Ex Parte Mingcan Zhang ( 2019 )

Opinion issued March 12, 2019
In The
Court of Appeals
For The
First District of Texas
————————————
NO. 01-18-00484-CR
NO. 01-18-00491-CR
———————————
EX PARTE MINGCAN ZHANG, Appellant
On Appeal from the 179th District Court
Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Cause Nos. 1581116 & 15800921
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Appellant, Mingcan Zhang, was indicted in the underlying trial court cause
number 1581116 for the second-degree felony offense of aggravated assault with a
1
Appellate cause number 01-18-00484-CR; trial court cause number 1581116.
Appellate cause number 01-18-00491-CR; trial court cause number 1580092.
deadly weapon, and the trial court initially set his bond at $30,000.2 Appellant was
later indicted in the related trial court cause number 1580092 for the third-degree
felony offense of assault of a public servant, and the trial court initially set his bond
at $75,000.3 After appellant filed a pre-trial application for a writ of habeas corpus
in both cases, pursuant to Texas Code of Criminal Procedure article 17.151, the trial
court denied the application, but reduced the bond to $2,500 in each case. Appellant
timely filed a notice of appeal of the order denying his habeas application, and new
counsel was appointed who filed a brief. See TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2(a)(1), 31.1.
While the trial court certified that this was not a plea-bargain case and that
appellant had the right of appeal in trial court cause number 1581116, it failed to do
so in trial court cause number 1580092. See TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(a)(2). Although
an appeal must be dismissed if a certification showing that the defendant has the
right of appeal has not been made part of the record, the Clerk of this Court requested
that a supplemental clerk’s record be filed. TEX. R. APP. P. 25.2(d), 37.1.
On March 4, 2019, the district clerk filed a supplemental clerk’s record in each
case attaching the December 19, 2018 cash bail bond showing that appellant posted
the $2,500 bond in each case and had been released from custody. “The
2
See TEX. PEN. CODE ANN. § 22.02(a)(2), (b) (West 2011).
3
See TEX. PEN. CODE ANN. § 22.01(a)(1), (b)(1) (West 2011).
2
longstanding rule in Texas regarding habeas corpus is that where the premise of a
habeas corpus application is destroyed by subsequent developments, the legal issues
raised thereunder are moot.” Ex parte Guerrero, 99 S.W.3d 852, 853 (Tex. App.—
Houston [14th Dist.] 2003, no pet.) (per curiam) (mem. op.) (internal quotation
marks and citation omitted) (granting State’s motion to dismiss appeal of pre-trial
habeas application seeking a bond reduction after appellant posted bond and was
released).
Accordingly, because appellant has posted bond in each case, we dismiss
these appeals for want of jurisdiction as moot. See TEX. R. APP. P. 43.2(f); Ex parte
Guerrero, 99 S.W.3d at 853.
PER CURIAM
Panel consists of Justices Keyes, Higley, and Goodman.
Do not publish. TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b).
3