in Re City of Lubbock, Relator

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: February 14, 2023
• Docket: 07-21-00070-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

In The Court of Appeals Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo

No. 07-21-00070-CV

IN RE CITY OF LUBBOCK, RELATOR

ORIGINAL PROCEEDING

February 14, 2023 MEMORANDUM OPINION ON REMAND Before QUINN, C.J., and DOSS and YARBROUGH, JJ.

On September 2, 2021, this Court denied the City of Lubbock’s petition for writ of

mandamus requesting that we set aside the trial court’s Order on Amended Ex Parte

Motion for Inspection and Release of LPD Records. See In re City of Lubbock, No. 07-

21-00070-CV, 2021 Tex. App. LEXIS 7394, at *18 (Tex. App.—Amarillo Sep. 2, 2021,

orig. proceeding) (mem. op.). Subsequently, the City of Lubbock petitioned the Court of

Criminal Appeals to grant a writ of mandamus against this Court. The Court of Criminal

Appeals held that ex parte communications with a trial court regarding matters pending

before the court require express authorization and there was none in this matter. See In

re City of Lubbock, No. WR-93,137-01, 2023 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 60, at *30 (Tex. Crim. App. Feb. 8, 2023). Pursuant to this finding, the Court of Criminal Appeals conditionally

granted the City of Lubbock’s application for mandamus against this Court. In its opinion,

the Court of Criminal Appeals stated, “[t]he writ of mandamus will issue only in the event

that the court of appeals fails to comply with this opinion.” Id.

In accordance with the holding of the Court of Criminal Appeals, we hereby

withdraw and vacate our opinion and judgment dated September 2, 2021, which denied

the City of Lubbock’s petition for writ of mandamus. Accordingly, we conditionally grant

mandamus directing the trial court to vacate its Order on Amended Ex Parte Motion for

In-Camera Inspection and Release of LPD Records dated April 1, 2021 and our writ of

mandamus will issue only if the respondent fails to comply with the directive of this Court.

Per Curiam