Jimmy Joseph Newell v. State ( 2019 )

IN THE
TENTH COURT OF APPEALS
No. 10-18-00109-CV
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 Having been replaced by the February 2018 order, the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
Newell v. State Page 2
Before Chief Justice Gray,
Justice Davis, and
Justice Neill
Appeal dismissed
Opinion delivered and filed August 28, 2019
[CV06]
Newell v. State Page 3