In Re: James Nicholas Dotson Appeal from 199th Judicial District Court of Collin County (memorandum opinion)
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Dismissed w.o.j. and Opinion Filed October 10, 2017 In The Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas No. 05-17-01020-CV IN RE JAMES NICHOLAS DOTSON, Relator Original Proceeding from the 199th Judicial District Court Collin County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 199-82667-07 MEMORANDUM OPINION Before Justices Lang, Myers, and Boatright Opinion by Justice Myers In 2009, relator was convicted of injury to a child/serious bodily injury. That judgment is now final. In this original proceeding, relator seeks a writ ordering the trial court to rule on a motion to vacate void judgment that relator filed March 8, 2017. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 11.07 is the exclusive procedure available to an applicant seeking relief from a felony judgment imposing a penalty other than death. TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 11.07 §§ 1, 5 (West Supp. 2014). An intermediate appellate court has no jurisdiction to rule on matters pertaining to a pending Article 11.07 application. Padieu v. Court of Appeals of Tex., Fifth Dist., 392 S.W.3d 115, 117–18 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013). Article 11.07 applies to relator’s motion to vacate void judgment because the motion seeks relief from and the vacatur of a final felony conviction. See, e.g., In re Smith, 366 S.W.3d 268, 270 (Tex. App.—Tyler 2012, orig. proceeding) (motion for court of inquiry attacking validity of final felony convictions constituted application for post-conviction writ of habeas corpus). This Court has no jurisdiction to rule on any matters pertaining to a pending Article 11.07 habeas application. See Padieu, 392 S.W.3d at 117–18. We, therefore, lack jurisdiction to reach the merits of relator’s complaint. See In re Thompson, No. 05-17-00168-CV, 2017 WL 727847, at *1 (Tex. App.—Dallas Feb. 24, 2017, orig. proceeding) (mem. op.) (no writ jurisdiction to order trial court to expunge the records and judgment from the underlying case because relator was effectively challenging the validity of his final felony conviction); In re Nickerson, No. 05-13-01692-CV, 2013 WL 6596878, at *1 (Tex. App.—Dallas Dec. 16, 2013, orig. proceeding) (mem. op.) (no writ jurisdiction to order trial court to rule on petition for writ of habeas corpus in post-conviction felony proceeding); see also In re McCreary, No. 12-1700278-CR, 2017 WL 4321340, at *1 (Tex. App.—Tyler Sept. 29, 2017, orig. proceeding) (mem. op.) (same). Accordingly, we dismiss relator’s petition for writ of mandamus for want of jurisdiction. /s/Lana Myers/ LANA MYERS JUSTICE 171020F.P05 –2–
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