CR

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RONNIE DUSTIN HARRISON, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 178th District Court

Harris County, Texas

Trial Court Case No. 1302555

MEMORANDUM OPINION

A jury convicted appellant, Ronnie Dustin Harrison, of the second-degree 

felony offense of sexual assault of a child and the court assessed his punishment at 

fifteen years’ confinement in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, 
2

Institutional Division. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 22.011(a)(2)(A), (f) (West 

2011). We dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.

Because the record reflected that appellant’s notice of appeal appeared to be 

untimely, we notified appellant that his appeal was subject to dismissal for want of 

jurisdiction unless he filed a written response to our notice that provided a detailed 

explanation, citing relevant portions of the record, statutes, rules, and case law 

demonstrating the court’s jurisdiction over the appeal. In his response, appellant 

contended that his notice was timely filed on September 18, 2013, and, in the 

alternative, appellant moved for an extension of time to file his notice of appeal. 

Generally, a defendant’s notice of appeal in a criminal case is due within 

thirty days after the sentence is imposed in open court or the trial court enters an 

appealable order. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a)(1). The deadline to file a notice of 

appeal is extended to ninety days after the date the sentence is imposed in open 

court if the defendant timely files a motion for new trial. See TEX. R. APP. P. 

26.2(a)(2). The time to file a notice of appeal may also be extended if, within 

fifteen days after the deadline to file the notice of appeal, a party properly files a 

motion for extension. See TEX. R. APP. P. 10.5(b), 26.3.

In this case, appellant’s sentence was imposed on June 19, 2013. Because he 

filed a timely motion for new trial, appellant was required to file his notice of 

appeal by September 17, 2013—ninety days after his sentence was imposed in 
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open court. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a)(2). Appellant, however, did not file his 

notice of appeal until September 18, 2013, at the earliest.1

Although appellant’s untimely notice of appeal was filed within fifteen days 

of the September 17, 2013 deadline, no motion for extension of time was filed 

during this time. “When a notice of appeal, but no motion for extension of time, is 

filed within the fifteen-day period, the court of appeals lacks jurisdiction to dispose 

of the purported appeal in any manner other than by dismissing it for lack of 

jurisdiction.” Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 523 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996); see also 

Lair v. State, 321 S.W.3d 158, 159–60 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2010, pet. 

ref’d). This Court has no authority to allow the late filing of a notice of appeal 

except as provided by Rule 26.3. See Olivo, 918 S.W.2d at 522; see also Lair, 321 

S.W.3d at 159–60. If an appeal is not timely perfected, a court of appeals does not 

obtain jurisdiction to address the merits of the appeal and can take no action other 

than to dismiss the appeal. See Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 210 (Tex. Crim.

App. 1998).

 1

 Although appellant contends that he filed his notice of appeal on September 18, 

2013, the appellate record reflects that the notice of appeal may have been filed as 

late as September 23, 2013. Both dates, however, are more than ninety days after 

the imposition of sentence in this case. 
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Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. We also dismiss 

any pending motions.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Keyes, Huddle, and Lloyd.

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