Justin Clayton Goldthrite v. the State of Texas

In the
Court of Appeals
Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana

No. 06-25-00037-CR

JUSTIN CLAYTON GOLDTHRITE, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 124th District Court
Gregg County, Texas
Trial Court No. 53,861-B

Before Stevens, C.J., van Cleef and Rambin, JJ.
Memorandum Opinion by Chief Justice Stevens
MEMORANDUM OPINION

On June 7, 2023, after a bench trial, the trial court convicted Justin Clayton Goldthrite of

retaliation and sentenced him to eight years’ confinement in prison. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN.

§ 36.06(c).

Under Rule 21.4 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, Goldthrite would had to

have filed a motion for new trial, to be timely, on or before July 7, 2023. See TEX. R. APP. P.

21.4. Goldthrite did not file his motion for new trial in this matter until February 19, 2025; as a

result, he failed to extend the period for perfecting his appeal, and his notice of appeal, to be

timely, was also due on or before July 7, 2023. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2. Goldthrite did not file

his notice of appeal until February 19, 2025, well beyond the July 7, 2023, deadline. The Texas

Court of Criminal Appeals has expressly held that, without a timely filed notice of appeal, we

cannot exercise jurisdiction over an appeal. See Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 522 (Tex. Crim.

App. 1996); see also Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 209 n.3 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998)

(per curiam).

On February 25, 2025, we informed Goldthrite of the apparent defect in our jurisdiction

over his appeal and afforded him the opportunity to respond and, if possible, cure such defect.

We warned Goldthrite that, if he did not respond by March 7, 2025, we would have no choice

but to dismiss his case for want of jurisdiction. Goldthrite did not file a response to our

jurisdictional defect letter.

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Because Goldthrite did not timely perfect his appeal, we dismiss the appeal for want of

jurisdiction.

Scott E. Stevens
Chief Justice

Date Submitted: March 14, 2025
Date Decided: March 17, 2025

Do Not Publish

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