Court Opinion

ID: 9322795
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-12-05 00:12:12.074095+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:14:43.881027
License: Public Domain

Order filed December 1, 2022.

                                       In The

                     Fourteenth Court of Appeals

                                 NO. 14-22-00698-CR

                     IN RE JONATHAN A. KNOX, Relator

                          ORIGINAL PROCEEDING
                            WRIT OF MANDAMUS
                               179th District Court
                              Harris County, Texas
                          Trial Court Cause No. 879527

                                      ORDER

      On September 9, 2022, relator Jonathan A. Knox 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 asks this court to compel the presiding judge of the
179th District Court of Harris County, to grant his motion for forensic DNA testing
and ballistic testing and his motion for accrued time and hold an evidentiary hearing.
      Relator’s petition does not comply with the applicable Texas Rules of
Appellate Procedure. See Tex. R. App. 52.3(j) (requiring relator to certify that every
factual statement in petition is supported by competent evidence in appendix or
record); Tex. R. App. P. 52.3(k)(1)(A) (providing that appendix must contain
certified or sworn copy of any order complained of, or any other document showing
the document complained of); Tex. R. App. P. 52.7(a)(1) (requiring relator to file
with petition certified or sworn copy of every document that is material to relator’s
claim and that was filed in any underlying proceeding); Tex. R. App. P. 52.7(a)(2)
(requiring relator to file with petition properly authenticated transcript of any
relevant testimony from any underlying proceeding, including any exhibits offered
in evidence, or statement that no testimony was adduced in connection with matter
complained of). To be a “certified or sworn copy,” in accordance with Rule 52, the
document must be certified by the trial court clerk or attached to either a properly
prepared affidavit or an unsworn declaration. See also Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code
§ 132.001(e) (providing that unsworn declaration from inmate may be used in lieu
of written sworn declaration, if it is made under penalty of perjury and includes
inmate’s name, date of birth, identifying number, and prison unit, and city, county,
state, and zip code of prison unit).1

      1
          The form for the unsworn inmate declaration is:
       My name is ___________________ __________________ __________________,
                           (First)               (Middle)              (Last)
      my date of birth is _________________, and my inmate identifying number, if any, is
      ___________________________________.
      I am presently incarcerated in _____________________________________________
                                                           (Corrections unit name)
      in ________________, _______________, ________________, _______________.
              (City)                   (County)              (State)           (Zip Code)
      I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
          Executed on the _________ day of _______________, _______________.
                                                (Month)         (Year)
       By this order, the court gives relator 45 days’ notice that the petition will be
dismissed for failure to comply with Rules 52.3(j), 52.3(k)(1)(A), 52.7(a)(1), and
52.7(a)(2) unless the deficiencies are cured.

                                        PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Spain, Poissant, and Wilson. (Wilson, J., Notice is not
required before dismissing a petition for writ of mandamus. See In re Kholaif, 624
S.W.3d 228 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2020, orig. proceeding) (Frost, C.J.,
dissenting)).

                                                 ______________________________________
                                                                   Declarant
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 132.001(e).