Background
Menion Marquis Samuels was convicted by jury in the 104th District Court of Taylor County of continuous sexual abuse of a child under Texas Penal Code § 21.02. The trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
After conviction, Samuels’s counsel filed a motion for new trial and a motion for extension of time to file a notice of appeal. However, counsel never actually filed the notice of appeal itself. On March 4, 2026, the appellate court notified Samuels that his appeal had not been perfected and was subject to dismissal absent a timely notice of appeal. On June 15, Samuels’s counsel sent a letter to the court acknowledging that the notice of appeal “did not get filed” and stated he was pursuing an out-of-time appeal before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
The Court’s Holding
The Eleventh Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal for want of jurisdiction. The court held that under Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 26.2(a), a notice of appeal must be filed either within thirty days after sentencing or, if a motion for new trial is filed, within ninety days after sentencing. Because Samuels’s counsel failed to file any notice of appeal within these deadlines, the appellate court lacked jurisdiction to hear the appeal.
The court emphasized that it had no discretion in the matter. Citing controlling precedent, the court stated that while counsel had filed a motion for new trial and motion for extension of time, the failure to file the notice of appeal itself was fatal. The appellate court cannot extend the time for perfecting an appeal and must dismiss when jurisdiction is absent.
Key Takeaways
- A notice of appeal is a mandatory jurisdictional requirement; filing a motion for new trial or motion for extension does not cure the failure to file the notice itself.
- Appellate courts lack discretion to extend the deadline for filing a notice of appeal under Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure.
- The remedy for a missed notice of appeal deadline is a separate application to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 11.07.
Why It Matters
This case underscores the critical importance of strict compliance with appellate procedural rules. A single procedural failure—failing to file the notice of appeal despite filing related motions—resulted in dismissal of the appeal on jurisdictional grounds, leaving the conviction and life sentence intact at the appellate level. The court’s inability to exercise discretion highlights that good intentions (filing extension requests) cannot substitute for the mandatory filing of the notice itself.
For criminal defense practitioners, this decision serves as a stark reminder of the jurisdictional prerequisites to appellate review. Even when appeal-related motions are timely filed, counsel must ensure the notice of appeal is filed within the statutory deadline, or the client’s right to appellate review is forfeited absent an extraordinary out-of-time application to the higher court.