In Re WCA Waste Corporation and Freddie Sandoval, Jr. v. the State of Texas

• Court: Texas Court of Appeals, 1st District (Houston)
• Decided: March 5, 2026
• Docket: 01-25-00668-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Opinion issued March 5, 2026

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-25-00668-CV ——————————— IN RE WCA WASTE CORPORATION AND FREDDIE SANDOVAL, JR., Relators

Original Proceeding on Petition for Writ of Mandamus

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Relators WCA Waste Corporation and Freddie Sandoval, Jr.1 have filed a

petition for writ of mandamus challenging the trial court’s order denying their

1 We note that in filings with this Court and in the mandamus record, Sandoval’s first name is spelled sometimes as “Freddie” and sometimes as “Fredie.” Additionally, the filings in this Court identify Real-Party-in-Interest as “Johnnie Lee Richardson” but Richardson’s first name is spelled as “Johhnie” in the underlying case’s caption and most record documents. These inconsistencies are immaterial to our disposition. motion to abate the underlying case filed in Harris County during the pendency of

an earlier case filed in Wharton County.2

In the subject order denying the motion to abate, the trial court annotated,

“This order is without prejudice - parties may revisit abatement closer to trial date.”

Per the record, the underlying case in Harris County is set for trial on April 27, 2026.

Because the trial date is now substantially closer in time than when the order was

signed on August 11, 2025, we deny the mandamus petition without reaching its

merits to permit the parties to revisit the abatement issue with the trial court as

provided in its order. See TEX. R. APP. P. 52.8(a).3 Our denial is without prejudice

to any party filing a new mandamus petition in our Court after the trial court revisits

the abatement issue. Any subsequent petition should provide an update on the status

of the Wharton County case and discuss whether any developments impact the relief

sought in the petition. We dismiss any pending motions as moot.

2 The underlying case is Johhnie Lee Richardson v. WCA Waste Corporation and Fredie Sandoval, cause number 2025-18314, pending in the 234th District Court of Harris County, Texas, the Honorable Lauren Reeder presiding. The Wharton County case is Rene Gabriel Gonzales v. WCA Waste Corporation and Fredie Sandoval, cause number CV54890, pending in the 329th District Court of Wharton County, Texas, the Honorable Randy Clapp presiding. 3 Our denial should not be read as holding that the trial court’s annotation renders the order a preliminary ruling not subject to mandamus review. Rather, under the specific facts of this case—where the trial court stated it will reconsider the issue closer to trial, and the trial date is now close enough for Relators to take the court up on its offer—we conclude that the trial court should be allowed the opportunity to reconsider its ruling, provided that any reconsideration request is timely decided to allow further mandamus relief to be sought before trial. 2 PER CURIAM Panel consists of Chief Justice Adams and Justices Gunn and Johnson.