In Re Melissa Lopez v. the State of Texas

• Court: Texas Court of Appeals, 3rd District (Austin)
• Decided: May 12, 2026
• Docket: 03-26-00316-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN

NO. 03-26-00316-CV

In re Melissa Lopez

ORIGINAL PROCEEDING FROM BELL COUNTY

MEMORANDUM OPINION

On March 30, 2026, Relator Melissa Lopez filed a petition for writ of mandamus

seeking mandamus relief from the trial court’s denial of her motion to withdraw deemed

admissions. She also filed an emergency motion for temporary stay. This Court granted the

emergency motion and temporarily stayed all proceedings pending further order of this Court

and requested a response, which real party in interest Lydia Shin has now filed.

It is a relator’s burden to request and properly establish entitlement to

extraordinary relief, including by providing this Court with a sufficient record from which to

evaluate his claims. See Walker v. Packer, 827 S.W.2d 833, 837 (Tex. 1992); In re Smith,

No. 03-14-00478-CV, 2014 WL 4079922, at *2 (Tex. App.—Austin Aug. 13, 2014, orig.

proceeding) (mem. op.) (denying mandamus relief when relator failed to provide sufficient

record); see also Tex. R. App. P. 52.7(a) (requiring relator to file record containing sworn copies

“of every document that is material to [his] claim for relief and that was filed in any underlying

proceeding”). Here, Lopez has not provided us with a sufficient record from which we may

evaluate the merits of her petition. On this record, we conclude that she has failed to show

entitlement to relief. Accordingly, her petition for writ of mandamus is denied, and we lift this

Court’s temporary stay. See Tex. R. App. P. 52.8(a).

__________________________________________ Darlene Byrne, Chief Justice

Before Chief Justice Byrne, Justices Theofanis and Crump

Filed: May 12, 2026