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in Re Jermaine Jones ( 2017 )


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  •                                   IN THE
TENTH COURT OF APPEALS
No. 10-17-00090-CR
IN RE JERMAINE JONES
Original Proceeding
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Jermaine Jones, a prison inmate, petitions this Court to issue a writ of mandamus
directing the Judge of the 54th District Court of McLennan County to vacate the judge’s
order denying Jones’s motion for a free copy of the record in his underlying conviction
and order the judge to hold a hearing on Jones’s motion. There are procedural problems
with Jones's petition such as, Jones did not serve the respondent, the trial court judge, or
the real party in interest, the State. See TEX. R. APP. P. 9.5; 52.2. However, because Jones
is not entitled to the relief requested, we overlook this and other problems and use Rule
2 to suspend the rules and proceed to a timely disposition. See TEX. R. APP. P. 2.
Jones argues that he is entitled to a free record to pursue a writ of habeas corpus
and is entitled to a hearing on his motion for a free record. An indigent criminal
defendant has a constitutional right to a free appellate record in a first appeal of right.
Griffin v. Illinois,
    351 U.S. 12
    , 18-19,
    76 S. Ct. 585
    , 590-91,
    100 L. Ed. 891
    , 899 (1956)
(emphasis added), Abdnor v. State,
    712 S.W.2d 136
    , 139 (Tex. Crim. App. 1986); Turner v.
State,
    71 S.W.3d 928
    , 929 (Tex. App.—Waco 2002, order). However, a defendant is not
entitled to a free copy of the record after exhausting his initial appeal in the absence of a
specific, compelling reason. See In re Strickhausen,
    994 S.W.2d 936
    , 937 (Tex. App.—
Houston [1st Dist.] 1999, orig. proceeding); In re Coronado,
    980 S.W.2d 691
    , 693 (Tex.
App.—San Antonio 1998, orig. proceeding); Eubanks v. Mullin,
    909 S.W.2d 574
    , 576-77
(Tex. App.—Fort Worth 1995, orig. proceeding). See also In re Robinson, No. 10-10-00456-
CR, 2011 Tex. App. LEXIS 412 (Tex. App.—Waco Jan. 19, 2011, orig. proceeding). Jones
has not presented a specific, compelling reason for his entitlement to a free record.
Accordingly, Jones’s petition for writ of mandamus is denied; his motion for leave
to file his petition for writ of mandamus is dismissed as moot, see TEX. R. APP. P. 52, Notes
and Comments ("The requirement of a motion for leave in original proceedings is
repealed."); and his motion to suspend the rule requiring additional copies of the petition
is dismissed as moot.
TOM GRAY
Chief Justice
Before Chief Justice Gray,
Justice Davis, and
Justice Scoggins
Pet. denied
Motions dismissed
Opinion delivered and filed April 19, 2017
Do not publish
[OT06]
In re Jones                                                                             Page 2