Court Opinion

ID: 9745696
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 10:13:44.166826+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:26:41.422769
License: Public Domain

Petition for Writ of Mandamus Dismissed and Memorandum Opinion filed
August 24, 2023.

                                                 In The

                          Fourteenth Court of Appeals

                                         NO. 14-23-00588-CR

                     IN RE THORNTON RAY PROPHET, Relator

                                 ORIGINAL PROCEEDING
                                   WRIT OF MANDAMUS
                                      176th District Court
                                     Harris County, Texas
                                 Trial Court Cause No. 262195

                                MEMORANDUM OPINION

      On August 16, 2023, relator Thornton Ray Prophet filed a petition for writ of
mandamus in this Court. See Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 22.221; see also Tex. R.
App. P. 52. In the petition, relator seeks to compel the Harris County District
Clerk to assign his habeas corpus for an out-of-time appeal to the appropriate court
of appeals for consideration. 1

      1
          On June 2, 2023, this Court sent the following letter to the Harris County District Clerk:
      On June 2, 2023, Thornton Prophet mistakenly filed the attached documents with the
      Fourteenth Court of Appeals. In accordance with Tex. R. App. P. 25, the documents
        This Court’s mandamus jurisdiction is governed by the Government Code.
See Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 22.221. A court of appeals may issue writs of
mandamus against (1) a judge of a district, statutory county, statutory probate
county, or county court in the court of appeals district; (2) a judge of a district
court who is acting as a magistrate at a court of inquiry under Chapter 52 of the
Code of Criminal Procedure in the court of appeals district; or (3) an associate
judge of a district or county court appointed by a judge under Chapter 201 of the
Family Code in the court of appeals district for the judge who appointed the
associate judge. Id. § 22.221(b). The courts of appeals also may issue all writs
necessary to enforce the court of appeals’ jurisdiction. Id. § 22.221(a).

        We have no jurisdiction to issue a writ of mandamus against a district clerk
unless necessary to enforce our jurisdiction. See In re Bogus, No. 14-20-00728-
CR, 2020 WL 6494973, at *1 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] Nov. 5, 2020)
(orig. proceeding). Relator has not shown that the issuance of a writ against the
district     clerk     is     necessary        to    enforce       this     Court’s       jurisdiction. 2

        affixed with this Court’s file stamped date of receipt, is being forwarded to your office
        for assignment. Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. section 22.202(h).
The document affixed to this Court’s letter to the District Clerk was titled “post-conviction for a
writ of habeas corpus under article 11.07, for an out-of-time appeal.”
        2
           The courts of appeal have no original habeas-corpus jurisdiction in criminal matters. In re
Ayers, 515 S.W.3d 356, 356–57 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2016, orig. proceeding) (citing Tex.
Gov’t Code Ann. § 22.221(d)). Original jurisdiction to grant a writ of habeas corpus in a criminal case is
vested in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the district courts, the county courts, or a judge in those
courts. Id. (citing Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art 11.05).
                                                    2
For these reasons, we dismiss relator’s petition for writ of mandamus for lack of
jurisdiction.

                                      PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Jewell, Bourliot, and Zimmerer.
Do Not Publish — Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b).

                                         3