Opinion
NO. 01-15-00168-CR
03-24-2016
GEORGE RAY MICHEAUX, JR., Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the County Court at Law No. 1 Fort Bend County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. 14-CCR-175454
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Appellant, George Ray Micheaux, Jr., was convicted of the Class C misdemeanor offense of blocking an intersection with his car after a municipal court jury found him guilty and assessed a fine of $75.00, plus court costs. See TEX. TRANSP. CODE ANN. § 545.302(a)(3) (West Supp. 2015). Appellant appealed to the County Court at Law No. 1 which convicted him after a bench trial and sentenced him to a fine of $75.00, plus court costs, on January 21, 2015. Appellant then timely appealed but, because we lack jurisdiction, we dismiss the appeal.
There was no certification of appellant's right of appeal attached to the notice of appeal or included in the clerk's record. An appeal must be dismissed if a certification showing that the defendant has the right of appeal has not been made part of the record. TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(d); see Dears v. State, 154 S.W.3d 610, 613 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005). The Clerk of this Court requested that the trial clerk file a certification of appellant's right of appeal from the January 21, 2015 judgment and sentence in a supplemental clerk's record. See TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(a)(2), (d), 37.1. On December 10, 2015, the trial clerk filed in this Court an information sheet requesting an extension of time to file the supplemental clerk's record until January 10, 2016, because she was waiting on the attorney to file the certification. We granted the extension request. To date, neither a supplemental clerk's record nor a further extension request has been filed.
Although rule 25.2(d) requires this Court to dismiss a criminal appeal when the appellate record does not contain a certification showing that appellant has the right to appeal, rule 44.4 prohibits us from dismissing a criminal appeal based on the lack of a valid certification if the appellant has a right to appeal. See TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(d), 44.4(a); see also Dears, 154 S.W.3d at 615. There is no constitutional right to appellate review of criminal convictions. See Phynes v. State, 828 S.W.2d 1, 2 (Tex. Crim. App. 1992). The right to appeal in criminal cases is conferred by the legislature, and a party may appeal only from judgments of conviction or orders authorized as appealable. See TEX. CRIM. PROC. CODE ANN. art. 44.02 (West Supp. 2015); TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(a)(2); see also Marin v. State, 851 S.W.2d 275, 278 (Tex. Crim. App. 1993).
Article 4.03 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure grants the courts of appeal appellate jurisdiction over all non-death penalty criminal cases, but not over "any case which has been appealed from any inferior court to the . . . county court at law, in which the fine imposed or affirmed by the . . . county court at law does not exceed one hundred dollars, unless the sole issue is the constitutionality of the statute or ordinance on which the conviction is based." TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 4.03 (West Supp. 2015); see Flores v. State, 462 S.W.3d 551, 552 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2015, no pet.) (dismissing appeals for want of jurisdiction because fines in each case were $100.00 and "sole issue" was not constitutionality of statute) (citing, inter alia, TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 30.00027(a) (West Supp. 2014)); see also Boyd v. State, 11 S.W.3d 324, 325 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1999, no pet.) (dismissing appeal for want of jurisdiction because no constitutional appellate issue raised and "monetary fine does not exceed $100 exclusive of costs.") (citations omitted).
In appellant's brief filed with this Court, he primarily contended that he was denied a fair trial because a statutory exception should have applied since he claimed he was forced to stop his car momentarily in the intersection due to traffic stopping in front of him, but he did not challenge the constitutionality of the statute. See TEX. TRANSP. CODE ANN. § 545.302(f). Thus, this Court lacks jurisdiction because the $75.00 fine imposed by the county court at law does not exceed $100, exclusive of costs, and the constitutionality of the statute was not raised. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 4.03; see also Flores, 462 S.W.3d at 552; Boyd, 11 S.W.3d at 325.
CONCLUSION
Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction. See TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(d), 43.2(f). We dismiss any pending motions as moot.
PER CURIAM Panel consists of Chief Justice Radack and Justices Keyes and Higley. Do not publish. TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).