Opinion
No. 08-20-00174-CV
11-09-2020
IN RE VICTOR MOLINAR, Relator.
AN ORIGINAL PROCEEDING IN MANDAMUS MEMORANDUM OPINION
Relator Victor Molinar, pro se, has filed a petition for a writ of mandamus against the Honorable William E. Moody, judge of the 34th District Court of El Paso County, Texas, for allegedly failing to timely act on his motion to compel his counsel to turn over his client file. The writ is denied.
A trial court has a ministerial duty to consider and rule on motions properly filed and pending before it, and mandamus may issue to compel the trial court to act. In re Harris, No. 08-19-00208-CR, 2019 WL 6242315, at *1-2 (Tex.App.--El Paso Nov. 22, 2019, orig. proceeding) (not designated for publication). To obtain mandamus relief on a failure to rule claim, a relator must establish that the trial court (1) had a legal duty to rule on the motion; (2) was asked to rule on the motion; and (3) failed or refused to rule on the motion within a reasonable time. Id. A trial court is not required to consider a motion that has not been called to its attention by proper means. Id.
Relator asserts that he filed the motion with the 34th District Court on July 20, 2020. No bright-line rule exists to assess reasonableness; what constitutes a reasonable time to rule on a motion depends on the facts and circumstances of the particular case. In re Mesa Petroleum Partners, L.P., 538 S.W.3d 153, 157 (Tex.App.--El Paso 2017, orig. proceeding). Factors we take into account in assessing the reasonableness of time for a pending motion include the seriousness and complexity of the pending motion, the court's actual knowledge of the motion, the state of the trial court's docket, the existence of judicial and administrative matters which the trial court must first address, and the court's inherent power to control its own docket. Id. at 157-58.
Relator has not established that he has called the trial court's attention to the motion or that the delay here is unreasonable. We also note that Relator's motion was filed at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and much of the period of delay falls within the time limiting in-court proceedings in the Texas court system. See In re Sanchez, No. 08-20-00126-CR, 2020 WL 5015446, at *1 (Tex.App.--El Paso Aug. 25, 2020, orig. proceeding) (mem. op.) (dealing with similar claim under similar circumstances).
After reviewing the mandamus petition and record, we conclude that Relator has failed to show that he is entitled to mandamus relief. Accordingly, we deny the petition for writ of mandamus.
JEFF ALLEY, Chief Justice November 9, 2020 Before Alley, C.J., Rodriguez, and Palafox, JJ.