Opinion
NO. 12-12-00128-CR
05-16-2012
RASHAAN GOLDEN, APPELLANT v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, APPELLEE
APPEALS FROM THE 7TH
JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT
SMITH COUNTY, TEXAS
MEMORANDUM OPINION
PER CURIAM
Appellant, Rashaan Golden, was convicted in 2001 of injury to a child, a third degree felony, following a guilty plea. On November 1, 2001, he was sentenced to imprisonment for sixty years. He has filed an application for a postconviction writ of habeas corpus that is pending in the 114th Judicial District Court of Smith County. On January 4, 2012, he filed a motion to recuse the presiding judge of that court. The motion was denied, and Appellant now attempts to appeal the order denying the motion.
Courts of appeals have no jurisdiction in criminal law matters pertaining to applications for postconviction writs of habeas corpus in felony cases. TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 11.07 § 5 (West Supp. 2011). Therefore, a ruling on a motion to recuse stemming from an 11.07 application for writ of habeas corpus is not reviewable by direct appeal to courts of appeals. Ex parte Banister, No. 07-09-00128-CR, 2009 WL 1978222, at *1 (Tex. App.-Amarillo July 7, 2009, orig. proceeding). Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction.Panel consisted of Worthen, C.J., Griffith, J., and Hoyle, J.