Second Court of Appeals

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of June 22, 2015.

NOTE: Summaries are prepared by the court's staff attorneys and law clerks for public information only and reflect his or her interpretation alone of the facts and legal issues. The summaries are not part of the court's opinion in the case and should not be cited to, quoted, or relied upon as the opinion of the court.

Links to full text of opinions (PDF version) can be accessed by clicking the cause number.

State v. Palmer, No. 02-14-00175-CR (June 25, 2015) (Gardner, J., joined by Livingston, C.J., and Walker, J.).

Held:  The court dismisses the State's appeal of the trial court's order granting Palmer's motion to suppress. The State's timely-filed notice of appeal was defective because it was signed by the assistant district attorney and failed to show it was authorized by the district attorney in violation of article 44.01(i) of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. The State's amended notice of appeal was ineffective because it was filed untimely and because noncompliance with article 44.01 was not susceptible to correction through application of the amendment-and-cure provisions of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. The State filed an untimely affidavit by the district attorney showing he authorized the assistant district attorney's timely-filed notice of appeal; however, it was ineffective because once the twenty-day deadline of article 44.01(d) expired, the defective notice of appeal could not be retroactively cured under either the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure or article 44.01 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. If there is no compliance within the twenty-day window, the window is thereafter closed.