Opinion
No. 06-12-00173-CR
11-20-2012
WILLIAM RAY JACOBS, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 402nd Judicial District Court
Wood County, Texas
Trial Court No. 14,725-96
Before Morriss, C.J., Carter and Moseley, JJ.
Memorandum Opinion by Justice Moseley
MEMORANDUM OPINION
William Ray Jacobs filed a notice of appeal October 11, 2012, attempting to appeal the trial court's denial of his fourth request for DNA testing. We received and reviewed the clerk's record in this matter and noted that while the trial court apparently issued an oral ruling on the motion for DNA testing and made a notation of that ruling on the clerk's docket, the clerk's record did not contain a written order. On October 17, 2012, we notified Jacobs by letter of the possible jurisdictional defect and requested that he, within fifteen days of the date of the letter, show this Court how it had jurisdiction. On October 31, 2012, we received, for the second time, Jacobs' brief arguing the merits of his request for DNA testing. The brief did not, however, address the jurisdictional issue raised by the Court.
This Court has jurisdiction over criminal appeals only when expressly granted by law. TEX. CONST. art. V, § 6; Everett v. State, 91 S.W.3d 386, 386 (Tex. App.—Waco 2002, no pet.) (per curiam). A timely notice of appeal from a conviction or an appealable order is necessary to invoke this Court's jurisdiction. Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 522 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996). A docket entry is not the equivalent of a written order. State v. Garza, 931 S.W.2d 560, 561 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996) (citing Taack v. McCall, 661 S.W.2d 923 (Tex. 1983)).
There being no conviction or appealable order in the record, we dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction.
Bailey C. Moseley
Justice
Do Not Publish