Opinion
No. 10-18-00109-CV
08-28-2019
JIMMY JOSEPH NEWELL, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee
From the 54th District Court McLennan County, Texas
Trial Court No. 2017-1307-C2
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Jimmy Joseph Newell was convicted in 2017. The trial court's judgment was signed on July 28, 2017. Subsequently, on August 10, 2017, the trial court signed an Order to Withdraw Funds which ordered the withdrawal of $259 from Newell's inmate account at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
In a Motion to Rescind Withdrawal Notification filed in 2018, Newell asked the trial court to rescind its Order to Withdraw Funds because Newell had limited money in his inmate account from family gifts which he used for "hygiene, postage and other misc. commissary items." The trial court promptly denied the motion, and Newell properly appealed that denial. See Harrell v. State, 286 S.W.3d 315, 321 (Tex. 2009); Johnson v. Tenth Judicial Dist. Court of Appeals at Waco, 280 S.W.3d 866, 874 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008); Ramirez v. State, 318 S.W.3d 906, 908 (Tex. App.—Waco 2010, no pet.).
Within days of the trial court's order denying Newell's motion, the trial court signed a new Order to Withdraw Funds, specifying the withdrawal of $251.62 from Newell's inmate account. Newell has also challenged this order of withdrawal and has recently asked that we stay and abate this appeal so that the trial court can rule on Newell's challenge to the "new" or current withdrawal order.
After reviewing the record, we have determined that the August 2017 Order to Withdraw Funds has been rendered moot by the trial court's subsequent Order to Withdraw Funds signed on February 23, 2018. See Heckman v. Williamson Cty., 369 S.W.3d 137, 162 (Tex. 2012) ("A case is moot when the court's action on the merits cannot affect the parties' rights or interests."). Having been replaced by the February 2018 order, the August 2017 order, which is the subject of this appeal, is no longer the operative order.
Accordingly, this appeal is dismissed without prejudice to Newell appealing the trial court's ruling, once that ruling is made, on Newell's Motion to Rescind Withdrawal Notification filed on June 27, 2019, if necessary.
TOM GRAY
Chief Justice Before Chief Justice Gray, Justice Davis, and Justice Neill
Appeal dismissed
Opinion delivered and filed August 28, 2019
[CV06]