in Re Lawrence Edward Thompson

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: February 9, 2006
• Docket: 14-05-01171-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Petition for Writ of Mandamus Dismissed and Memorandum Opinion filed February 9, 2006

Petition for Writ of Mandamus Dismissed and Memorandum Opinion filed February  9, 2006.

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals

____________

NO. 14-05-01171-CV

IN RE LAWRENCE EDWARD THOMPSON, Relator

ORIGINAL PROCEEDING

WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS

M E M O R A N D U M   O P I N I O N

On November 18, 2005, relator filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in this court.^[1]  In his petition, relator sought to have this court to set aside thirteen orders holding him in contempt of court for refusing to testify in response to a subpoena in a criminal case.^[2] 

On January 20, 2006, the State filed a motion to dismiss the petition for want of jurisdiction.  This court=s jurisdiction over habeas petitions seeking relief from contempt judgments is limited to cases in which a person=s liberty is restrained because the person has violated an order issued by a court in a civil case.  See Tex. Gov=t Code Ann. ' 22.221(d) (Vernon 2005).  We lack jurisdiction to grant habeas relief in this criminal law matter.  Therefore, we grant the State=s motion to dismiss.

Accordingly, we dismiss relator=s petition for writ of habeas corpus for want of jurisdiction.

PER CURIAM

Petition Denied and Memorandum Opinion filed February 9, 2006.

Panel consists of Chief Justice Hedges and Justices Yates and Anderson.

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            ^[1]  Relator is currently serving a seventy-five year sentence in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for burglary of a habitation.

            ^[2]  The subpoena was served in cause numbers 1024674 and 1023044 in the 248th District Court in Harris County, styled The State of Texas v. Patrick Encalade.