Opinion
12-23-00086-CR
04-05-2023
IN RE:MILTON LEE GARDNER, RELATOR
DO NOT PUBLISH
ORIGINAL PROCEEDING.
Panel consisted of Worthen, C.J., Hoyle, J., and Neeley, J.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
PER CURIAM
Milton Lee Gardner, acting pro se, filed this original proceeding seeking a writ ordering Respondent to issue a writ of habeas corpus.
Respondent is the Honorable Alfonso Charles, Judge of the 124th District Court in Gregg County, Texas, and the Presiding Judge for the Tenth Administrative Judicial Region, sitting by assignment to the 77th District Court in Limestone County, Texas. The State of Texas is the Real Party in Interest.
In 2014, a Limestone County jury convicted Relator of aggravated assault-family violence with a deadly weapon and sentenced him to sixty years in prison. Gardner v. State, No. 10-14-00041-CR, 2015 WL 5092081, at *1 (Tex. App.-Waco Aug. 27, 2015, pet. ref'd) (mem. op., not designated for publication). Limestone County is in the Tenth Court of Appeals district. See Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 22.201(k) (West 2023). The Tenth Court of Appeals affirmed Relator's conviction. Gardner, 2015 WL 5092081, at *1. Relator appears to believe that because the local district judges have been subsequently recused and Respondent, a Gregg County judge, assigned himself to the case, jurisdiction now lies in Gregg County and with this Court. See Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 22.201(m) (Twelfth Court of Appeals district).
But the "presentment of an indictment or information to a court invests the court with jurisdiction of the cause." Tex. Const. art. V, § 12(b). Here, Respondent assigned himself to the 77th District Court in Limestone County for purposes of Relator's case; the case was not transferred to another court. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 18a(g)(7) (if motion to recuse is granted, regional presiding judge must transfer case to another court or assign a judge to the case); see also De Leon v. Aguilar, 127 S.W.3d 1, 5 (Tex. Crim. App. 2004) (Rule 18a applies to criminal cases). Thus, jurisdiction remains in Limestone County and with the Tenth Court of Appeals. Because this Court lacks jurisdiction over this proceeding, we dismiss the petition for writ of mandamus for want of jurisdiction. Opinion delivered April 5, 2023.
JUDGMENT
ON THIS DAY came to be heard the petition for writ of mandamus filed by Milton Lee Gardner; who is the relator in appellate cause number 12-23-00086-CR and the defendant in trial court cause number 13074-A, formerly pending on the docket of the 77th Judicial District Court of Limestone County, Texas. Said petition for writ of mandamus having been filed herein on March 29, 2023, and the same having been duly considered, because it is the opinion of this Court that it lacks jurisdiction, it is therefore CONSIDERED, ADJUDGED and ORDERED that the said petition for writ of mandamus be, and the same is, hereby dismissed for want of jurisdiction.