in Re Lance Bowe ( 2019 )


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  • Petition for Writ of Mandamus Denied and Memorandum Opinion filed
    September 24, 2019.
    In The
    Fourteenth Court of Appeals
    NO. 14-19-00636-CV
    IN RE LANCE BOWE, Relator
    ORIGINAL PROCEEDING
    WRIT OF MANDAMUS
    308th District Court
    Harris County, Texas
    Trial Court Cause No. 2005-12087-A
    MEMORANDUM OPINION
    On August 20, 2019, relator Lance Bowe filed a petition for writ of mandamus
    in this court. See Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 22.221 Supp.); see also Tex. R. App. P.
    52. In the petition, relator asks this court to compel the Honorable Alicia Franklin
    York, presiding judge of the 311th District Court of Harris County to: (1) vacate and
    declare void the December 19, 2018 order granting the motion to dismiss in Cause
    No. 2005-12087A, and (2) reverse the order of the trial court granting the bill of
    review in Cause No. 2015-77061 and render judgment denying the bill of review or
    remand the bill of review for a jury trial.
    With certain exceptions not in play in this proceeding, to obtain mandamus
    relief, the relator must show both that the trial court clearly abused its discretion and
    that the relator has no adequate remedy at law, such as an appeal. In re Prudential
    Ins. Co. of Am., 
    148 S.W.3d 124
    , 135–36 (Tex. 2004) (orig. proceeding); In re
    Garza, 
    544 S.W.3d 836
    , 840 (Tex. 2018) (orig. proceeding) (per curiam).
    Relator is not entitled to mandamus relief from the order granting the motion
    to dismiss because he has not shown that he lacks an adequate remedy through his
    pending appeal of that order in Case No.14-19-00323-CV, in this court. See In re
    Lerma, 
    144 S.W.3d 21
    , 26 (Tex. App.—El Paso 2004, orig. proceeding) (denying
    mandamus relief “because the issues raised by relator are capable of being reviewed
    in the pending appeal and he has failed to show how this remedy is inadequate”).
    Nor is relator entitled to mandamus relief from the order granting the bill of
    review because he has not shown that an appeal after final judgment would not
    provide an adequate remedy for any error. See In re Moreno, 
    4 S.W.3d 278
    , 281
    (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1999, orig. proceeding) (denying mandamus
    relief because relators have an adequate remedy for the grant of the bill of review by
    appeal of the eventual final judgment in the underlying case); see also Patrick
    O’Connor & Associates, L.P. v. Wang Inv. Networks, Inc., No. 01-12-00615-CV,
    
    2013 WL 1451358
    , at *1–2 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Apr. 9, 2013, orig.
    proceeding) (mem. op.) (“the general rule stated by both this Court and our sister
    court in Houston [in Moreno] is that an interlocutory order granting a bill of review
    may not be reviewed by mandamus, but by appeal of the eventual final judgment in
    2
    the case”); In re Spiller, 
    303 S.W.3d 426
    , 430–31 (Tex. App.—Waco 2010, orig.
    proceeding) (same, agreeing with Moreno).
    We therefore deny relator’s petition for writ of mandamus.
    PER CURIAM
    Panel consists of Chief Justice Frost and Justices Wise and Hassan.
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