In re State ex rel. Munk

• Decision Date: 15 October 2015
• Docket Number: No. 11–15–00169–CV,11–15–00169–CV
• Citation: 494 S.W.3d 370
• Parties: In re the State of Texas ex rel. Michael Munk
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

494 S.W.3d 370

In re the State of Texas ex rel. Michael Munk

No. 11–15–00169–CV

Court of Appeals of Texas, Eastland.

Opinion filed October 15, 2015

Daniel W. Hurley, Hurley & Guinn, Lubbock, Allison Clayton, Lubbock, for Relator.

Michael S. Munk, District Attorney, Jason Bujnosek, Assistant, Lamesa, for Real Party in Interest.

Panel consists of: Wright, C.J., Willson, J., and Bailey, J.

OPINION

JOHN M. BAILEY

, JUSTICE

This is an original mandamus/prohibition proceeding filed by Relator, the State of Texas, acting by and through the District Attorney for the 106th Judicial District, Michael Munk. Relator contends that Respondent, the Honorable Carter T. Schildknecht, Judge of the 106th District Court of Dawson County, Texas, entered a void order on July 22, 2015, requiring Relator to provide discovery pursuant to Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 39.14(a)

. TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. ANN. art. 39.14(a) (West Supp.2014). Relator asserts that the order was void because Respondent did not have jurisdiction to enter it. Relator seeks a “writ of mandamus ordering the [trial] court to reverse its order of July 22, 2015, which requires the State to produce discovery for an unindicted case” and a “writ of prohibition preventing the court from requiring that the State produce discovery for an unindicted case.” Additionally, the State requested an emergency temporary stay of the proceedings. We granted the State's requested emergency stay in a separate written order entered on July 28, 2015. For the reasons expressed herein, we conditionally grant the petition for writ of mandamus, and we deny the petition for a writ of prohibition.

Background Facts

The real party in interest, Dimas Gonzalez, was arrested on May 17, 2015, for murder pursuant to an arrest warrant. Justice of the Peace Denise P. Dyess provided Gonzalez with the requisite magistrate warnings on May 18, 2015. See CRIM. PROC. art. 15.17 (West 2015). Gonzalez filed a “Request for Appointment of Counsel and Determination of Indigence” on May 18, 2015, and Respondent entered an “Order Appointing Attorney” on May 19, 2015, appointing attorney Arthur Aguilar Jr. as Gonzalez's attorney. Subsequently, attorney Daniel W. Hurley wrote a letter dated June 4, 2015, to District Attorney Michael Munk advising Munk that Hurley had been retained to represent Gonzalez. Hurley's letter indicated that it constituted Gonzalez's “formal request for discovery” pursuant to Article 39.14

. Hurley's letter concluded with a request that Munk either comply with the request within fifteen days or that Munk file a formal motion and request a hearing seeking an extension of time for compliance.

Munk did not voluntarily comply with Gonzalez's request for discovery set out in Hurley's letter of June 4. Gonzalez subsequently filed a “Motion to Compel Discovery and to Impose Sanctions for Failure to Abide.” Gonzalez styled the caption on this motion as follows: “ CAUSE NO. ______________, STATE OF TEXAS V. DIMAS GONZALEZ, IN THE 106TH DISTRICT COURT OF DAWSON COUNTY, TEXAS. ” Respondent conducted a hearing on this motion on July 22, 2015. Respondent began the hearing with the following announcement: “Court calls the State of Texas versus Dimas Gonzalez. And we are here on the motion, filed on behalf of the defendant, to compel discovery and to impose sanctions for failure to abide.” The prosecutor that appeared at the hearing informed Respondent at the outset of the hearing that the State did not believe that the trial court had jurisdiction to consider Gonzalez's discovery motion because an indictment had not been filed. Respondent responded as follows to the prosecutor's contention: “And the Court is going to go ahead and proceed on the case. The Court, respectfully, does not agree with the State. The Court does believe it has jurisdiction and is going to proceed.” Respondent entered a written order that same day granting Gonzalez's motion to compel discovery. The order required the State to provide Gonzalez with discovery on or before 5:00 p.m. on July 30, 2015.

This Court's Mandamus Jurisdiction

As a threshold issue, Gonzalez argues that we lack jurisdiction to issue a writ of mandamus because Respondent was not acting in her capacity as the judge of a district court but, rather, in her capacity as a magistrate. Section 22.221 of the Texas Government Code

defines and limits our mandamus jurisdiction. In re Thompson, 330 S.W.3d 411, 414 (Tex.App.–Austin 2010, orig. proceeding) ; see TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 22.221 (West 2004). Section 22.221 provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

(a) Each court of appeals or a justice of a court of appeals may issue a writ of mandamus and all other writs necessary to enforce the jurisdiction of the court.

(b) Each court of appeals for a court of appeals district may issue all writs of mandamus, agreeable to the principles of law regulating those writs, against a:

(1) judge of a district or county court in the court of appeals district; or

(2) judge of a district court who is acting as a magistrate at a court of inquiry under Chapter 52, Code of Criminal Procedure, in the court of appeals district.

GOV'T § 22.221(a)

, (b). We focus our attention on subsection (b) of Section 22.221 because there is no assertion that the issuance of the mandamus sought by Relator is necessary to enforce the jurisdiction of this court.

The leading case on the application of subsection (b) is State ex rel. Holmes v. Salinas, 774 S.W.2d 421 (Tex.App.–Houston [14th Dist.] 1989, orig. proceeding)

(Holmes I ). The Fourteenth Court of Appeals concluded that, under subsection (b), an intermediate court of appeals only has mandamus jurisdiction over district and county judges when they are functioning in that capacity. Holmes I, 774 S.W.2d at 422–23. Conversely, an intermediate court of appeals does not have mandamus jurisdiction over district and county judges when they are functioning as magistrates.¹

Id. The court determined that it did not have jurisdiction to issue a writ of mandamus against the respondent district judge in Holmes I

because he was functioning as a magistrate when he entered the orders that were challenged.²

Id.

The respondent district judge in Holmes I

issued pre-indictment orders that restrained the Harris County district attorney from “making any effort to obtain from the Grand Jury an indictment prior to the completion of an examining trial” in cases involving two potential defendants. Id. at 422. The district attorney conceded that the respondent district judge was “sitting as a magistrate” when he entered the challenged orders. Id. In reaching its holding, the Fourteenth Court of Appeals noted that district judges also function as a magistrate at times at the pretrial stage of a criminal case pursuant to Article 2.09 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. Id. (citing Crim. Proc. art. 2.09 ). The court further noted that jurisdiction attaches in the district court only after the grand jury returns an indictment. Id. (citing Garcia v. Dial, 596 S.W.2d 524, 527 (Tex.Crim.App. [Panel Op.] 1980) (orig.proceeding)).

In reliance upon Holmes I,

Gonzalez contends that, when a district judge acts before issuance of an indictment, the judge is acting under his or her authority as a magistrate. We disagree with Gonzalez's contention and reliance on Holmes I. As noted previously, the respondent district judge in Holmes I issued the challenged orders in connection with orders pertaining to an examining trial. The act of holding an examining trial is a function performed by a magistrate. Crim. Proc. art. 16.01; see

Holmes II, 784 S.W.2d at 424. “The duties and authority attendant to the role of magistrate ‘within the meaning of the Code of Criminal Procedure are clearly set out in Arts. 2.10 and 2.11.” Holmes II, 784 S.W.2d at 424 (citing Crim. Proc. arts. 2.10, 2.11 (West 2005)). A discovery order issued under the auspices of Article 39.14(a) is not a function associated with the role of a magistrate as set out in Articles 2.10 and 2.11.

Gonzalez contends that Respondent's issuance of the discovery order was akin to the act of a magistrate conducting an examining trial because an examining trial provides a “crude means for basic pre-indictment discovery.” See id.

(noting that an examining trial provided for in Article 16.01 “may be a practical tool for discovery by the defendant” (quoting Harris v. State, 457 S.W.2d 903, 907 (Tex.Crim.App.1970) )). However, Respondent was not conducting an examining trial at the time the discovery order was issued. In this regard:

The traditional and statutory purposes of an examining trial are (1) to determine whether there exists sufficient evidence of guilt to hold a suspect accused of criminal conduct; (2) to determine whether bail should be allowed and if so, the amount of bail; and (3) to perpetuate the testimony of witnesses, including any voluntary statement the suspect may wish to make.

Id.

(citing Harris, 457 S.W.2d at 907 n. 1 ). The only matter considered by Respondent at the hearing was Gonzalez's motion for discovery under Article 39.14(a). We conclude that Respondent was functioning in her capacity as the district judge of the 106th District Court at the time she considered Gonzalez's discovery motion. Accordingly, we have mandamus jurisdiction under Section 22.221(b) to review her actions.

Writ of Mandamus

Mandamus is appropriate in a criminal proceeding when the relator establishes (1) “that he has no adequate remedy at law to redress the harm that he alleges will ensue” and (2) “that the act he seeks to compel or prohibit does not involve a discretionary or judicial decision.” Simon v. Levario, 306 S.W.3d 318, 320 (Tex.Crim.App.2009)

(orig.proceeding); see

State ex rel. Hill v. Ct. of Appeals for Fifth Dist., 34 S.W.3d 924, 927 (Tex.Crim.App.2001) (orig.proceeding). Relator does not have an adequate remedy at law because the State does not have the right to appeal from the order entered by the trial court. CRIM. PROC. art. 44.01; s...