Ex Parte Townsend

James Edward Townsend, Jr., Jimmy Davenport, and Roy Price Heald petition this Court for a writ of mandamus to the Honorable Stuart Leach, judge of the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, directing him to vacate his order of June 13, 1991, transferring a case from the Jefferson Circuit Court to the Etowah Circuit Court.

"We note at the outset that mandamus is a drastic and extraordinary writ to be issued only where there is (1) a clear legal right in the petitioner to the order sought; (2) an imperative duty upon the respondent to perform, accompanied by a refusal to do so; (3) the lack of…