Robert Lee Lohse III v. the State of Texas

NUMBER 13-26-00311-CR

COURT OF APPEALS

THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

CORPUS CHRISTI – EDINBURG

ROBERT LEE LOHSE III, Appellant,

v.

THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee.

ON APPEAL FROM THE 119TH DISTRICT COURT
OF TOM GREEN COUNTY, TEXAS

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Before Chief Justice Tijerina and Justices West and Cron
Memorandum Opinion by Justice West 1

On November 19, 2025, the trial court entered a judgment of conviction. Appellant

timely filed a motion for new trial. To perfect an appeal, appellant was required to file his

1 This appeal was transferred from the Third Court of Appeals in Austin pursuant to an order issued

by the Texas Supreme Court. See TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. § 73.001(a).
notice of appeal by February 17, 2026. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a)(2) (providing that an

appellant in a criminal case who timely filed a motion for new trial must file his notice of

appeal within 90 days after the day sentence is imposed). Appellant filed his notice of

appeal on March 2, 2026. Accordingly, the Clerk issued a notice of defect. In response,

appellant filed a motion for leave to file a late motion for extension of time to file appellant’s

notice of appeal. Appellant correctly states that the Rules provide a fifteen-day grace

period to perfect an appeal after expiration of the notice of appeal deadline where the

appellant files a notice of appeal and motion for extension of time within the grace period.

See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.3. Appellant avers that, while he did not file a motion for extension

of time within the grace period, he did file a notice of appeal within the grace period, and

a motion for extension of time should have been implied in conjunction with the filing of

his notice of appeal. See Verburgt v. Dorner, 959 S.W.2nd 615, 617 (Tex. 1997).

We agree that, when a notice of appeal is filed in a civil case within the grace

period, a motion for extension of time is implied. See id. However, the Court of Criminal

Appeals has construed the Rule otherwise. See Olivo v. State, 918 S.W.2d 519, 522 (Tex.

Crim. App. 1996). In criminal cases, we are unable to imply a filing of a motion for

extension of time; filing of both a notice of appeal and motion for extension of time within

the grace period are required to perfect an appeal. Id.; Aleman v. State, 554 S.W.3d 794,

795 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2018, no pet.); Lair v. State, 321 S.W.3d 158, 159

(Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2010, pet. ref’d). Moreover, “[i]f an appeal is not timely

perfected, a court of appeals does not obtain jurisdiction to address the merits of the

appeal and can take no action other than to dismiss the appeal.” Lair, 321 S.W.3d at 159

(citing Slaton v. State, 981 S.W.2d 208, 210 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998)).

2
Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. All pending motions are

denied as moot.

JON WEST
Justice

Do not publish.
TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).

Delivered and filed on the
21st day of May, 2026.

3