Opinion
No. 11-09-00087-CR
Opinion March 25, 2010. DO NOT PUBLISH. See TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).
On Appeal from the County Criminal Court No. 4, Denton County, Texas, Trial Court Cause No. CR-2008-06123-Y.
Panel consists of: WRIGHT, C.J., McCALL, J., and STRANGE, J.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
On December 14, 2007, the non-record municipal court of Northlake in Denton County, Texas, found Chelsea Aurelea Reedy guilty of failure to appear/bail jumping and imposed a $197 fine. The court advised Reedy that the "judgment date" would be January 9, 2008, and that, to appeal, she must post a bond twice the amount of her fine within thirty days of this judgment date. Reedy filed an appeal bond on January 11, 2008. On August 13, 2008, the municipal court signed a judgment. On the same date, the court administrator prepared a certified transcript of the proceedings in municipal court. The county court signed an order dismissing the cause on February 23, 2009. We affirm.
TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 45.0426 (Vernon 2006) provides that the filing of the appeal bond perfects that appeal from the municipal court to the county court. TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 45.043 (Vernon 2006) states that, when the appeal is filed, "all further proceedings in the case in . . . municipal court shall cease." According to the record before us, the municipal court lost jurisdiction on January 11, 2008, when Reedy filed her appeal bond.
The State argues that the county court erred when it sua sponte dismissed this Class C misdemeanor action for speedy trial violations when the issue of a speedy trial was not raised in the municipal court and no record was developed in the municipal court. Reedy responds by contending that the trial court did not abuse its discretion. We agree.
We note that the Northlake Municipal Court is not a municipal court of record. Therefore, Reedy's appeal bond triggered a trial de novo in the county court. TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 45.042(b) (Vernon 2006). The county court noted that the provisions of TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 17.151, § 1(4) (Vernon Supp. 2009) calls for the release of a person confined on a Class C misdemeanor within five days and concluded that such lesser offense as Class C misdemeanors were entitled to "shorter times for rights to invoke delay." The county court then determined that the delay from the January 11, 2008 appeal bond until the February 23, 2009 hearing resulted in the failure of the State to meet speedy trial requirements.
No testimony was presented at the February 23, 2009 hearing. The county court expressed concern at the delay in bringing the case to trial. Counsel for Reedy made a motion to dismiss for failure of her rights to a speedy trial.
The State has not established that the county court abused its discretion. Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514 (1972); Cantu v. State, 253 S.W.3d 273 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008). The State's arguments are overruled, and the order of the county court is affirmed.