In Re Robert J. Villeneuve and Kelles Q. Kennedy v. the State of Texas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: April 22, 2025
• Docket: 01-25-00246-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Opinion issued April 22, 2025

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-25-00246-CV ——————————— IN RE ROBERT J. VILLENEUVE AND KELLES Q. KENNEDY, Relators

Original Proceeding on Petition for Writ of Mandamus

MEMORANDUM OPINION On April 7, 2025, relators, Robert J. Villeneuve and Kelles Q. Kennedy, filed

a petition for a writ of mandamus challenging the trial court’s March 20, 2025 “Order

on Petitioner’s Verified Petition to Take Deposition Before Suit,” allowing

petitioner/real party in interest, Casey A. Sue, as the Independent Executor of the

Estate of Cheryl Sue-Rabke and Trustee of the Cheryl Sue-Rabke Living Trust, to

take pre-suit depositions of relators pursuant to Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 202. Relators’ petition argues that the trial court abused its discretion by ordering the

pre-suit depositions.”1

Relators requested that this Court grant the petition for writ of mandamus and

direct the trial court to vacate the March 20, 2025 order.

In connection with its mandamus petition, on April 10, 2025, relators filed a

“Motion to Stay” the underlying trial court case as well as the trial court’s March 20,

2025 order pending the Court’s review of the mandamus petition. On April 15, 2025,

relators filed an “Emergency Motion for Consideration and Granting Their Motion

to Stay.” In their emergency motion, relators stated that Sue noticed the depositions

ordered by the trial court, set for April 16, 2025. Relators requested a stay of the

March 20, 2025 order to allow this Court to consider the mandamus petition. The

Court denied relators’ motions on April 16, 2025.

We conclude that relators have failed to establish that they are entitled to

mandamus relief, and therefore the Court denies relators’ petition for writ of

mandamus. We dismiss any pending motions as moot.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Guerra, Caughey, and Morgan.

1 The underlying case is Casey A. Sue, as the Independent Executor of the Estate of Cheryl Sue-Rabke and Trustee of the Cheryl Sue-Rabke Living Trust v. Robert J. Villeneuve, NextGen3 Texans LLC f/k/a CERK Security LLC, and Kelles Q. Kennedy, Cause No. 524769-401, in the Probate Court No. 1 of Harris County, Texas, the Honorable Jerry W. Simoneaux, Jr. presiding.