Opinion
NO. 14-17-00934-CR
02-13-2018
IN RE ERIC LYNN BAUMGART, Relator
ORIGINAL PROCEEDING WRIT OF MANDAMUS
County Criminal Court at Law No. 6 Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Cause Nos. 1909496 , 1909497, 1909498, and 1909499
MEMORANDUM OPINION
On December 1, 2017, relator Eric Lynn Baumgart filed a petition for writ of mandamus in this court. See Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 22.221 (West Supp. 2017); see also Tex. R. App. P. 52. In the petition, relator asks this court to compel the Honorable Larry Standley, presiding judge of the County Criminal Court at Law No. 6 of Harris County, to vacate the judgments against relator in cause numbers 1909496, 1909497, 1909498, and 1909499.
Relator argues that such judgments are void because the record allegedly does not show that Jay W. Burnett, the visiting judge who presided over these matters, signed and filed an oath of office as required by section 25.0017 of the Texas Government Code. See Tex. Gov't Code Ann. §25.0017 (West 2004).
As the party seeking relief, relator has the burden of providing this court with a sufficient record to establish relator's right to mandamus relief. See Walker v. Packer, 827 S.W.2d 833, 837 (Tex. 1992) (orig. proceeding); Tex. R. App. P. 52.7(a)(1) (relator must file with petition "a certified or sworn copy of every document that is material to the relator's claim for relief and that was filed in any underlying proceeding."). An appellate court generally indulges every presumption in favor of the regularity of the trial court proceedings. Simon v. State, 525 S.W.3d 798, 799 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2017, no pet.). This presumption applies to an appellate challenge to an alleged failure to take constitutionally required oaths. Id. at 800. The burden is on relator to overcome the presumption. Murphy v. State, 95 S.W.3d 317, 320 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2002, pet. ref'd). Relator must make a prima facie showing that the judge did not take the required oaths before we will consider the issue on the merits See Id.; Simon, 525 S.W.3d at 800.
Relator is not entitled to mandamus relief because he has not provided a record that shows that visiting Judge Jay W. Burnett failed to sign and file the oaths required by the Texas Constitution. See Tex. Const. art. XVI § 1.
Further, the record provided by the State contains an oath of office for service in the county court signed by Judge Burnett on January 8, 1999. Section 25.0017 of the Government Code does not specify that visiting judges must renew their oath before every assignment. See Tex. Gov't. Code Ann. § 25.0017; Bolivar v. State, No. 13-14-00157- CR, 2016 WL 4939384, at *22 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi Sept. 15, 2016, pet. ref'd) (mem. op., not designated for publication). The law does not support relator's argument that Judge Burnett's oath of office expired after a certain date. See Reger v. State, No. 02-12-00178-CR, 2014 WL 4656632, at *3 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Sept. 18, 2014, pet. ref'd) (mem. op., not designated for publication) (rejecting argument that a senior judge's oath of office and anti-bribery statements expire after a certain date).
We therefore deny relator's petition for writ of mandamus.
PER CURIAM Panel consists of Justices Boyce, Jamison, and Brown.
Do Not Publish — Tex. R. App. P. 47.2(b).