Pursuant to a plea bargain, Appellant pled guilty to possession of a controlled substance. The trial court deferred adjudication of guilt and placed Appellant on community supervision for six years. Appellant filed a general notice of appeal from the order deferring adjudication of guilt. After the time had expired for filing notice of appeal but before filing his brief, Appellant filed an amended notice of appeal, stating that the substance of the appeal was raised by written motion and ruled upon prior to trial and that the trial court had granted permission to appeal.
The Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction, holding that according to State v. Riewe, 13 S.W.3d 408 (Tex. Crim. App. 2000), once the deadline for filing notice of appeal has expired, an amended notice of appeal cannot correct jurisdictional defects. Kinchen v. State, No. 14-02-00859-CR (Tex. App.-Houston [14th Dist.], delivered September 26, 2002). Appellant filed a petition for discretionary review of this decision.
In Bayless v. State, 91 S.W.3d 801(Tex. Crim. App. 2002), this Court held that under TEX.R.APP.PRO. 25.2(d), a defendant is permitted to file an amended notice of appeal curing any defects in an earlier filed notice. When the Court of Appeals decided this case, it did not have the benefit of this Court's opinion in Bayless. Accordingly, we grant Appellant's petition for discretionary review, vacate the judgment of the Court of Appeals, and remand to that court for reconsideration in light of our opinion in Bayless.
Delivered: April 9, 2003
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