Damarius Santez Washington v. the State of Texas
CourtTexas Court of Appeals, 6th District (Texarkana)
Date FiledSeptember 8, 2026
Docket06-26-00125-CR
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
In the
Court of Appeals
Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana
No. 06-26-00125-CR
DAMARIUS SANTEZ WASHINGTON, Appellant
V.
THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
On Appeal from the 6th District Court
Lamar County, Texas
Trial Court No. 30820
Before Stevens, C.J., van Cleef and Rambin, JJ.
Memorandum Opinion by Chief Justice Stevens
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Damarius Santez Washington pled guilty to possession of less than one gram of a
controlled substance and was placed on three years’ community supervision. See TEX. HEALTH &
SAFETY CODE ANN. § 481.115(b) (Supp.). At the revocation rehearing on the State’s motion to
revoke community supervision, Washington agreed to waive his right of appeal in exchange for a
twenty-two-month cap on his state-jail sentence. The trial court then sentenced Washington to
twenty-two months in state jail and certified that he had waived his right of appeal.
Even though Washington waived his right of appeal, he nevertheless, acting pro se, filed a
notice of appeal. “A court of appeals lacks jurisdiction over and must dismiss an appeal when the
defendant has validly waived his right of appeal.” Lopez v. State, 595 S.W.3d 897, 899 (Tex.
App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2020, pet. ref’d) (citing Jones v. State, 488 S.W.3d 801, 808 (Tex.
Crim. App. 2016)); see also Freeman v. State, 913 S.W.2d 714, 717 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 1995,
pet. ref’d). We informed Washington of this apparent defect in our jurisdiction over his appeal
and afforded him an opportunity to respond and, if possible, cure such defect. While Washington
responded, he did not provide a sufficient basis for retaining this matter on our docket.
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Because Washington has no right of appeal as a result of his valid waiver of the right of
appeal and because the trial court’s certification correctly indicates that he is without a right of
appeal, we dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction. See TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(d).
Scott E. Stevens
Chief Justice
Date Submitted: September 4, 2026
Date Decided: September 8, 2026
Do Not Publish
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