Opinion issued January 28, 2010

In The

Court of Appeals

For The

First District of Texas

____________

NO. 01-09-00255-CR

____________

LARRY GENE WALDRUP, Appellant

v.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 262nd District Court

Harris County, Texas

Trial Court Cause No. 1191780

MEMORANDUM OPINION

We lack jurisdiction to hear this appeal. A jury convicted appellant, Larry Gene Waldrup, of possession of a controlled substance, namely cocaine, weighing less than one gram and assessed punishment at four-and-a-half years in prison. The trial court signed and entered a final judgment on January 30, 2009. Appellant did not file a motion for new trial, and therefore the deadline for filing a notice of appeal was March 1, 2009, thirty days after sentencing. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.2(a)(1).

Appellant filed a notice of appeal on March 13, 2009, twelve days after the deadline. Although the notice of appeal was filed within the 15-day time period for filing a motion for extension of time to file notice of appeal, no motion for extension of time was filed. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.3; Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 209-10 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998); Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 522 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996); Douglas v. State, 987 S.W.2d 605, 605-06 (Tex. App.--Houston [1st Dist.] 1999, no pet.). Absent a timely notice of appeal or compliance with Rule 26.3 to extend the time for filing the notice of appeal, this Court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the appeal in this case. Slaton, 981 S.W.2d at 209-10.

Even if we were to construe appellant's notice of appeal as a motion for an out-of-time appeal, neither the trial court nor this Court has authority to grant an out-of-time appeal. The exclusive post-conviction remedy in final felony convictions in Texas courts is through a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to Article 11.07 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 11.07 (Vernon Supp. 2009); Ater v. Eighth Court of Appeals, 802 S.W.2d 241, 243 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991).

Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

We dismiss as moot any pending motions.

It is so ORDERED.

George C. Hanks, Jr.

Justice

Panel consists of Justices Jennings, Hanks, and Bland.

Do not publish. See Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b).