The theory advanced by Mr. Guitierrez is that a grand jury can return an indictment only to the court that impaneled the grand jury. There is a significant amount of law supporting this argument. We begin with the relevant provision of the Texas Constitution – Article V, Section 12(b); An indictment is a written instrument presented to a court by a grand jury charging a person with the commission of an offense. An information is a written instrument presented to a court by an attorney for the State charging a person with the commission of an offense. The practice and procedures relating to the use of indictments and informations, including their contents, amendment, sufficiency, and requisities, are as provided by law. The presentment of an indictment or information to a court invests the court with jurisdiction of the cause. The final sentence is significant.
The bare language indicates that the
presentment of an indictment to any court will invest that court with jurisdiction. But this is not the case. Not any court will do. 85 Only an appropriate court obtains jurisdiction upon presentment of an indictment. And our Court of Criminal Appeals has indicated there is only one such appropriate court. In Cook v. State, the Court said “[j]urisdiction vests only upon the filing of a valid indictment in the appropriate court.86
Rather obviously, the presentment of a felony indictment to a justice court would not give that court jurisdiction over the felony case. See Ex parte Ward, 560 S.W.2d 660, 662 (Tex. Crim. App. [en banc] 1978). 86 Cook v. State, 902 S.W.2d 471, 476 (Tex. Crim. App. 1995) (emphasis added) (citing Tex. Const. art. V, § 12(b)). Accord Potter v. State, Nos. 01-94-00501-CR, 01-94-00502-CR, 1995 WL 752460, at *1 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Dec. 21, 1995, pet. ref’d) (mem. op., not designated for publication) (“The presentment of a valid indictment in the appropriate court is necessary to vest a trial court with jurisdiction over a criminal case.”) (emphasis added). 85
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