Byron Barrett v. the State of Texas

In The

Court of Appeals

Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana

No. 06-21-00100-CR

BYRON BARRETT, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 6th District Court

Lamar County, Texas

Trial Court No. 24865

Before Morriss, C.J., Burgess and Stevens, JJ.

Memorandum Opinion by Justice Stevens MEMORANDUM OPINION

Byron Barrett has filed an untimely notice of appeal from the trial court’s order denying Barrett’s motion for forensic DNA testing. We dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.

The trial court entered its order denying Barrett’s motion for forensic DNA testing on March 15, 2021. There is nothing in the appellate record to indicate that Barrett filed a motion for new trial. In the absence of a timely motion for new trial, Barrett, to perfect his appeal, was required to file his notice of appeal within thirty days of the date of the trial court’s order, or on or before April 14, 2021. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a)(1). Barrett filed his notice of appeal on July 12, 2021, well beyond the April 14 deadline. The notice of appeal, therefore, was untimely.

We notified Barrett by letter that his notice of appeal appeared to be untimely and that the appeal was subject to dismissal for want of jurisdiction. We gave Barrett twenty days to respond to our letter and to demonstrate how we have jurisdiction over the appeal notwithstanding the noted defect. While Barrett did respond to our letter, he failed to demonstrate how we have jurisdiction over his appeal.

Because Barrett did not timely file his notice of appeal, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.

Scott E. Stevens

Justice

Date Submitted: November 10, 2021

Date Decided: November 12, 2021

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