Opinion
07-24-00159-CR
05-09-2024
IN RE LEONEL MORALES, RELATOR
Do not publish.
ORIGINAL PROCEEDING
Before PARKER and DOSS and YARBROUGH, JJ.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
PER CURIAM
Relator, Leonel Morales, proceeding pro se, seeks a writ of mandamus to compel the "Travis County District Clerk, respondent, to provide . . . the cost to obtain his trial transcriptions in . . . cause number [D-1-DC-11-900388], styled the State of Texas v. Leonel Morales." We dismiss this proceeding for want of jurisdiction.
In 2012, Morales appealed his conviction for aggravated sexual assault to the Third Court of Appeals. That appeal was later transferred to this Court by the Texas Supreme Court pursuant to its docket equalization efforts. See Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 73.001. We affirmed the trial court's judgment in Morales v. State, No. 07-12-00464-CR, 2014 Tex.App. LEXIS 312, at *15 (Tex. App.-Amarillo Jan. 10, 2014, no pet.) (mem. op., not designated for publication).
Morales now seeks mandamus relief against the Travis County District Clerk to obtain the costs for a copy of the reporter's record from that appeal. We have authority to issue writs of mandamus against a judge of a district or county court in our appellate district and all writs necessary to enforce our jurisdiction. See Tex. Gov't Code Ann. §§ 22.221(a), (b); 22.201(h) (identifying the counties comprising the Seventh Court of Appeals District). Because Morales has no pending appeal in this Court and has not demonstrated how issuance of the requested writ is necessary to enforce our jurisdiction, we are without authority to issue said writ.
Accordingly, Relator's petition is dismissed for want of jurisdiction.
We note that we previously provided Morales with a copy of the clerk's record from his criminal appeal. However, the Court no longer possesses the reporter's record from that appeal due to a cyberattack in 2020.