in Re Casey Brown ( 2022 )

Opinion issued April 5, 2022 In The Court of Appeals For The First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-22-00136-CR NO. 01-22-00137-CR NO. 01-22-00138-CR NO. 01-22-00139-CR NO. 01-22-00140-CR ——————————— IN RE CASEY RAY BROWN, Relator Original Proceeding on Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus MEMORANDUM OPINION Casey Ray Brown, acting pro se, has filed an original petition for writ of habeas corpus seeking bail reduction in the underlying cases.1 We dismiss the petition for want of jurisdiction. In criminal matters, this Court’s habeas corpus jurisdiction is appellate only, and we do not have original habeas corpus jurisdiction. See TEX. GOV’T CODE § 22.221(d); Ex parte Denby, 627 S.W.2d 435, 435 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1981, orig. proceeding); see also Chavez v. State, 132 S.W.3d 509, 510 (Tex. App.— Houston [1st Dist.] 2004, no pet.) (citing TEX. GOV’T CODE § 22.221) (“A court of appeals does not have original habeas corpus jurisdiction in felony cases.”). Original jurisdiction to grant a writ of habeas corpus in a criminal case is vested in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the district courts, the county courts, or a judge in those courts. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. art. 11; Ex parte Hawkins, 885 S.W.2d 586, 588 (Tex. App.—El Paso 1994, orig. proceeding). We thus lack jurisdiction over this attempt to seek habeas relief directly from this Court. See, e.g., In re Buchanan, No. 01-19-00378-CR, 2019 WL 3127092, at *1 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] July 16, 2019, orig. proceeding) (mem. op., not designated for publication) (dismissing 1 No record was filed with the petition. The underlying cases are The State of Texas v. Casey Ray Brown, cause numbers 1706825, 1711705, 1711718, 1714981, and 1714982, pending in the 208th District Court of Harris County, Texas, the Honorable Greg Glass presiding. 2 petition for writ of habeas corpus because court lacks original habeas corpus jurisdiction in criminal cases). Accordingly, we dismiss the petition for writ of habeas corpus for want of jurisdiction. PER CURIAM Panel consists of Justices Landau, Hightower, and Rivas-Molloy. Do not publish. TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2(b). 3