Opinion
No. AP-76,347
Delivered: May 12, 2010. DO NOT PUBLISH.
On Application for a Writ of Habeas Corpus Cause No. 96180 in the Criminal District Court from Jefferson County.
OPINION
Pursuant to the provisions of Article 11.07 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, the clerk of the trial court transmitted to this Court this application for writ of habeas corpus. Ex parte Young, 418 S.W.2d 824, 826 (Tex. Crim. App. 1967). Applicant was convicted of murder and sentenced to 50 years years' imprisonment. The Ninth Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction. Clark v. State, No. 09-07-00256-CR (delivered April 1, 2009). Applicant contends that he was denied the right to file a pro se petition for discretionary review. Specifically, he claims that he never received any correspondence from his attorney informing him that his conviction had been affirmed or notifying him of his right to file a petition for discretionary review. We remanded this application to the trial court for findings of fact and conclusions of law. The trial court entered findings of fact and conclusions of law that although it appears counsel mailed a letter to Applicant explaining that his conviction had been affirmed and informed him of his right to file a pro se petition for discretionary review, Applicant never received said letter. Specifically, the mail logs from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice unit where Applicant was housed when his conviction was affirmed show no record that Applicant received any legal mail during the thirty days following the Court of Appeals' opinion in Applicant's direct appeal. The trial court recommends that relief be granted. We find, therefore, that Applicant is entitled to the opportunity to file an out-of-time petition for discretionary review of the judgment of the Ninth Court of Appeals in Cause No. 09-07-00256-CR that affirmed his conviction in Case No. 96180 from the Criminal Judicial District Court of Jefferson County. Applicant shall file his petition for discretionary review with the Ninth Court of Appeals within 30 days of the date on which this Court's mandate issues.