Opinion
NO. 09-11-00566-CR
01-18-2012
EX PARTE FARRAIN JOSEPH COMEAUX
On Appeal from the 252nd District Court
Jefferson County, Texas
Trial Cause No. 2347 (10-08717 & 10-08719)
MEMORANDUM OPINION
The trial court denied Farrain Joseph Comeaux's application for habeas corpus asserting his right to a speedy trial. The State claims that the case has been set for trial eight times, most recently in November, 2011, and that although the State was ready for trial, "the cases were not reached on those days." The State notes Comeaux has been incarcerated for over nineteen months awaiting trial, and attributes the delay to an "over-docketed system." The State also notes that Comeaux asks for dismissal of the charges and that he does not "address the option of bail[.]"
The trial court's order states that it considered and denied the application for writ of habeas corpus. We have jurisdiction of the appeal. See Greenwell v. Court of Appeals for the Thirteenth Judicial Dist., 159 S.W.3d 645, 650 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005) ("An order denying relief on the merits is a final judgment in the habeas corpus proceeding" and "[t]he appealability of a habeas proceeding turns not upon the nature of the claim advanced but upon the use of the procedure itself and the trial court's decision to consider the claim (i.e. 'issue the writ')"); see also Ex parte Hargett, 819 S.W.2d 866, 868-69 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991); Ex parte Noe, 646 S.W.2d 230, 231 (Tex. Crim. App. 1983). Nevertheless, as we understand the rulings of the Court of Criminal Appeals, even if we were to conclude the claim has merit, this Court is not authorized under law to grant the requested relief in this appeal. The Court of Criminal Appeals has held "that an applicant may not use a pretrial writ to assert his or her constitutional rights to a speedy trial[.]" Ex parte Weise, 55 S.W.3d 617, 620 (Tex. Crim. App. 2001); see also Ex parte Jones, 449 S.W.2d 59, 59-60 (Tex. Crim. App. 1970); Ex parte Burgett, 850 S.W.2d 267, 268-69 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 1993, no writ); Bennet v. State, 818 S.W.2d 199, 200 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1991, no writ). Accordingly, we must affirm the trial court's order denying Comeaux's application for writ of habeas corpus on the ground asserted.
AFFIRMED.
________
DAVID GAULTNEY
Justice
Do Not Publish Before McKeithen, C.J., Gaultney and Kreger, JJ.