No. 14-12-01026-CV

______________________________________________________________________________ 

IN THE

COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE

FOURTEENTH SUPREME JUDICIAL DISTRICT

OF

TEXAS

AT HOUSTON, TEXAS

______________________________________________________________________________ 

GWEN STRIBLING HENDERSON, ET AL.,

Appellants,

vs.

JOHN RICHARD SHANKS, ET AL.,

Appellees.

______________________________________________________________________________ 

Appeal from the Probate Court No. 1 

of Harris County, Texas 

______________________________________________________________________________ 

MOTION TO STAY EXECUTION OF MANDATE

TO THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS:

COMES NOW GWEN STRIBLING HENDERSON, RAVEN A. PITRE and 

CHRISTINE S. WILLIE, Appellants in the above-entitled and numbered cause, and move the 

Court to stay the issuance of its mandate of affirmance in part and reversal and remand in part in 

this cause, and in support of said motion would respectfully show the Court the following: 

I.

 On April 19, 2012, the trial court signed an order striking Appellants’ Original Petition 

with prejudice. On that same day, the trial court also signed an order granting Appellee John 

Richard Shanks’ Motion for Summary Judgment. This Court affirmed in part and reversed in 

ACCEPTED

14-12-01026-CV

FOURTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS

HOUSTON, TEXAS

4/8/2015 10:29:05 PM

CHRISTOPHER PRINE

CLERK

 FILED IN 14th COURT OF APPEALS HOUSTON, TEXAS 4/8/2015 10:29:05 PM CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE Clerk
part and remanded the trial court’s judgment on October 30, 2014. Subsequently, the Appellants 

filed a Petition for Review which was denied by the Supreme Court of Texas on February 27, 

2015.

II.

The Appellants’ brief presented a substantial federal question to this Court for 

consideration; that being whether the order striking Appellants’ Original Petition deprived the 

trial court of the requisite subject-matter jurisdiction to grant the motion for summary judgment, 

in violation of the Equal Protection and Due Process Rights of the Appellants guaranteed by the 

Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. This question was decided adversely

to the Appellants in this Court’s opinion.

III.

The Appellants intend to diligently and timely petition the Supreme Court of the United 

States to review this substantial federal question.

IV.

If the Court does not issue an order staying the mandate in the cause, serious hardship 

would result to the Appellants in the event the case is reversed by the Supreme Court of the 

United States in that a new trial will have to be undertaken without one of the principle parties to 

this litigation. Thus, the issuance of the mandate in this cause may result in piecemeal litigation 

if the cause is reversed by the Supreme Court of the United States.
WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, Appellants pray the Court stay issuance of 

the mandate in this cause until the Appellants have had an opportunity to timely file and receive 

a ruling on the Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Respectfully submitted,

WILLIE & ASSOCIATES, P.C.

 By:/s/ Joseph R. Willie, II, D.D.S., J.D.

Joseph R. Willie, II, D.D.S., J.D.

4151 Southwest Freeway, Suite 490

Houston, Texas 77027

(713) 659-7330

(713) 599-1659 (FAX)

SBOT# 21633500

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANTS

GWEN STRIBLING HENDERSON, 

 RAVEN A. PITRE AND CHRISTINE S. 

WILLIE

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing document was served via eservice to Brett T. Berly and Ryan O. Cantrell, 1200 Smith Street, Suite 1400, Houston, Texas 

77002 and Thomas A. Willbern, III, 1018 Preston Street, Suite 500, Houston, Texas 77002, on 

the 8th day of April, 2015.

/s/ Joseph R. Willie, II, D.D.S., J.D.

Joseph R. Willie, II, D.D.S., J.D.