Opinion

in Re Jerry Wigfall

Court
Texas Court of Appeals, 1st District (Houston)
Filed
Mar 3, 2011
Status
Published
Cited by
0 cases
Authority
More cited than 42.2%

The opinion

Opinion

issued March 3, 2011.

In The

Court of

Appeals

For The

First District

of Texas

————————————

NO. 01-11-00012-CR

———————————

IN RE JERRY

WIGFALL, Relator

Original Proceeding on Petition for Writ of Mandamus

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Relator, Jerry Wigfall, who is represented by counsel in the

court below, has filed a pro se petition for writ of mandamus, asking this

court to direct respondent [1]

to rule on his pro se motions or, in the alternative, to dismiss the pending

underlying case. We deny the petition

for writ of mandamus.

To establish that the trial court

abused its discretion by failing to rule, a relator must show that the trial

court (1) had a legal duty to perform a nondiscretionary act, (2) was asked to

perform that act, and (3) failed or refused to do so. Barnes

v. State , 832 S.W.2d 424, 426 (Tex. App. — Houston [1st Dist.] 1992, orig.

proceeding). The relator must show that

the trial court received a motion, was aware of it, and was asked to rule, but

failed or refused. Id.

Relator complains that the trial court failed or refused to

rule on eight motions, however, relator appended only four of the motions to

his petition. See Tex. R. App. P. 52.3(k). The motions are not file-stamped, and relator

has not provided any other proof that his motions are actually pending in the

trial court. See Tex. R. App. P.

52.7(a)(1). The motions do not have certificates

of service showing when they were mailed to the trial court. See In re Villarreal , 96 S.W.3d 708 ,

710–11 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 2003, orig. proceeding). Further, relator has not

shown that the trial court was aware of the motions and was asked to rule on

them, but failed or refused. See Barnes , 832 S.W.2d at 426 .

Relator requests, in the alternative,

that the pending underlying case be dismissed.

To be entitled to mandamus relief, a relator must show that he has no

adequate remedy at law to redress his alleged harm and that he seeks to compel a

ministerial act, not involving a discretionary or judicial decision. State ex rel. Young v. Sixth Judicial Dist.

Court of Appeals at Texarkana , 236 S.W.3d 207, 210 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007)

(orig. proceeding). By his petition,

relator does not offer any basis for his request or demonstrate that he is

entitled to such relief.

Accordingly,

we deny the petition for writ of mandamus.

PER CURIAM

Panel

consists of Justices Jennings, Higley, and Brown.

Do

not publish. Tex. R. App. P. 47.2( b).

[1]

Respondent is The Honorable Mark

Kent Ellis of the 351st District Court, Harris County, Texas.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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