In Re Ryan Jivaro Whitaker v. the State of Texas

Petition for Writ of Mandamus Dismissed and Memorandum Opinion filed
July 2, 2024.

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals

NO. 14-24-00216-CR

IN RE RYAN JIVARO WHITAKER, Relator

ORIGINAL PROCEEDING
WRIT OF MANDAMUS
230th District Court
Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. 1463151

MEMORANDUM OPINION

On Monday, March 25, 2024, relator Ryan Jivaro Whitaker filed a petition
for writ of mandamus in this court. See Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 22.221; see also
Tex. R. App. P. 52. In the petition, relator asks this court to compel the Honorable
Chris Morton, presiding judge of the 230th District Court of Harris County, to rule
on four motions: (1) motion to compel defense counsel to surrender the client file;
(2) motion requesting trial/state habeas court to order issuance of subpoena and/or
appointment of counsel; (3) motion requesting writ of habeas corpus be held in
abeyance and trial court be compelled to conduct hearing to develop the record;
and (4) motion/letter to re-urge the trial/state habeas court to consider and rule on
filed pro se motion(s) pending before the court. Relator’s motions relate to his
application for writ of habeas corpus filed pursuant to Code of Criminal Procedure
article 11.07. See Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 11.07. We do not have
subject-matter jurisdiction over this original proceeding.

While courts of appeals have mandamus jurisdiction in criminal matters,
only the Court of Criminal Appeals has jurisdiction in final post-conviction habeas
corpus proceedings. In re Washington, No. 14-09-00158-CR, 2009 WL 975903, at
*1 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] Feb. 26, 2009, orig. proceeding.); see Tex.
Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 11.07. The courts of appeals have concurrent
mandamus jurisdiction with the Court of Criminal Appeals in some
post-conviction proceedings. Id. Because relator ties his right to mandamus relief
specifically to a failure to rule on motions related to his post-conviction application
for writ of habeas corpus, we conclude we do not have jurisdiction over the
complaint. Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 11.07; see McCree v. Hampton, 824
S.W.2d 578, 579 (Tex. Crim. App. 1992) (Court of Criminal Appeals has
jurisdiction to order trial court to rule on applicant's post-conviction application for
writ of habeas corpus).
We dismiss the petition for want of subject-matter jurisdiction.
PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Spain, Hassan, and Poissant.

Do Not Publish — Tex.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