In Re J. Ray Riley v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: July 11, 2024
• Docket: 01-23-00494-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Opinion issued July 11, 2024

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-23-00494-CV ——————————— IN RE J. RAY RILEY, Relator

Original Proceeding on Petition for Writ of Mandamus

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Relator, J. Ray Riley, has filed a petition for writ of mandamus asserting that

the trial court abused its discretion by failing to rule on his motion for entry of

judgment, which was filed February 11, 2022, and presented to the court at a

hearing on the motion on May 4, 2022.* Relator has informed this Court that the

trial court has entered final judgment.

* The underlying case is Riley v. Caridas, Cause Number 2016-04629, pending in the 281st District Court of Harris County, Texas, the Honorable Christine Weems presiding. This Court cannot decide a case that has become moot. See Heckman v.

Williamson Cnty., 369 S.W.3d 137, 162 (Tex. 2012); In re Salverson, No. 01-12-

00384-CV, 2013 WL 557264, at *1 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Feb. 14,

2013, orig. proceeding) (mem. op.). “If a case is or becomes moot, the court must

vacate any order or judgment previously issued and dismiss the case for want of

jurisdiction.” Heckman, 369 S.W.3d at 162. Because the trial court granted the

requested relief, we must dismiss the mandamus proceeding as moot. See In re

Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc., 166 S.W.3d 732, 737 (Tex. 2005) (orig. proceeding)

(“A case becomes moot if a controversy ceases to exist between the parties at any

stage of the legal proceedings . . . .”); In re Jackson, No. 01-12-00020-CV, 2012

WL 405707, at *1 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Feb. 9, 2012, no pet.) (mem.

op.) (dismissing petition for writ of mandamus as moot because relator had

received requested relief).

Accordingly, we dismiss the petition for writ of mandamus as moot. We

dismiss any pending motions as moot.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Kelly, Countiss, and Rivas-Molloy.