Tex. R. App. P. FIVE app E
DEFINITIONS
In this application form:
1. Applicant" means a person seeking relief in an application for a writ of habeas corpus from his or her felony conviction imposing a sentence other than the death penalty or a probated sentence that has not been revoked. An applicant can be an inmate or a non-inmate whose liberty is restrained.
2. Inmate" means a person who is in custody in a prison or jail.
3. Petitioner" means a person, including an attorney or a non-attorney, presenting an application for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of another person (the applicant). Any petitioner may present an application on behalf of an applicant for the purpose of obtaining relief from the applicant's felony conviction. However, the petitioner presenting the application form must sign and attest that he or she has consulted with the applicant concerning the application and the applicant has given consent to the filing of this application form.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. All applicants and petitioners, including attorneys, must use the complete application form. You must use this application form, which begins on the page following these instructions, to file an application, or an amended or supplemental application, for a writ of habeas corpus seeking relief from a final felony conviction under Article 11.07 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. (This application form is not for death-penalty cases, probated sentences which have not been revoked, misdemeanors, or pretrial habeas applications under Article 11.08 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.)
2. Failure to follow these instructions may cause your entire application to be dismissed.
The district clerk of the county in which you were convicted will make this application form available to you, on request, without charge. The form can also be obtained from the Court of Criminal Appeals' website.
You must file the entire application form, including those sections that do not apply to you. If any pages are missing from the form, or if the questions have been renumbered or omitted, your entire application may be dismissed as non-compliant.
5. You must make a separate application on a separate form for each case number from which you seek relief. Even if the judgments were entered in the same court on the same day, you must complete a separate application form for each case number. If a case number has multiple counts, include all the counts on one application form.
6. You must include all grounds for relief on the application form as provided by the instructions under item 18. You must also briefly summarize the facts of your ground on the application form as provided by the instructions under item 18. Each ground shall begin on a new page, and the recitation of the facts supporting the ground shall be no longer than the two pages provided for the ground in the form.
7. Answer every item that applies to you on the application form. Do not attach any additional pages for any ground. However, if you have more than five grounds for relief, you may include additional copies of pages 14 and 15 to add more grounds for relief. Additional grounds must still comply with instruction 6.
8. Legal citations and arguments may be made in a separate memorandum that complies with Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 73 and certifies that the document does not exceed 15,000 words if computer-generated or 50 pages if not.
9. You must verify the application form by signing either the appropriate Unsworn Declaration or the "Oath Before a Notary Public," which are at the end of this form. If you are a petitioner presenting the application on behalf of an applicant, you may sign and verify the application form on behalf of the applicant. However, any petitioner who signs and verifies the application form may be prosecuted and convicted for aggravated perjury if the application form contains any false statement of a material fact.
10. When the application form is fully completed, mail the original and any exhibits and memorandum of law to the district clerk of the county of conviction or electronically file the application form with the district clerk of the county of conviction following the current electronic filing rules for criminal cases. Keep a copy of the application form for your records.
11. You must notify the district clerk of the county of conviction of any change in your address or email address after you have filed your application form. In addition, after the application form has been received by the Court of Criminal Appeals, you must notify the Clerk of the Court of Criminal Appeals of any change in your address or email address.
12. Warning: If the application form does not include all of the grounds for relief, additional grounds brought at a later date may be procedurally barred. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. Art. 11.07 § 4.
WHEREFORE, I PRAY THAT THE COURT GRANT THE RELIEF TO WHICH APPLICANT MAY BE ENTITLED IN THIS PROCEEDING.
VERIFICATION
This application form must be verified in one of the following ways by either an applicant or a petitioner or it may be dismissed for noncompliance.
Applicants
In order to verify this application form, an applicant must sign one of the following:
(1) the "Unsworn Declaration" for inmates (page 16) if applicant is an inmate; or
(2) the "Unsworn Declaration" for non-inmates (page 17) if applicant is not an inmate; or
(3) the "Oath Before a Notary Public" before a notary public (page 18).
Petitioners
If a petitioner, including an attorney, presents an application form on behalf of an applicant, the petitioner may verify the application form for the applicant. In order to verify this application form, a petitioner must sign one of the following:
(1) the "Unsworn Declaration" for inmates (page 16) if petitioner is an inmate; or
(2) the "Unsworn Declaration" for non-inmates (page 17) if petitioner is not an inmate; or
(3) the "Oath Before a Notary Public" before a notary public (page 18).
In addition, all petitioners, including attorneys, presenting an application on behalf of an applicant must complete "Petitioner's Information" and sign "Petitioner's Statement" (page 19).
OATH BEFORE A NOTARY PUBLIC
Tex. R. App. P. FIVE app E