IN THE

TENTH COURT OF APPEALS

No. 10-03-00245-CV

     BENJAMIN ELIAS,

                                                                              Appellant

     v.

     OFFICER J. WOODS, ET AL.,

                                                                              Appellees

From the 278th District Court

Madison County, Texas

Trial Court # 03-10039-278-10

MEMORANDUM OPINION

      Benjamin Elias filed suit against seven defendants. Five of these defendants filed a motion to dismiss Elias’s claims against them under Chapter 14 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code. The court granted this motion, and Elias appealed. However, the court never adjudicated Elias’s claims against the remaining two defendants. Thus, the appeal is interlocutory.

      The Clerk of this Court notified the parties that the appeal is interlocutory and would be dismissed for want of jurisdiction if a response showing grounds for continuing the appeal was not filed within 10 days. Elias has responded by filing a motion in this Court to sever the unadjudicated claims from those the trial court has dismissed. We will dismiss that motion for want of jurisdiction.

      This is not an interlocutory appeal authorized by statute. See Stary v. DeBord, 967 S.W.3d 352, 352-53 (Tex. 1998); Chase Manhattan Bank v. Bowles, 52 S.W.3d 871, 878 (Tex. App.—Waco 2001, no pet.). Accordingly, the jurisdiction of this Court cannot be properly invoked until a final, appealable judgment has been signed by the trial court. See Lehmann v. Har-Con Corp., 39 S.W.3d 191, 195 (Tex. 2001). Only the trial court can sign a severance order to make the dismissal order in Elias’s case an appealable judgment. Cf. Larsen v. Carlene Langford & Assocs., Inc., 41 S.W.3d 245, 248 (Tex. App.—Waco 2001, pet. denied); see also Lehmann, 39 S.W.3d at 201.

      The trial court has not signed a severance order. Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed for want of jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 42.3(a).

                                                                   PER CURIAM

Before Chief Justice Gray,

      Justice Vance, and

      Justice Reyna

Appeal dismissed

Opinion delivered and filed March 17, 2004

[CV06]