Jamarrion Freeman v. the State of Texas

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

No. 06-24-00149-CR

JAMARRION FREEMAN, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 202nd District Court
Bowie County, Texas
Trial Court No. 23F0918-202

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

On September 19, 2023, Jamarrion Freeman pled guilty to the offense of credit card or

debit card abuse. The trial court deferred a finding of guilt and placed Freeman on deferred

adjudication community supervision for three years. On June 10, 2024, the State filed a motion

to proceed with adjudication, alleging, among other things, that Freeman had committed a new

offense. On July 11, 2024, the trial court adjudicated Freeman’s guilt and sentenced him to two

years’ confinement in a state jail facility.

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

file a motion for new trial, to be timely, on or before August 12, 2024. See TEX. R. APP. P. 21.4.

Freeman did not file his motion for new trial until September 17, 2024; 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 August 12, 2024. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2. Freeman did not file his notice of

appeal until September 17, 2024, well beyond the August 12 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. Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 522 (Tex. Crim. App.

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

On October 16, 2024, we informed Freeman of the apparent defect in our jurisdiction

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

We informed Freeman that, if he did not respond by October 28, 2024, we would have no choice

but to dismiss his appeal for want of jurisdiction. Freeman did not file a response to our

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jurisdictional defect letter, though he did file an untimely motion for an extension of the deadline

to file his notice of appeal, which we deny.

Because Freeman did not timely perfect his appeal, we dismiss this appeal for want of

jurisdiction.

Scott E. Stevens
Chief Justice

Date Submitted: November 15, 2024
Date Decided: November 18, 2024

Do Not Publish

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