Rios v. Gonzalez

• Court: District Court, S.D. Texas
• Decided: April 19, 2023
• Docket: 4:23-cv-00095
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

Southern District of Texas ENTERED UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT ee SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS Nathan Ochsner, Clerk HOUSTON DIVISION

ROBERT RIOS, § SPN 01586189, § § Petitioner, § § VS. § CIVIL ACTION NO. H-23-00095 § ED GONZALEZ, § § Respondent. §

ORDER OF DISMISSAL

Petitioner Robert Rios (SPN 01586189) is a pre-trial detainee currently confined in the Harris County Jail. See Doc. No. 1. He has filed a petition for habeas corpus to challenge the amount of his bond. /d. After reviewing all of the pleadings and the applicable law, the Court concludes that the petition must be dismissed without prejudice for reasons set forth below. 1. BACKGROUND According to the pleadings and public records, Rios is awaiting trial under a felony indictment for super aggravated sexual assault of a child.! He is being held on $300,000 bond and seeks a reduction of his bond amount. Doc. No. 1.

' See State v. Rios, Tr. Ct. No. 1750268 (337th Jud. Dist. Ct., Harris County, Texas, filed Dec. 8, 2021); see also Harris County Sheriffs Office website, located at Online Public District & County Criminal Records Inquiry—Harris County Texas Sheriff's Office (harriscountyso.org). 1/3

II. DISCUSSION As a pre-trial detainee seeking a reduction in his bond amount through a federal writ of habeas corpus, Rios’s petition is governed by 28 U.S.C. § 2241,” which authorizes review where a prisoner can show that he is “in custody in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States.” 28 U.S.C. § 2241(c)(3). A state pretrial detainee may seek a federal writ of habeas corpus under § 2241 only if the following two prerequisites are met: (1) the petitioner must be in custody for purposes of § 2241(c); and (2) the petitioner must have exhausted available state remedies. See Dickerson v. Louisiana, 816 F.2d 220, 224 (Sth Cir. 1987); see also Braden v. 30th Judicial Circuit Court of Kentucky, 93 S. Ct. 1123, 1126-27 (1973). Although Rios satisfies the first prerequisite by virtue of his confinement at the Harris County Jail, he does not satisfy the second prerequisite because it is apparent from the pleadings that he has not exhausted available state court remedies for his current charges before seeking relief in federal court. A Texas pretrial detainee who has been denied bond may file a direct appeal with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. See TEX. CONST. Art. 1 § 11la(a). Likewise, a Texas pretrial detainee who complains about the amount of his bond may file an application for writ of habeas corpus to raise pre-conviction issues with the judge of the court in which he has been indicted. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. § 11.08. If the trial court denies habeas relief, the applicant’s remedy is to take a direct appeal to an intermediate appellate court

* On January 13, 2023, the Clerk issued Rios a Notice of Deficient Pleading, instructing him to place his claims on a form for petitions under 29 U.S.C. § 2241, and to pay the filing fee within uy days. See Doc. No. 3. To date, Rios has not complied with the Notice.

and then petition for discretionary review by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. See, e.g., Ex parte Twyman, 716 S.W.2d 951, 952 (Tex. Crim. App. 1986) (citing Ex parte Payne, 618 S.W.2d 380, 382 n.5 (Tex. Crim. App. 1981) (citations omitted)). There is no indication that Rios has appealed his bond challenge to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to exhaust available state court remedies. The Court concludes, therefore, that the pending federal habeas corpus petition must be dismissed without prejudice for failure to exhaust available state remedies in his ongoing state criminal case. Il, CONCLUSION AND ORDER Based on the foregoing, the Court ORDERS as follows: 1. The petition for a writ of habeas corpus is DISMISSED without prejudice. 2. Because reasonable jurists would not dispute whether the procedural ruling in this case was correct, a certificate of appealability is DENIED. 3. All other motions, if any, are DENIED. The Clerk will enter this Order, providing a correct copy to all parties of record. SIGNED at Houston, Texas, this _/°9 ey of April 2023. [ba ANDREWS.HANEN UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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