Ex Parte Jesse Lee Drones

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: January 5, 2023
• Docket: 14-22-00811-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

Appeal Dismissed and Memorandum Opinion filed January 5, 2023.

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals

NO. 14-22-00811-CR

EX PARTE JESSE LEE DRONES

On Appeal from the 185th District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 488772A

MEMORANDUM OPINION

In this appeal, appellant, proceeding pro se, seeks review of the trial court in his effort to seek relief pursuant to article 11.07 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.

The record is unclear as to what trial court action appellant is contesting in this appeal. Regardless, based on our own evaluation of our jurisdiction, we lack jurisdiction to grant him any relief in this appeal. Cf. State ex rel. Best v. Harper, 562 S.W.3d 1, 7 (Tex. 2018) (acknowledging the Texas Supreme Court, like Texas courts more generally, must evaluate its own jurisdiction sua sponte). Article 11.07 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure sets out “the procedures for an application for writ of habeas corpus in which the applicant seeks relief from a felony judgment imposing a penalty other than death.” Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 11.07 § 1. The statute lays out a review mechanism primarily involving both the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the court in which the conviction being challenged was obtained. Id. § 3(a)–(b); see also Maye v. State, 966 S.W.2d 140, 142 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1998, no pet.). The statute notes that “[a]fter conviction [its] procedure . . . shall be exclusive and any other proceeding shall be void and of no force and effect in discharging the prisoner.” Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 11.07 § 5.

This court informed appellant of the jurisdictional problem the statute poses, and he was granted 21 days to demonstrate this court possesses jurisdiction over his appeal. Appellant has not filed any response addressing this court’s jurisdiction. Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Wise, Jewell, and Poissant. Do Not Publish — Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b).