Opinion
07-22-00227-CR
08-05-2022
EX PARTE THOMAS WAYNE WOMACK
Do not publish.
ORIGINAL PROCEEDING ON APPLICATION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS
Before QUINN, C.J., and PARKER and DOSS, JJ.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Per Curiam
Thomas Wayne Womack, proceeding pro se, has filed a document with this Court requesting a new trial from his 2019 conviction for aggravated robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. Because Womack seeks post-conviction relief from a final felony conviction, we construe the document as an application for writ of habeas corpus and dismiss it for want of jurisdiction.
This Court previously affirmed his conviction on appeal. Womack v. State, No. 07-19-00399-CR, 2021 Tex.App. LEXIS 6091, at *14 (Tex. App.-Amarillo July 29, 2021, pet. ref'd) (mem. op., not designated for publication).
Intermediate courts of appeals do not have original habeas corpus jurisdiction in criminal law matters. See TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 22.221(d) (limiting original habeas jurisdiction of intermediate appellate courts to civil cases); Ex parte Hawkins, 885 S.W.2d 586, 588-89 (Tex. App.-El Paso 1994, orig. proceeding) (per curiam). That jurisdiction instead rests with the Court of Criminal Appeals, the district courts, and the county courts. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 11.05; Ex parte Hawkins, 885 S.W.2d at 588. Only the Court of Criminal Appeals has authority to grant post-conviction habeas relief in felony cases. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 11.07, § 3(a); Ex parte Alexander, 685 S.W.2d 57, 60 (Tex. Crim. App. 1985).
For these reasons, we dismiss Womack's application for writ of habeas corpus for want of jurisdiction.
Womack may be entitled to habeas relief by filing an application for writ of habeas corpus with the clerk of the court in which the conviction being challenged was obtained, returnable to the Court of Criminal Appeals. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 11.07.