in Re City of Victoria, Texas ( 2022 )

NUMBER 13-21-00451-CV
COURT OF APPEALS
THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
CORPUS CHRISTI – EDINBURG
IN RE CITY OF VICTORIA, TEXAS
On Petition for Writ of Prohibition and Writ of Mandamus.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before Chief Justice Contreras and Justices Benavides and Longoria
Memorandum Opinion by Justice Benavides1
Relator City of Victoria, Texas filed a petition for writ of prohibition and writ of
mandamus seeking to compel the trial court to: (1) withdraw a void order setting a hearing
on a motion for reconsideration; and (2) refrain from exercising jurisdiction over any
motion or other matter in the underlying case. The Court requested that the real party in
interest, Keith Redburn, or any others whose interest would be directly affected by the
relief sought, file a response to the petition for writ of mandamus. See TEX. R. APP. P 52.2,
1 See TEX. R. APP. P. 52.8(d) (“When denying relief, the court may hand down an opinion but is not
required to do so,” but “[w]hen granting relief, the court must hand down an opinion as in any other case”);
id. R. 47.4 (distinguishing opinions and memorandum opinions).
52.4, 52.8. However, relator has now informed us that the parties have reached an
agreement on the finality of the judgment in the underlying matter and “there is no longer
a basis for [relator] to seek [its] requested relief.”
The Court, having examined and fully considered the petition for writ of mandamus
and relator’s notice to the Court, is of the opinion that this original proceeding should be
dismissed. See Heckman v. Williamson Cnty., 369 S.W.3d 137, 162 (Tex. 2012) (“A case
becomes moot if, since the time of filing, there has ceased to exist a justiciable
controversy between the parties—that is, if the issues presented are no longer ‘live,’ or if
the parties lack a legally cognizable interest in the outcome.”); In re Kellogg Brown &
Root, Inc., 166 S.W.3d 732, 737 (Tex. 2005) (orig. proceeding) (“A case becomes moot
if a controversy ceases to exist between the parties at any stage of the legal proceedings,
including the appeal.”); see also In re Smith Cnty., 521 S.W.3d 447, 455 (Tex. App.—
Tyler 2017, orig. proceeding). Accordingly, we dismiss this original proceeding.
GINA M. BENAVIDES
Justice
Delivered and filed on the
24th day of January, 2022.
2