By
Robert O. Dawson
Bryant Smith Chair in Law
University of Texas School of Law
2001 Case Summaries 2000 Case Summaries 1999 Case Summaries
Juvenile court had no jurisdiction to
transfer juvenile to TDCJ when case still on appeal from previous transfer order
[In re M.R.] (00-4-07).
On September 20, 2000, the San Antonio Court of Appeals held that the
juvenile court lacked jurisdiction to order appellant transferred from TYC to
TDCJ because the Court of Appeals had set aside a previous transfer order and
the case had not yet been remanded to the juvenile court.
00-4-07. In the Matter of M.R., UNPUBLISHED, No. 04-99-00932-CV, 2000 WL
1346466, 2000 Tex.App.Lexis ___ (Tex.App.--San Antonio 9/20/00)[Texas Juvenile
Law (5th Ed. 2000)].
Facts: M.R. appeals the trial court's order transferring him to the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice-Institutional Division, arguing the trial court
was without jurisdiction to enter the order. We agree.
M.R. was found delinquent for engaging in aggravated sexual assault and assessed
a fifteen year determinate sentence. This court affirmed the adjudication of
delinquency. In re M.R., No. 04-96-00283-CV, 1998 WL 429626 (Tex.App.--San
Antonio July 31, 1998, no pet.) (not designated for publication). The trial
court subsequently held a release/transfer hearing and ordered M.R. to be
transferred on his eighteenth birthday to the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice--Institutional Division to serve the remainder of his sentence. On
November 3, 1999, this court reversed the transfer order and remanded the cause
because M.R. had been denied his right of confrontation at the release/transfer
hearing. In re M.R., 5 S.W.3d 879 (Tex.App.--San Antonio 1999, pet. denied). On
December 2, 1999, the State filed a petition for review with the Texas Supreme
Court. The Supreme Court denied the petition on June 15, 2000. A mandate has yet
to issue from this court reversing the trial court's transfer order and
remanding the cause to the trial court for further proceedings. However, on
December 10, 1999, the trial court held another transfer/release hearing and
three days later issued a second order transferring M.R. to the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice--Institutional Division. M.R. appeals, arguing the trial
court was without jurisdiction to issue this second transfer order while the
State's petition for review was pending in the Supreme Court and before a
mandate had issued.
Held: Transfer order vacated.
Opinion Text: Once an appeal has been taken from a trial court's judgment or
order, the trial court loses jurisdiction over the cause during the pendency of
the appeal. See Robertson v. Ranger Ins. Co., 689 S.W.2d 209, 210 (Tex. 1985); 6
MCDONALD & CARLSON, TEXAS CIVIL PRACTICE § 7.11[d] (2d ed.1998).
Consequently, the trial court was without power to enter the second transfer
order while the State's petition for review was still pending in the Supreme
Court. Therefore, we hold the trial court's second transfer order is void, and
we vacate the trial court's December 13, 1999 transfer order.