Opinion
NO. 14-20-00768-CV
11-25-2020
IN RE CITY OF HOUSTON, Relator
ORIGINAL PROCEEDING WRIT OF MANDAMUS
Probate Court No. 1 Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. 474728-401
MEMORANDUM OPINION
On November 10, 2020, relator City of Houston (the "City") filed a petition for writ of mandamus in this court. See Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 22.221; see also Tex. R. App. P. 52. In the petition, relator asks this court to compel the Honorable Jerry W. Simoneaux, Jr., presiding judge of the Probate Court No. 1 of Harris County, to vacate his Order on the City's Notice of Stay, dated November 10, 2020, which ruled that there is no basis for finding this proceeding is stayed and ordered proceedings to move forward ("Order Denying Stay").
The City argues that the Order Denying Stay is an abuse of discretion because the City perfected an interlocutory appeal of the trial court's denial of the City's plea to the jurisdiction as provided for by section 51.014(a)(8) of the Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code. Section 51.014(b) provides that such an appeal stays all proceedings in the trial court. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 51.014(b). In conjunction with its mandamus petition, the City requested temporary relief in the form of a stay of all trial court proceedings. We granted the requested stay on November 12, 2020, pending our review of the mandamus petition.
On March 26, 2020, our court issued an opinion affirming the trial court's denial of the City's plea to the jurisdiction. Estate of Nicholas, No. 14-19-00716-CV, 2020 WL 1469519 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] Mar. 26, 2020, pet. denied) (mem. op.).
On May 7, 2020, the City filed a petition for review in the Texas Supreme Court. Although the Texas Supreme Court denied the petition for review, the City timely filed a motion for rehearing on the denial of its petition for review.
In its mandamus petition, the City argues that the stay imposed by section 51.014(b) remains in effect until: (1) our court has issued the mandate for No. 14-19-00716-CV, and (2) the Texas Supreme Court rules on the City's motion for rehearing.
After the parties filed their briefs with this court, both of these events occurred. On November 20, 2020, the Texas Supreme Court denied the City's motion for rehearing. On November 20, 2020, our court issued the mandate for No. 14-19-00716-CV.
We do not decide whether the stay imposed by section 51.014(b) remains in effect until the mandate has issued because deciding that issue is not necessary to the disposition of this mandamus proceeding as moot. See Tex. R. App. P. 47.1.
The occurrence of these events moots this mandamus proceeding because the facts on which the City's petition for writ of mandamus is predicated no longer exist and there no longer is a live controversy. "A case becomes moot if a controversy ceases to exist between the parties at any stage of the legal proceedings, including the appeal." In re Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc., 166 S.W.3d 732, 737 (Tex. 2005) (orig. proceeding).
Accordingly, we lift our November 12, 2020 stay order and dismiss the City's petition for writ of mandamus as moot.
PER CURIAM Panel consists of Justices Wise, Jewell, and Poissant.