Chester Lee Finney v. the State of Texas

Opinion filed January 30, 2025

In The

Eleventh Court of Appeals
___________

No. 11-24-00322-CR
___________

CHESTER LEE FINNEY, Appellant
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 244th District Court
Ector County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. C-34,331

MEMORANDUM OPINION
In 2008, a jury found Appellant, Chester Lee Finney, guilty of the first-degree
felony offense of aggravated sexual assault of a child and sentenced him to
confinement in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice for a term of forty-five years. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. 22.021(a), (e)
(West 2019). The following year, we affirmed the trial court’s judgment of
conviction. Finney v. State, No. 11-08-00056-CR, 2009 WL 3489940, at *3 (Tex.
App.—Eastland Oct. 29, 2009, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for publication).
Appellant has filed a pro se notice of appeal challenging the same conviction. We
dismiss this appeal.
When this appeal was docketed, we notified Appellant by letter that his recent
pro se notice of appeal was untimely. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a). In our letter, we
requested that Appellant respond and show grounds to continue the appeal, and we
notified Appellant that this appeal may be dismissed. Appellant filed a response but
has not shown any grounds upon which this appeal may proceed.
A second direct appeal is not authorized by law. McDonald v. State, 401
S.W.3d 360, 362 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 2013, pet. ref’d); Burnette v. State, No. 11-
05-00047-CR, 2005 WL 608146, at *1 (Tex. App.—Eastland Mar. 17, 2005, no pet)
(not designated for publication). Moreover, pursuant to the Texas Rules of Appellate
Procedure, a notice of appeal must be filed either (1) within thirty days after the date
that sentence is imposed in open court or (2) if the defendant timely files a motion
for new trial, within ninety days after the date that sentence is imposed in open court.
TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a). Appellant attempts to appeal the same conviction that has
already been affirmed by this court, and he filed this pro se notice of appeal nearly
sixteen years after his sentence was imposed. Accordingly, we do not have
jurisdiction to entertain this appeal.1 McDonald, 401 S.W.3d at 362; Slaton v. State,
981 S.W.2d 208, 210 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998).

1
To the extent that Appellant’s notice of appeal indicates that he is seeking post-conviction relief,
we note that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has exclusive jurisdiction in post-conviction felony
proceedings. Ater v. Eighth Ct. of Appeals, 802 S.W.2d 241, 243 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991) (orig. proceeding).
We further note that Appellant has filed numerous post-conviction writs of habeas corpus with the Court
of Criminal Appeals that have been denied or dismissed. See, e.g., Ex parte Finney, WR-73,702-01 (Tex.
Crim. App. Apr. 28, 2010) (denied); Ex parte Finney, WR-73,702-04 (Tex. Crim. App. Apr. 16, 2014)
(dismissed as subsequent application under Article 11.07, Section 4 of the Texas Code of Criminal

2
We dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction.

JOHN M. BAILEY
CHIEF JUSTICE

January 30, 2025

Do not publish. See TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).
Panel consists of: Bailey, C.J.,
Williams, J., and Wright, S.C.J.2

Trotter, J., not participating.

Procedure).
2
Jim. R. Wright, Senior Chief Justice (Retired), Court of Appeals, 11th District of Texas at
Eastland, siting by assignment.

3