March 17, 2015 | A Texas Appeals court dismissed a woman’s appeal of eight years’ incarceration because the appeal was untimely, stated an appellate opinion published on Tuesday.
Virginia Smith pled to injury to child after allegations of abuse occurred at Opportunities, Inc. In December 2014, a Bowie County jury sentenced Virginia Smith to eight years’ incarceration after a trial on punishment. After the punishment trial, Virginia Smith filed an appeal regarding this punishment with the Sixth Court of Appeals in Texarkana.
The appeal was filed on February 4, 2015 and the dated January 29, 2015. However, a defendant is required to file an appeal “within 30 days after the day sentence is imposed.” The sentence was imposed on December 11, 2014. The deadline to file the appeal was January 11, 2015.
Therefore, the appeal was dismissed because it was untimely.
The court notified the Defendant of the defect after the deadline passed. This letter provided notice to the Defendant of the opportunity, if possible, to cure the defect. The Defendant responded, but the letter did not impact the opinion.
Justice Ralph K. Burgess wrote the opinion. The court decided the opinion on March 17, 2015.
