Ex Parte Phillip Scott

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN
NO. 03-23-00017-CV
Ex parte Phillip Scott
ORIGINAL PROCEEDING FROM COMAL COUNTY
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Phillip Scott has filed an original pro se application for writ of habeas corpus
challenging the existence of probable cause for his pretrial confinement. See Tex. Code Crim.
Proc. arts. 11.01, .05, .40.
The original habeas corpus jurisdiction of a court of appeals is limited to cases
where a person’s liberty is restrained because he or she has violated an order, judgment, or
decree in a civil case. See Tex. Gov’t Code § 22.221(d); In re Reece, 341 S.W.3d 360, 364 n.3
(Tex. 2011). Courts of appeals have no original habeas jurisdiction in criminal matters. In re
Ayers, 515 S.W.3d 356 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2016, no pet.); see Ex parte Braswell,
630 S.W.3d 600, 601–02 (Tex. App.—Waco 2021, no pet.); Dodson v. State, 988 S.W.2d 833,
835 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 1999, no pet.) (“The courts of appeals have no original habeas
corpus jurisdiction in criminal matters; their jurisdiction is appellate only.”). Original
jurisdiction to grant a writ of habeas corpus in a criminal case is vested in the Court of Criminal
Appeals, the district courts, the county courts, or a judge of those courts. Tex. Code Crim. Proc.
art. 11.05.; see Ayers, 515 S.W.3d at 356.
Accordingly, we dismiss Scott’s original application for writ of habeas corpus for
want of jurisdiction.
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Rosa Lopez Theofanis, Justice
Before Chief Justice Byrne, Justices Triana and Theofanis
Filed: January 24, 2023
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