Opinion
03-24-00489-CV
08-09-2024
In re James Sparks
ORIGINAL PROCEEDING FROM COMAL COUNTY
Before Chief Justice Byrne, Justices Smith and Theofanis.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Rosa Lopez Theofanis, Justice
Relator James Sparks, an inmate in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, has filed a pro se petition for writ of mandamus, in which he asks that we compel the Comal County District Clerk "to put [Sparks's] requested motion for the ordering of the DVDs in case CR2018-747 to be transcribed as soon as possible" and "to forward [his] motions to the court docket."
Sparks elsewhere states that he has been appointed standby counsel.
Sparks asserts that he provided the clerk with a motion requesting that the trial court order the transcription of audio from various police dash- and body-camera videos. A purported copy of the motion and a letter from Sparks to the clerk are attached to the mandamus petition.
A court of appeals may issue a writ of mandamus against "a judge of a district, statutory county, statutory probate county, or county court in the court of appeals district." Tex. Gov't Code § 22.221(b). We have no jurisdiction to issue a writ of mandamus against a district clerk unless necessary to enforce our jurisdiction. See Tex. Gov't Code § 22.221(a); In re Washington, 7 S.W.3d 181, 182 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1999, orig. proceeding). Sparks does not allege, nor do we find, that a writ of mandamus is necessary to enforce our jurisdiction in this case.
Accordingly, we deny Spark's petition for writ of mandamus. See Tex. R. App. P. 52.8(a); In re Dodson, No. 01-22-00614-CR, 2022 WL 4830836, at *1 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] Oct. 4, 2022, orig. proceeding) (per curiam) (denying relator's petition for writ of mandamus where relator sought to compel district clerk to file motion).