Padilla v. McDaniel

The petitioner alleges that he has been convicted of a criminal offense and imprisoned in the Institutional Division of the Department of Criminal Justice. He has petitioned this court for a writ of mandamus compelling the respondent judge to appoint counsel for him on his motion for forensic DNA testing. 1 At the time that he alleges that he filed his motion, a statute required the convicting court to appoint counsel. 2 Mandamus may lie to compel a district judge to follow the statute. 3 The threshold question is whether this court should be a court of first resort for such original actions…