Opinion
No. 01-06-00278-CR
Opinion issued May 11, 2006. DO NOT PUBLISH. Tex.R.App.P. 47.2(b).
Original Proceeding on Petition for Writ of Mandamus.
Panel consists of Justices KEYES, ALCALA, and BLAND.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Relator requests that this Court compel respondent to make findings of fact and conclusions of law on his petition for writ of habeas corpus. Relator was convicted of two offenses of theft by a jury in cause numbers 791339 and 791340, and was sentenced to confinement for two years on January 22, 1999 in each case. The convictions were appealed, and the Court of Criminal Appeals issued its mandates of affirmance on November 20, 2000. This Court has no authority to issue a writ of mandamus to compel a district court judge to rule on a petition for writ of habeas corpus in which the judgment of conviction is final. In re McAfee, 53 S.W.3d 715, 718 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2001, orig. proceeding). This is because jurisdiction to grant post-conviction habeas corpus relief in felony cases rests exclusively with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Board of Pardons Paroles ex rel. Keene v. Court of Appeals for the Eighth District, 910 S.W.2d 481, 483 (Tex.Crim.App. 1995); Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 11.07, § 3 (Vernon Supp. 2005). Therefore, the petition for writ of mandamus is dismissed for want of jurisdiction.
Respondent is the Honorable J. Michael Wilkerson, Judge, 179th District Court, Harris County.