Court Opinion

ID: 9381930
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-03-24 07:08:33.858051+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:17:35.831829
License: Public Domain

In The

                               Court of Appeals

                   Ninth District of Texas at Beaumont

                             __________________

                             NO. 09-23-00035-CR
                             NO. 09-23-00036-CR
                             __________________

               BRITTANY NICOLE LITCHFIELD, Appellant

                                       V.

                      THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

__________________________________________________________________

               On Appeal from the 252nd District Court
                       Jefferson County, Texas
                Trial Cause Nos. 21-37098 and 21-37099
__________________________________________________________________

                         MEMORANDUM OPINION

      On December 12, 2022, the trial court sentenced Brittany Nicole Litchfield on

separate indictments for abandoning a child, but suspended imposition of the

sentences and placed Litchfield on community supervision. See Tex. Penal Code

Ann. § 22.041(f); see also Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 42A.053(a)(1). On

January 26, 2023, Litchfield filed notice of appeal for Trial Cause Numbers 21-

37098 and 21-37099. We questioned whether we had jurisdiction over the appeals.

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      In a criminal case, a timely notice of appeal is necessary to invoke this court’s

jurisdiction. Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 522 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996). Here, the

notice of appeal was due on January 11, 2023. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.2(a)(1). An

appellate may, however, extend the time to file the notice of appeal if, within 15 days

after the deadline for filing the notice the party files a motion to extend the time to

file the appeal, which contains the information required by Rule 10.5(b) of the Texas

rules of Civil Procedure. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3 Here, a motion for extension of

time was due to be filed no later than January 26, 2023, but Litchfield did not file

one. “When a notice of appeal is filed within the fifteen-day period but no timely

motion for extension of time is filed, the appellate court lacks jurisdiction.” Olivo,

918 S.W.2d at 522.

      We dismiss the appeals for lack of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 43.2(f).

      APPEALS DISMISSED.

                                                            PER CURIAM

Submitted on March 21, 2023
Opinion Delivered March 22, 2023
Do Not Publish

Before Golemon, C.J., Horton and Wright, JJ.

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