James Bishop v. State

Opinion issued July 24, 2014

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-14-00365-CR ——————————— JAMES BISHOP, Appellant V. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee

On Appeal from the 179th District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Case No. 1402762

MEMORANDUM OPINION ON PERMANENT ABATEMENT

A jury convicted appellant, James Bishop, of murder and assessed punishment at life imprisonment. Bishop timely filed a notice of appeal.

On June 10, 2014, the trial court clerk filed the clerk’s record, containing a “Proof of Death Letter” stating: “On April 20, 2014 James Earl Bishop died at St. Joseph Medical Center.”

The death of an appellant during the pendency of an appeal deprives this Court of jurisdiction. See Graham v. State, 991 S.W.2d 802, 802 (Tex. Crim. App. 1998); Garcia v. State, 840 S.W.2d 957, 958 (Tex. Crim. App. 1992). When an appellant dies after perfecting an appeal but before this Court issues the mandate, “the appropriate disposition is the abatement of the appeal.” Garcia, 840 S.W.2d at 958; see TEX. R. APP. P. 7.1(a)(2) (“If the appellant in a criminal case dies after an appeal is perfected but before the appellate court issues the mandate, the appeal will be permanently abated.”).

Accordingly, this appeal is permanently abated.

PER CURIAM Panel consists of Chief Justice Radack and Justices Higley and Brown.

Do not publish.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