Jabar O'Keith Miller v. the State of Texas

In the
Court of Appeals
Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana

No. 06-25-00104-CR

JABAR O’KEITH MILLER, Appellant

V.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 115th District Court
Upshur County, Texas
Trial Court No. 19797

Before Stevens, C.J., van Cleef and Rambin, JJ.
Memorandum Opinion by Chief Justice Stevens
MEMORANDUM OPINION

On May 13, 2024, Jabar O’Keith Miller pled guilty to the offense of delivery of a

controlled substance in penalty group one of the Texas Controlled Substances Act. See TEX.

HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. § 481.112 (Supp.).1 The same day, he was sentenced to forty

years’ confinement in prison. On July 14, 2025, Miller filed a notice of appeal indicating that he

was appealing “the trial court’s judgment rendered on May 13, 2024.” Because the trial court

sentenced him on May 13, 2024, his notice of appeal was due on or before June 12, 2024. See

TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a)(1). Miller did not file his notice of appeal until July 14, 2025, over a year

beyond the due date.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has expressly held that, without a timely filed

notice of appeal, we cannot exercise jurisdiction over an appeal. Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519,

522 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996); see Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 209 n.3 (Tex. Crim. App.

1998) (per curiam). Consequently, on July 21, 2025, we informed Miller of the apparent defect

in our jurisdiction over his appeal and afforded him the opportunity to respond and, if possible,

cure such defect. Miller filed a response to our jurisdictional inquiry, but it did not include a

satisfactory explanation as to how we have jurisdiction over this appeal.

1
Miller was tried as a repeat offender.
2
Because Miller did not timely perfect his appeal, we dismiss this appeal for want of

jurisdiction.

Scott E. Stevens
Chief Justice

Date Submitted: August 5, 2025
Date Decided: August 6, 2025

Do Not Publish

3