Case Information

*0 FILED IN 3rd COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS 12/8/2015 10:22:29 AM JEFFREY D. KYLE Clerk No. 03-15-00675-CV THIRD COURT OF APPEALS 12/8/2015 10:22:29 AM JEFFREY D. KYLE AUSTIN, TEXAS 03-15-00676-CV *1 ACCEPTED CLERK No. 03-15-00676-CV In the Third Court of Appeals Austin, Texas G ERALD S TEVENS , Appellant, v.

T HE S TATE OF T EXAS , Appellee.

On appeal from the County Court-at-Law Number Five, Travis County, Texas Trial Cause No. C-1-CR-15-100026 S TATE ’ S B RIEF D AVID A. E SCAMILLA T RAVIS OUNTY A TTORNEY G ISELLE H ORTON A SSISTANT RAVIS OUNTY A TTORNEY State Bar Number 10018000 Post Office Box 1748 Austin, Texas 78767 Telephone: (512) 854-9415 TCAppellate@traviscountytx.gov December 8, 2015 TTORNEYS FOR THE TATE OF EXAS

O RAL RGUMENT S N OT R EQUESTED ABLE OF C ONTENTS I NDEX OF A UTHORITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii

S TATEMENT OF THE C ASE .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 SSUE P RESENTED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

S UMMARY OF THE RGUMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 RGUMENT

Reply Point : The Court is without jurisdiction to hear Stevens’s

interlocutory appeal.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

P RAYER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 ERTIFICATE OF C OMPLIANCE .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 ERTIFICATE OF ERVICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

i NDEX OF UTHORITIES Statutes Page EX . ODE RIM . P. art. 44.17

(West 2006). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Rules EX . R. PP . P. 25.2(a)(2).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Cases

Ex parte Apolinar, 820 S.W.2d 792

(Tex. Crim. App. 1991) .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

McKown v. State, 915 S.W.2d 160

(Tex. App.—Fort Worth 1996, no pet.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ragston v. State, 424 S.W.3d 49

(Tex. Crim. App. 2014).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Workman v. State, 170 Tex. Crim. 621, 343 S.W.2d 446

(Tex. Crim. App. 1961).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

ii

TATEMENT OF THE ASE On March 27, 2015, a Travis County justice-court jury found Stevens

guilty of speeding, and assessed punishment at a $200 fine. CR 11, 12. ^[1] On

April 10th, he filed an appeal bond to appeal this Class C misdemeanor

conviction to a Travis County court-at-law. CR 53.

On June 5th, Stevens filed with the county clerk a document entitled

“Respondent’s Special Appearance and Plea to the Jurisdiction.” CR 57–87.

Stevens now appeals the trial court’s adverse ruling on his “special

appearance and plea to the jurisdiction.” CR 164 [adverse ruling]; CR

165–67 [Stevens’s “notice of interlocutory appeal”]. SSUE P RESENTED

Did the county court-at-law err in failing to dismiss the criminal case

against Stevens because the court was without personal or subject-matter

jurisdiction, as he contends?

UMMARY OF THE A RGUMENT This a an interlocutory matter that the Third Court does not have

jurisdiction to review. RGUMENT

Reply Point : The Court is without jurisdiction to hear

Stevens’s interlocutory appeal.

Appeal to county court from justice court is trial de novo. See EX . ODE RIM . P. art. 44.17 (West 2006). Stevens has not had trial de novo in

the county court-at-law, and therefore has not been convicted or sentenced

in this criminal case. As a general rule, a court of appeals has jurisdiction to

consider a criminal defendant’s appeal only where there has been a

judgment of conviction. See EX . R. PP . P. 25.2(a)(2); Workman v. State, 170

Tex. Crim. 621, 343 S.W.2d 446, 447 (Tex. Crim. App. 1961). A court of

appeals does not have jurisdiction to review rulings on interlocutory

orders in a criminal case unless that jurisdiction has been expressly granted

by law. Ragston v. State, 424 S.W.3d 49, 51 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014); Ex parte

Apolinar, 820 S.W.2d 792, 794 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991).

No jurisdiction has been granted by law permitting the Court to

interlocutorily review an order denying a “special appearance and plea to

the jurisdiction” in a criminal case. See McKown v. State, 915 S.W.2d 160,

161 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 1996, no pet.) (concluding that appeal from

pretrial order denying motion to suppress evidence was not immediately

appealable and dismissing appeal for lack of jurisdiction).

P RAYER For these reasons, on behalf of the State of Texas, the Travis County

Attorney asks the Court to dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.

Respectfully submitted, D AVID A. E SCAMILLA RAVIS OUNTY TTORNEY Giselle Horton Assistant Travis County Attorney State Bar Number 10018000 Post Office Box 1748 Austin, Texas 78767 Telephone: (512) 854-9415 TCAppellate@traviscountytx.gov TTORNEYS FOR THE TATE OF EXAS ERTIFICATE OF C OMPLIANCE Relying on Corel WordPerfect’s word-count function, I certify that

this document complies with the word-count limitations of T EX . R. PP . P.

9.4. The document contains 729 words.

Giselle Horton ERTIFICATE OF ERVICE I certify that I have sent a complete and legible copy of this State's

Brief via U.S. postage-prepaid mail to Mr. Gerald Stevens, at 3117 Fontana

Drive, Austin, Texas 78704, on December 8, 2015.

Giselle Horton Assistant Travis County Attorney

[1] The record does not reflect whether the other Class C misdemeanor arising out of the same transaction went to trial in the justice court.