in Re Joseph Burpee ( 2022 )

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN
NO. 03-22-00053-CV
In re Joseph Burpee
ORIGINAL PROCEEDING FROM HAYS COUNTY
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Relator Joseph Burpee, an inmate in the Comal County Jail, filed a pro se original
petition for writ of habeas corpus. See Tex. Gov't Code § 22.221; see also Tex. R. App. P. 52.1.
Relator complains that he has been unlawfully confined pursuant to a defective indictment.
This Court does not have original habeas corpus jurisdiction in criminal cases.
See Tex. Const. art. V, § 6 (providing that courts of appeals “shall have original or appellate
jurisdiction, under such restrictions and regulations as may be prescribed by law”); Tex. Gov't
Code § 22.221(d) (limiting original habeas corpus jurisdiction of courts of appeals to situations
where relator's liberty is restrained by virtue of order, process, or commitment issued by court or
judge in civil case); see also Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 11.05 (vesting “power to issue the writ
of habeas corpus” in “[t]he Court of Criminal Appeals, the District Courts, the County Courts, or
any Judge of said Courts”). As an intermediate appellate court, our habeas corpus jurisdiction
in criminal matters is appellate only. See Tex. Gov't Code § 22.221(d); see also In re Wilkins,
No. 03-20-00381-CV, 2020 WL 5608486, at *1 (Tex. App.—Austin Sept. 17, 2020, orig.
proceeding).
Accordingly, we dismiss relator's application for writ of habeas corpus for want of
jurisdiction. See Tex. R. App. P. 52.8(a).
__________________________________________
Chari L. Kelly, Justice
Before Chief Justice Byrne, Justices Kelly and Smith
Filed: February 16, 2022
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