Ex Parte Claudarius Buck v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: May 25, 2023
• Docket: 02-23-00030-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

In the Court of Appeals Second Appellate District of Texas at Fort Worth ___________________________

No. 02-23-00030-CR ___________________________

Ex parte Claudarius Buck

On Appeal from the 462nd District Court Denton County, Texas Trial Court No. 23-1255-462

Before Sudderth, C.J.; Wallach and Walker, JJ. Memorandum Opinion by Justice Wallach MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant Claudarius Buck appeals from the trial court’s denial of the relief

requested in Buck’s pretrial application for habeas corpus. In the application, Buck

asserted that he had been arrested but not yet indicted for aggravated robbery, and his

bail had been set at one million dollars. He sought release on his own recognizance or

for his bail to be set at $1,000. After a hearing, the trial court denied relief. On appeal,

Buck argues that there was no probable cause for his arrest and continued detention

in the Denton County Jail and that the trial court abused its discretion by denying his

request for bail reduction.

After Buck filed his brief in this appeal, the State filed a motion to dismiss the

appeal on the basis that Buck was “no longer detained pursuant [to] the State

aggravated robbery charges complained of in his original writ and [this] appeal.” The

State asserted that Buck had been released from Denton County Jail into the custody

of a federal law enforcement agency. The State further asserted that the Denton

County Police Department had indicated to the District Attorney’s office that it

would not be filing charges against Buck for the aggravated robbery offenses for

which he had been detained. To support those assertions, the State attached to its

motion, among other documents, (1) a letter from a Denton County Police detective

stating that federal charges were being filed against Buck and that the department

would not be filing state charges and (2) screenshots from Denton County’s case

2 management system stating that on March 24, 2023, Buck had been released to

another agency without prosecution on the aggravated robbery charges.

The State’s certificate of conference notes that Buck opposes the dismissal

motion, but Buck has not filed a response. A deputy clerk of this court contacted the

Denton County Jail and confirmed that Buck is no longer in custody there.

“Habeas corpus proceedings are extraordinary remedies premised on equity;

they are not premised on error correction, as are direct appeals.” Ex parte Armstrong,

No. 02-15-00180-CR, 2015 WL 5722821, at *3 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Aug. 26,

2015, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for publication) (citing Ex Parte Parrott,

396 S.W.3d 531, 534 n.6 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013). Further, “[t]he longstanding rule in

Texas regarding habeas corpus is that ‘whe[n] the premise of a habeas corpus

application is destroyed by subsequent developments, the legal issues raised

thereunder are rendered moot.’” Bennet v. State, 818 S.W.2d 199, 200 (Tex. App.—

Houston [14th Dist.] 1991, no pet.). Buck’s issues on appeal are moot because the

restraint about which he complains in his habeas no longer exists. An opinion

addressing the merits of his appellate arguments would be advisory. See Ex Parte

Martinez, No. 02-15-00353-CR, 2015 WL 9598924, at *3 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth

Dec. 31, 2015, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for publication). Accordingly, we

dismiss Buck’s appeal as moot.

3 /s/ Mike Wallach Mike Wallach Justice

Do Not Publish Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b)

Delivered: May 25, 2023