In Re Reynaldo Morales v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: August 3, 2023
• Docket: 01-23-00507-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Opinion issued August 3, 2023

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-23-00507-CV ——————————— IN RE REYNALDO MORALES, Relator

Original Proceeding on Petition for Writ of Mandamus

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Relator, Reynaldo Morales, proceeding pro se, has filed a petition for writ of

mandamus challenging the June 23, 2023 order signed by the Honorable Latosha

Lewis Payne, the presiding judge of the 55th District Court and the Harris County

Local Administrative Judge.1 Morales also mentions an April 21, 2016 order

1 The underlying case is Reynaldo Morales v. Travelers Indemnity Company of Connecticut, cause number 2013-54065, pending in the 165th District Court of Harris County, Texas, the Honorable Ursula Hall, presiding. signed by a different judge, which allegedly stated that the trial court lacked

jurisdiction. Morales attaches only a copy of the June 23, 2023 order.

Morales has been adjudicated a vexatious litigant. See

https://www.txcourts.gov/media/1337456/Reynaldo-Morales-No-2016-02771.pdf. Under this

prefiling order, Morales is prohibited from filing new litigation in state court

without first obtaining permission from the appropriate local administrative judge.

Section 11.103 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code prohibits a clerk of a court

from filing “a litigation, original proceeding, appeal, or other claim presented, pro

se, by a vexatious litigant subject to a prefiling order under Section 11.101 unless

the litigant obtains an order from the appropriate local administrative judge

described by Section 11.102(a) permitting the filing.” TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM.

CODE § 11.103(a). Morales has not presented an order signed by the local

administrative judge permitting the filing of this original proceeding. Accordingly,

we must dismiss this proceeding. See In re Johnson, No. 01-21-00611-CV, 2022

WL 210406, at *1 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Jan. 25, 2022, orig.

proceeding) (mem. op.).

We dismiss the petition. Any pending motions are dismissed as moot.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Kelly, Hightower, and Countiss.