Ex Parte Abraham Vasquez-Marquez v. .

Fourth Court of Appeals San Antonio, Texas MEMORANDUM OPINION No. 04-22-00626-CR EX PARTE Abraham VASQUEZ-MARQUEZ From the County Court at Law No.1, Webb County, Texas Trial Court No. 2022CRB000721L1 Honorable Leticia Martinez, Judge Presiding 1 Opinion by: Irene Rios, Justice Sitting: Irene Rios, Justice Beth Watkins, Justice Lori I. Valenzuela, Justice Delivered and Filed: December 27, 2023 REVERSED AND REMANDED Appellant Abraham Vasquez-Marquez appeals the trial court’s order denying him habeas relief. We reverse the trial court’s order and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. BACKGROUND As part of Operation Lone Star, Vasquez-Marquez, a noncitizen, was arrested for trespassing on private property in Webb County. He filed an application for writ of habeas corpus seeking dismissal of the criminal charge based on a violation of his state and federal rights to equal protection. Specifically, Vasquez-Marquez argued the State of Texas was engaging in selective 1 The Honorable Hugo D. Martinez is the judge of the Webb County Court at Law Number One. Associate Judge Leticia Martinez signed the order denying the habeas corpus relief at issue in this appeal. 04-22-00626-CR prosecution in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause and the Texas Constitution’s Equal Rights Amendment because only men were being charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass. See U.S. CONST. amend. XIV; TEX. CONST. art. I, § 3(a). The trial court denied Vasquez-Marquez’s requested relief, and he appealed. DISCUSSION The habeas proceeding in this appeal occurred concurrently with the proceeding we reviewed in Ex parte Vazquez-Bautista, No. 04-22-00630-CR, 2023 WL 8440339, at *1 (Tex. App.—San Antonio Dec. 6, 2023, no pet. h.) (en banc). On appeal, Vasquez-Marquez is asserting the same arguments the appellant asserted in that appeal. See id. at *1–2. Because this appeal involves the same arguments and same evidentiary record as Vazquez-Bautista, for the reasons explained in that opinion, we reverse the trial court’s order and remand the cause to the trial court with instructions to discharge Vasquez-Marquez from bail and dismiss the information in the underlying proceeding with prejudice. See id. at *1–2, 6. Irene Rios, Justice Do not publish -2-