In Re Mark Anthony Gorham v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: May 9, 2023
• Docket: 01-23-00269-CR
• Status: Published

Opinion

Opinion issued May 9, 2023

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-23-00266-CR NO. 01-23-00267-CR NO. 01-23-00268-CR NO. 01-23-00269-CR NO. 01-23-00270-CR ——————————— IN RE MARK ANTHONY GORHAM, Relator

Original Proceeding on Petition for Writ of Mandamus

MEMORANDUM OPINION Relator Mark Anthony Gorham has filed a petition for writ of mandamus,

seeking to compel the Harris County District Clerk and the 208th District Court to

provide him with criminal docket sheets.1

This Court’s mandamus jurisdiction is governed by the Government Code.

See TEX. GOV’T CODE § 22.221. A court of appeals may issue writs of mandamus

against (1) a judge of a district, statutory county, statutory probate county, or

county court in the court of appeals district; (2) a judge of a district court who is

acting as a magistrate at a court of inquiry under Chapter 52 of the Code of

Criminal Procedure in the court of appeals district; or (3) an associate judge of a

district or county court appointed by a judge under Chapter 201 of the Family

Code in the court of appeals district for the judge who appointed the associate

judge. Id. § 22.221(b). The courts of appeals also may issue all writs necessary to

enforce the court of appeals’ jurisdiction. Id. § 22.221(a).

We have no jurisdiction to issue a writ of mandamus against a district clerk

unless necessary to enforce our jurisdiction. See In re Washington, 7 S.W.3d 181,

182 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1991, orig. proceeding). Because relator’s

petition does not raise any threat to our jurisdiction, we dismiss this portion of the

mandamus petition for want of jurisdiction.

1 The underlying case is The State of Texas v. Mark Anthony Gorham, cause nos. 1721510, 1721511, 1721589, 1722025, & 1722026, pending in the 208th District Court of Harris County, Texas, the Honorable Beverly D. Armstrong presiding. 2 Relator’s request for mandamus relief against the 208th District Court is

denied. See TEX. R. APP. P. 52.8(a).

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Chief Justice Adams and Justices Guerra and Farris.

Do not publish. TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).