NUMBER 13-20-00065-CR
COURT OF APPEALS
THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
CORPUS CHRISTI – EDINBURG
EX PARTE CHESTER SINCLAIR
On appeal from the 227th District Court
of Bexar County, Texas.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before Justices Longoria, Hinojosa, and Tijerina
Memorandum Opinion by Justice Tijerina
Appellant Chester Sinclair appeals the trial court’s order denying his application
for writ of habeas corpus. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PRO. ANN. art. 11.072. By one issue,
Sinclair contends the trial court lacked jurisdiction to grant the State’s motion to reconsider
its previous ruling granting his application. We reverse and remand.
I. BACKGROUND1
1 This appeal was transferred to this Court from the Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio by
order of the Texas Supreme Court. See TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. §§ 22.220(a) (delineating the jurisdiction of
appellate courts); 73.001 (granting the supreme court the authority to transfer cases from one court of
appeals to another at any time that there is “good cause” for the transfer).
In 1998, Sinclair pleaded nolo contendere to a charge of indecency with a child by
sexual contact. See TEX. PENAL CODE ANN. § 21.11. The trial court sentenced Sinclair to
ten years’ confinement but suspended the sentence of confinement and placed him on
community supervision for a period of six years, which Sinclair successfully completed in
2004.
On July 18, 2018, Sinclair filed a writ of habeas corpus claiming that he was
innocent. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PRO. ANN. art. 11.072. On August 19, 2019, the trial court
held a hearing on Sinclair’s application; the State did not appear.2 On that same day, the
trial court adopted Sinclair’s findings of fact and conclusions of law and granted his
application for writ of habeas corpus on the basis of “actual innocence.”
On September 7, 2019, the State learned of the trial court’s order via the district
clerk’s filing system, and on September 12, 2019, it filed a motion to reconsider alleging
a litany of reasons why the trial court’s ruling granting Sinclair’s application was
erroneous. The trial court granted the State’s motion to reconsider on September 17,
2019, and held a new hearing on November 5, 2019, to determine if it would grant
Sinclair’s application. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court orally set aside its
previous findings of fact and conclusions of law, adopted the State’s findings of fact and
conclusions of law, and denied relief under the application for writ of habeas corpus.
Sinclair now appeals.3
2According to the State, the reason for its nonappearance at the hearing is it did not receive notice.
The record of this hearing contains only the following:
THE COURT: This is Ex Parte Chester Sinclair. This is under writ number 97-CR-3391-
W1. This Court hereby enters written findings of fact and conclusions of
law which will be placed in the court’s file.
3 Sinclair filed his notice of appeal on December 2, 2019. However, there was no written, signed
2
II. ARTICLE 11.072
By his sole issue, Sinclair argues the trial court lacked jurisdiction to reconsider its
previous order. The State responds that Sinclair failed to provide any authority to support
this claim.4
A. Applicable Law
“The plain language of Article I, Section 12 to [the] Texas Constitution gives the
Legislature the authority to define the scope of a court’s original habeas jurisdiction.” Ex
parte Villanueva, 252 S.W.3d 391, 396 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008). Article 11.072 establishes
the procedures for an application for a writ of habeas corpus in a felony or misdemeanor
case in which the applicant seeks relief from an order or a judgment of conviction ordering
community supervision. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PRO. ANN. art. 11.072. Specifically, article
44.01(k) grants the State the right to appeal an order granting relief to an applicant for
writ of habeas corpus under article 11.072 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. See id. art.
44.01(k). Pursuant to the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, a notice of appeal in a
habeas corpus proceeding must be filed within twenty days after the day the trial court
enters the order, ruling, or sentence to be appealed. TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2.
B. Discussion
Here, the trial court granted Sinclair’s writ of habeas corpus on August 19, 2019.
judgment from which to appeal. See State v. Sanavongxay, 407 S.W.3d 252, 259 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012)
(noting that “precedent requires that an order be in writing”). Following this Court’s notice of the defect, the
State requested a written judgment, which the trial court signed on February 28, 2020, incorporating its
November 5, 2019 oral judgment.
4 The State also argues that Sinclair failed to preserve this objection for appeal, but this argument
is meritless. Challenges to jurisdiction do not need to be preserved. Bell v. State, 515 S.W.3d 900, 901
(Tex. Crim. App. 2017). Jurisdiction is an absolute, systemic requirement that operates independent of
preservation of error requirements. See id.
3
The State did not appeal from or otherwise complain about that order within twenty days
of that judgment. See id. Rather, twenty-four days after the final judgment was signed,
the State filed a motion to reconsider in the trial court.
The State relying on Wachtendorf claims that a motion to reconsider can be filed
in the trial court at any time despite the twenty-day appellate deadline.5 See State v.
Wachtendorf, 475 S.W.3d 895, 897 (Tex. Crim. App. 2015) (“Rather than file a notice of
appeal within twenty days of the date the trial court signed the order granting the motion
to suppress . . . the State waited . . . well over twenty days after the date the order was
signed. At that time the State filed, not a notice of appeal, but a motion asking the trial
court to reconsider its ruling . . . .”). However, in Wachtendorf, the State sought a motion
to reconsider following a motion to suppress. Id. In that regard, a motion to suppress is
interlocutory, and the trial court may reconsider its ruling prior to trial. See Black v. State,
362 S.W.3d 626, 635 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012). Therefore, it was proper for the trial court
to review and rule on the State’s motion to reconsider in a motion to suppress context.
See Wachtendorf, 475 S.W.3d at 895.
We find our reasoning in Ex parte Galvan-Herrera persuasive to the issue of
whether the trial court has jurisdiction to grant the State’s motion to reconsider its previous
order granting a writ of habeas corpus in an article 11.072 proceeding. See No. 13-11-
00380-CR, 2012 WL 1484097, at *9 (Tex. App. —Corpus Christi–Edinburg Apr. 26, 2012,
5 Sinclair likewise relies on State v. Wachtendorf, 475 S.W.3d 895, 897 (Tex. Crim. App. 2015) and
Ex parte Villanueva, 252 S.W.3d 391, 397 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008) for the proposition that the trial court
lacks jurisdiction to rule on a motion to reconsider following its ruling on a writ of habeas corpus. However,
those cases analyze the appellate courts’ jurisdiction following an appeal from the State. Neither case
references the trial court’s jurisdiction following a ruling pursuant to Article 11.072.
4
pet. struck) (mem. op., not designated for publication). In that case, the trial court denied
Herrera’s application for habeas relief on March 8, 2017, so Herrera filed an amended
application two days later. Id. at *2. On March 17, 2017, Herrera also filed a motion to
reconsider the trial court’s denial of his original habeas application. Id. The trial court
granted the subsequent application. In its conclusions of law, the trial court expressed
that Herrera’s motion to reconsider or motion for rehearing was “within the trial court’s
jurisdiction ‘as a motion for new trial’ filed within thirty days of the original order.” Id. at *3.
On appeal, we addressed whether it was erroneous for the trial court to conclude
that Herrera’s motion to reconsider was governed by the rules applicable to motions for
new trial. Id. at *4; see TEX. R. APP P. 21.1(a)–(b), 21.4(a) (providing that Rule 21 motions
for new trial are a means by which a defendant directly challenges his guilty verdict or
punishment, provided the motion is filed within thirty days of the verdict or imposition of
sentence). We determined the following:
the trial court erred in concluding that it could treat Herrera’s motion to
reconsider as a motion for new trial under rule 21 and that its jurisdiction
over Herrera’s initial application was extended as a result. Rule 21 does not
apply to habeas proceedings—by its express terms, it governs only direct
challenges to a defendant’s conviction or punishment filed within thirty days
of conviction or punishment—and in handling Herrera’s habeas application,
the trial court’s jurisdiction was solely governed by article 11.072, which
provides no motion-for-new-trial mechanism.
Ex parte Galvan–Herrera at *5. Thus, in an article 11.072 proceeding, a trial court’s
jurisdiction over a habeas proceeding is not extended by a motion to reconsider. We
further relied on this specific language from Ex parte Villanueva:
it is clear that the Legislature intended Article 11.072 to provide the
exclusive means by which the district courts may exercise their original
habeas jurisdiction under Article V, Section 8 of the Texas Constitution in
5
cases involving an individual who is either serving a term of community
supervision or who has completed a term of community supervision.
Id. at *4 (citing and quoting Ex parte Villanueva, 252 S.W.3d at 397) (emphasis in
original). After considering all the issues on appeal, we determined that the trial court
lacked jurisdiction to consider Herrera’s subsequent application. Id. at *7. We vacated
the trial court’s order granting Herrera’s subsequent writ of habeas corpus, and we
dismissed the subsequent application for lack of jurisdiction. Id.
Because a motion to reconsider is not the functional equivalent of a motion for new
trial and thereby does not extend the trial court’s jurisdiction in a habeas proceeding, we
must similarly conclude that the trial court was without jurisdiction to consider the State’s
motion to reconsider in this article 11.072 proceeding. See Ex parte Cummins, 169
S.W.3d 752, 757 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2005, no pet.) (“An application for habeas
corpus is not like a motion for new trial in the sense that a habeas proceeding is not part
of the underlying criminal prosecution against the applicant.”) (citing Greenwell v. Court
of Appeals for the 13th Jud. Dist., 159 S.W.3d 645, 650 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005)); Ex parte
Galvan-Herrera, 2012 WL 1484097, at *5. “In handling [Sinclair’s] habeas application, the
trial court’s jurisdiction was solely governed by article 11.072,” which provides no motion
for reconsideration mechanism. Ex parte Galvan-Herrera, 2012 WL 1484097, at *5; see
generally, TEX. CODE CRIM. PRO. ANN. art. 11.072.
Instead, the Legislature specifically granted the State the right to appeal an order
granting relief to an applicant for a writ of habeas corpus filed pursuant to article 11.072
within twenty days.6 See TEX. CODE CRIM. PRO. ANN. art. 44.01(k); TEX. R. APP. P. 26.2
6 The State was not entirely powerless to preserve its interests in this case because there were
6
(providing that the State’s appeal must be filed within twenty days); Ex parte Villanueva,
252 S.W.3d at 397 (“[T]he appealability of an application for writ of habeas corpus filed
under Article 11.072 following a disposition by the district court is controlled by Section 8
of Article 11.072.”); Doyle v. State, 317 S.W.3d 471, 476 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.]
2010, pet. ref’d) (providing that article 11.072 establishes the procedures for an applicant
to seek habeas corpus relief); see also TEX. R. APP. P. 79.2(d) (“A motion for rehearing
an order that denies habeas corpus relief or dismisses a habeas corpus application under
Code of Criminal Procedure, articles 11.07 or 11.071, may not be filed.”). The State
cannot extend this deadline by attempting to file a motion for reconsideration. See State
v. Carson, 13 S.W.3d 811, 812 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2000, no pet.) (The State cannot
extend this deadline by attempting to file a motion for new trial or a motion for rehearing.”);
State v. Rollins, 4 S.W.3d 453, 454 (Tex. App.—Austin 1999, no pet.) (“Article 44.01(d)
is more than a mere procedural deadline; it is a substantive limit on the State's authority
to appeal.”). Therefore, the trial court was without jurisdiction to rule on the State’s motion
to reconsider its previous ruling granting Sinclair’s writ of habeas corpus.
III. CONCLUSION
Because the trial court was without jurisdiction to consider the State’s motion to
reconsider, we reverse the trial court’s February 28, 2020 order “entering into the record
the ruling of the habeas court, finding that relief should be denied,” and remand the case
to the trial court with instructions to vacate its September 17, 2019 order granting the
actions it could have taken to ensure a timely notice of appeal. For instance, on September 5, 2019, within
the twenty-day period, the State learned of the final judgment, yet the State did not file a notice of appeal
at that time and instead filed its motion to reconsider seven days later.
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State’s motion to reconsider.
JAIME TIJERINA
Justice
Do not publish.
TEX. R. APP. P. 47.2 (b).
Delivered and filed on the
16th day of December, 2021.
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