Vidales v. State
No. PD-0705-15
Case Summary written by Eric Clinton, Staff Member.
Appellant, Sammy Vidales, was convicted and sentenced to sixty-two years in confinement for evading arrest with a vehicle. On May 15, 2015, the court of appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part, causing the State to file a petition for discretionary review with the Court of Criminal Appeals on June 12, 2015. On July 7, 2015, the court of appeals withdrew the original opinion and issued a new opinion.
Issue: Did the court of appeals have jurisdiction to issue a second opinion after a petition for discretionary review has been filed in the Court of Criminal Appeals?
Rule 19 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure grants the court of appeals plenary jurisdiction that continues after a petition of review is filed in the Supreme Court of Texas. Rule 50 of the Texas Rules of Criminal Procedure would have given the court of appeals plenary jurisdiction upon a petition for discretionary review to the Court of Criminal Appeals; however, this rule was abolished in 2011. Since the second opinion was issued after the State filed a petition for discretionary review in the Court of Criminal Appeals, the court of appeals did not have jurisdiction to enter the opinion under the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. Therefore, the court of appeals opinion issued on July 7, 2015 was withdrawn.