Opinion

in Re Thomas Lee Fifer

Court
Texas Court of Appeals, 1st District (Houston)
Filed
Aug 11, 2011
Status
Published
Cited by
0 cases
Authority
More cited than 42.2%

The opinion

Opinion issued August 11, 2011

In The

Court of

Appeals

For The

First District

of Texas

————————————

NO. 01-11-00579-CR

———————————

In re Thomas Lee Fifer , Relator

On Appeal from the 184th District Court

Harris County, Texas

Trial Court Case No. 1117100

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Relator, Thomas Lee Fifer, has

filed a pro se petition for writ of mandamus complaining that the trial court

has abused its discretion in not convening a hearing and ruling on his motion

for a free transcript of the record in trial court cause number 1117100 to use

in preparing his post-conviction writ of habeas corpus. We note that relator appealed his felony conviction

in cause number 1117100, and we affirmed the judgment of the trial court. See

Fifer v. State , No. 01–07–00894–CR, 2008 WL 4530720 , at *4 (Tex. App.—Houston

[1st Dist.] Oct. 9, 2008, pet. ref’d) (mem. op., not designated for

publication). Our mandate issued on April

10, 2009. Thus, the conviction in cause

number 1117100 is final.

This Court has mandamus

jurisdiction over a district court judge or county court judge in our district,

and all writs necessary to enforce our jurisdiction. See Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 22.221 (Vernon

2008). We have no authority to issue a

writ of mandamus to compel a district court judge to rule on matters related to

a petition for writ of habeas corpus in which the judgment of conviction is

final. In re McAfee , 53 S.W.3d 715, 718 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.]

2001, orig. proceeding); see also In re Padieu ,

No. 05–11–00883–CV, 2011 WL 2816736 , at *1 (Tex. App.—Dallas July 19, 2011,

orig. proceeding) (mem. op., not designated for publication); In re McAfee , No. 01-08-00903-CR, 2008

WL 5102260 , at *1 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Dec. 4, 2008, orig.

proceeding) (mem. op., not designated for publication). Nor do we have authority to issue a writ of

mandamus against a district clerk unless such is necessary to enforce our

jurisdiction. In re Coronado , 980 S.W.2d 691, 692 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 1998,

orig. proceeding). This is because

jurisdiction to grant post-conviction habeas corpus relief in felony cases

rests exclusively with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Tex. Code

Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 11.07, § 3 (Vernon Supp. 2010); Board of Pardons & Paroles ex rel. Keene

v. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Distric t, 910 S.W.2d 481, 483 (Tex. Crim.

App. 1995).

Therefore, the petition for writ of

mandamus is dismissed for want of jurisdiction.

PER

CURIAM

Panel

consists of Justices Jennings, Bland, and Massengale.

Do

not publish. Tex. R. App. P. 47.2( b).

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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