Opinion
NO. 03-17-00432-CV
10-11-2017
Jermaine A. Hopkins, Appellant v. Sylvester Turner, in his Official and Individual Capacities; Janice Evans, in her Official and Individual Capacities; Hubert Arturo Acevedo, in his Individual Capacity; and the City of Houston, Appellees
FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF TRAVIS COUNTY, 353RD JUDICIAL DISTRICT
NO. D-1-GN-17-002486MEMORANDUM OPINION
On September 8, 2017, this Court advised appellant Jermaine A. Hopkins that cause number D-1-GN-17-002486 from which he was seeking to appeal did not exist in the Travis County District Clerk's records. We requested a response from Hopkins on or before September 18, 2017, to explain how this Court may exercise jurisdiction over this appeal and notified him that the failure to do so would result in dismissal of this appeal. Further, the Travis County District Clerk has advised this Court that cause number D-1-GN-17-002486 was closed and did not contain any documents or records. The Travis County District Clerk explained that the cause number had been inadvertently assigned and entered in error and that the parties had been notified on or about June 9, 2017, of the error and that the case had been closed.
This Court's jurisdiction is limited to appeals in which there exists a final or appealable judgment or order which has been signed by a judge. See Tex. Gov't Code § 22.220(a) (addressing appellate jurisdiction over civil appeals); Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 51.014 (authorizing specified appeals from interlocutory orders); Lehmann v. Har-Con Corp., 39 S.W.3d 191, 195 (Tex. 2001) ("[T]he general rule, with a few mostly statutory exceptions, is that an appeal may be taken only from a final judgment."). Thus, we do not have jurisdiction over this appeal.
Although Hopkins to date has not filed a response to this Court's letter dated September 8, 2017, he filed a response to a previous request from this Court to explain how this Court had jurisdiction over this appeal. In that response, Hopkins requested that we treat his notice of appeal as a petition for writ of mandamus. See CMH Homes v. Perez, 340 S.W.3d 444, 452-54 (Tex. 2011) (concluding that court of appeals' appellate jurisdiction was invoked by specific request that appeal be treated as mandamus petition). He lists respondents to his request for mandamus relief as the Travis County District Clerk, this Court's Clerk, the Chief Justice of this Court, and a Travis County district court judge. Among the listed respondents, this Court would have jurisdiction to grant mandamus relief only against the district court judge or to enforce this Court's jurisdiction. See Tex. Gov't Code § 22.221(a), (b). Hopkins, however, has failed to show that he is entitled to mandamus relief against the district court judge or to enforce this Court's jurisdiction. See In re Prudential Ins. Co. of Am., 148 S.W.3d 124, 135-36 (Tex. 2004) (orig. proceeding) (requiring party seeking mandamus relief to establish clear abuse of discretion and no adequate remedy by appeal); Walker v. Packer, 827 S.W.2d 833, 837 (Tex. 1992) (explaining that relator has burden of providing court with sufficient record to establish right to mandamus relief); see also Tex. R. App. P. 52.7(a)(1) (relator must file with petition "a certified or sworn copy of every document that is material to the relator's claim for relief and that was filed in any underlying proceeding"). Thus, to the extent that Hopkins requests mandamus relief, we deny his request. See Tex. R. App. P. 52.8(a).
/s/_________
Melissa Goodwin, Justice Before Justices Puryear, Pemberton, and Goodwin Dismissed for Want of Jurisdiction Filed: October 11, 2017