Court Opinion

ID: 9364045
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-01-18 08:10:25.261819+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:15:35.610672
License: Public Domain

DISMISS and Opinion Filed January 11, 2023

                                             In the
                               Court of Appeals
                        Fifth District of Texas at Dallas
                                    No. 05-22-01378-CV
                                    No. 05-22-01379-CV

                   IN RE JUAN FRANCISCO TURCIOS, Relator

            Original Proceeding from the 203rd Judicial District Court
                              Dallas County, Texas
             Trial Court Cause No. F11-70896-P and No. F11-70886-P

                          MEMORANDUM OPINION
                    Before Justices Reichek, Carlyle, and Kennedy1
                              Opinion by Justice Carlyle
       Before the Court is relator’s December 30, 2022 Original Writ of Mandamus

to Enforce Plea Bargain Agreement. In 2012, relator was convicted of aggravated

assault with a deadly weapon and burglary and sentenced to twenty years’

imprisonment for each offense, with the sentences running concurrently. This Court

affirmed relator’s convictions in 2013 on direct appeal. See Turcios v. State, Nos. 05-

12-00839-CR, 05-12-00840-CR, 2013 WL 5536939, *4 (Tex. App.—Dallas Oct. 7,

2013, pet. ref’d) (mem. op., not designated for publication).

       1
        The Honorable Justice Schenck was originally a member of this panel. The Honorable Justice
Kennedy succeeded Justice Schenck on this panel when his term expired on December 31, 2022.
         This is the fourth petition for writ of mandamus that relator has filed in this

Court. See In re Turcios, Nos. 05-21-01168-CV, 05-21-01169-CV, 2022 WL 202985,

at *1 (Tex. App.—Dallas Jan. 24, 2022, orig. proceeding) (mem. op.); In re Turcios,

No. 05-21-00005-CV, 2021 WL 761786, at *1 (Tex. App.—Dallas Feb. 24, 2021,

orig. proceeding) (mem. op.); In re Turcios, Nos. 05-20-00705-CV, 05-20-00711-

CV, 2020 4745544, at *1–2 (Tex. App.—Dallas Aug. 17, 2020, orig. proceeding)

(mem. op.).

         In his current petition, relator argues that he pled guilty and signed a judicial

confession in exchange for a capped ten-year sentence but that he is illegally

confined because the trial court mistook his purported plea-bargain agreement for an

open plea. Relator asks this Court to “enforce” his purported plea-bargain agreement

for a ten-year sentence, attempting to collaterally attack his convictions. See In re

Malone, No. 05-14-01458-CV, 2014 WL 6779279, at *2 (Tex. App.—Dallas Dec. 2,

2014, orig. proceeding) (mem. op.) (citing In re Jackson, No. 05-14-00988-CV, 2014

WL 3962822, at *1 (Tex. App.—Dallas Aug. 14, 2014, orig. proceeding) (mem.

op.)).

         The vehicle to collaterally attack a felony conviction is a post-conviction

application for writ of habeas corpus filed under article 11.07 of the code of criminal

procedure. See Bd. of Pardons & Paroles ex rel. Keene v. Ct. of Appeals for the

Eighth Dist., 910 S.W.2d 481, 484 (Tex. Crim. App. 1995) (orig. proceeding). It is

well-established that intermediate courts of appeals have no jurisdiction over post-

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conviction writs of habeas corpus in felony cases. See Ex parte Alexander, 685

S.W.2d 57, 60 (Tex. Crim. App. 1985); see also TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. art. 11.07,

§ 3(a)–(b) (post-conviction applications for writs of habeas corpus for felony cases

in which death penalty was not assessed must be filed in court of original conviction

and made returnable to court of criminal appeals).2

        As to relator’s comments that this Court erred by denying his most recent

petition for writ of mandamus, this Court lacks power to grant mandamus relief

against itself. See TEX. GOV’T CODE § 22.221(d).

        Accordingly, we dismiss relator’s petition for want of jurisdiction.

221378f.p05                                            /Cory L. Carlyle//
221379f.p05                                            CORY L. CARLYLE
                                                       JUSTICE

    2
      Once the application is filed in the court of original conviction and the process is completed in that
court, the court of original conviction transmits the application to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. See
TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. art. 11.07, § 3(c)–(d) (explaining the procedure for post-conviction applications
for writ of habeas corpus); TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. § 22.221(d).
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