Court Opinion

ID: 9951787
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-03-19 10:14:50.792729+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:42:47.129294
License: Public Domain

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN

                                     NO. 03-24-00177-CV

                                     In re Tony Cervantes

                     ORIGINAL PROCEEDING FROM MILAM COUNTY

                           MEMORANDUM OPINION

               Relator Tony Cervantes, an inmate in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice,

has filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus complaining of an assortment of issues in the

underlying criminal matter.      “The Texas Constitution grants courts of appeals original

jurisdiction only where specifically prescribed by law.” Ex parte Braswell, 630 S.W.3d 600, 601

(Tex. App.—Waco 2021, no pet.); see Tex. Const. art. V, § 6. Our original jurisdiction to issue a

writ of habeas corpus is limited to those cases where a person’s liberty is restrained because the

person has violated an order, judgment, or decree entered in a civil case. Tex. Gov’t Code

§ 22.221(d); In re Reece, 341 S.W.3d 360, 364 n.3 (Tex. 2011) (orig. proceeding). Consequently,

we lack original habeas corpus jurisdiction in criminal matters. Braswell, 630 S.W. 3d at 601–

02; Queen v. State, 212 S.W.3d 619, 623 (Tex. App.—Austin 2006, no pet.).              Moreover,

article 11.06(c) of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides the procedure by which a person

finally convicted in a misdemeanor case may seek post-conviction habeas relief. See Tex. Code

Crim. Proc. art. 11.06(c); Ex parte Williams, 239 S.W.3d 859, 861–62 (Tex. App.—Austin 2007,
no pet.). Pursuant to that article, “the writ must be made returnable to the county in which the

applicant was convicted.” Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 11.06(c).            Accordingly, we dismiss

Cervantes’s petition for want of jurisdiction.

                                                 __________________________________________
                                                 Gisela Triana, Justice

Before Chief Justice Byrne, Justices Triana and Kelly

Filed: March 15, 2024

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