Opinion
01-23-00457-CR
09-19-2023
In re Thomas Wayne Florence
10th District Court of Galveston County Trial court case number: 10-CR-1217
ORDER
APRIL FARRIS JUDGE
Relator, Thomas Wayne Florence, incarcerated and proceeding pro se, filed a petition for writ of mandamus challenging the trial court's May 31, 2023 order denying his motion for post-conviction DNA testing. In his mandamus petition, Florence asserted that the trial court lacked "authority or power to rule on [his] motion, which order is void." On June 27, 2023, the Court issued an opinion denying his petition for writ of mandamus.
On July 7, 2023, Florence filed a motion for rehearing of the Court's June 27, 2023 opinion. See Tex. R. App. P. 49.1, 52.9. Florence's motion for rehearing was denied by the Court on July 27, 2023.
On August 7, 2023, Florence filed a motion for en banc reconsideration of the Court's June 27, 2023 opinion denying his petition for writ of mandamus. See Tex. R. App. P. 49.5. On August 24, 2023, the en banc court unanimously voted to denying Florence's motion for en banc reconsideration as untimely. See Tex. R. App. P. 49.1, 49.5.
On September 8, 2023, Florence filed a document titled a "Motion for Court/En Banc Court to Transfer Cause to Another Court of Appeals for De Novo Review En Banc." In his motion, Florence request that the Court "send [his] writ/record/motions to a sister court of appeals to conduct a de novo review/hear [his petition for writ of] mandamus . . . in the interest of justice."
This authority to transfer appeals among the courts of appeals lies exclusively with the Texas Supreme Court, and this Court therefore has no authority to grant the relief requested by Florence. See Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 73.001 (authorizing Texas Supreme Court to order transfer of cases "from one court of appeals to another").
Accordingly, Florence's "Motion for Court/En Banc Court to Transfer Cause to Another Court of Appeals for De Novo Review En Banc" is denied.
It is so ORDERED.