In Re Maria Cristina Donnelly v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: April 6, 2023
• Docket: 14-22-00897-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Petition for Writ of Mandamus Dismissed and Memorandum Opinion filed April 6, 2023.

In The

Fourteenth Court of Appeals

NO. 14-22-00897-CV

IN RE MARIA CRISTINA DONNELLY, Relator

ORIGINAL PROCEEDING WRIT OF MANDAMUS Probate Court No. 2 Harris County, Texas Trial Court Cause No. 477,195-401

MEMORANDUM OPINION

On December 5, 2022, relator Maria Cristina Donnelly filed a petition for writ of mandamus in this court. See Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 22.221; see also Tex. R. App. P. 52. In the petition, relator asked this court to compel the Honorable Michael Newman to set aside his November 29, 2022 docket control order.

Because Judge Newman ceased to hold the office of Probate Court No. 2, Harris County, Texas, we abated this mandamus proceeding, on January 12, 2023, to permit his successor, the Honorable Pamela Medina, to consider the decision regarding relator’s request for relief. See Tex. R. App. P. 7.2(b); see also In re Baylor Med. Ctr. at Garland, 280 S.W.3d 227, 228 (Tex. 2008) (orig. proceeding) (“Mandamus will not issue against a new judge for what a former one did.”).

On March 24, 2023, Judge Medina signed an order vacating Judge Newman’s November 29, 2022 docket control order. Relator’s request for relief is moot.

Accordingly, we dismiss relator’s petition for writ of mandamus for lack of jurisdiction. We lift our December 5, 2022 stay.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Jewell, Bourliot, and Poissant.