Case Name: In re Spiro NIKOLOUZOS by his Wife Jannette NIKOLOUZOS, Relator
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Texas
Decision Date: 2005-03-15
Citations: 179 S.W.3d 581
Docket Number: No. 01-05-00207-CV
Parties: In re Spiro NIKOLOUZOS by his Wife Jannette NIKOLOUZOS, Relator.
Judges: Panel consists of Justices NUCHIA, JENNINGS, and ALCALA.
Reporter: South Western Reporter Third Series
Volume: 179
Pages: 581–583

Head Matter:
In re Spiro NIKOLOUZOS by his Wife Jannette NIKOLOUZOS, Relator.
No. 01-05-00207-CV.
Court of Appeals of Texas, Houston (1st Dist.).
March 15, 2005.
Mario Caballero, Houston, for relator.
Earnest W. Wotring, Connelly, Baker, Maston, Wotring & Jackson, L.L.P., Houston, for respondent.
Panel consists of Justices NUCHIA, JENNINGS, and ALCALA.

Opinion:
OPINION
PER CURIAM.
On Saturday, March 12, 2005, relator, Spiro Nikolouzos by his wife Jannette Ni-kolouzos, filed with this Court both a notice of appeal (appellate cause number 01-05-00206-CV) and a petition for writ of injunction (appellate cause number 01-05-00207-CV) to prevent respondent, St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, from taking Spiro Nikolouzos off life support.
Notices of appeals directed to the First and Fourteenth Courts of Appeals are filed with the trial-court clerk, who then makes a random assignment to either Court. See Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 22.202(h) (Vernon 2004). Original proceedings directed to the First and Fourteenth Courts of Appeals are filed in the appellate Courts according to a procedure described in Time Warner Entertainment Co., L.P. v. Hebert, 916 S.W.2d 47, 49 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1996, no writ). See also Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 22.202(h), .215(e) (Vernon 2004) (authorizing transfer of cases between the First and Fourteenth Courts of Appeals).
Because the notice of appeal was filed directly with this Court on a Saturday and an emergency existed, this Court was unable to wait for the trial-court clerk to make an assignment of the appeal without the appeal possibly becoming moot. The Court accepted the notice of appeal pursuant to Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 25.1(a) and issued a writ of injunction to prevent the appeal from becoming moot. See Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 22.221(a) (Vernon 2004) (court of appeals may issue all writs necessary to enforce jurisdiction of court); Tex.R.App. P. 25.1(a) ("If a notice of appeal is mistakenly filed with the appellate court, the notice is deemed to have been filed the same day with the trial court clerk, and the appellate clerk must immediately send the trial court clerk a copy of the notice."), (b) ("The filing of a notice of appeal by any party invokes the appellate court's jurisdiction over all parties to the trial court's judgment or order appealed from. Any party's failure to take any other step required by these rules . does not deprive the appellate court of jurisdiction but is ground only for the appellate court to act appropriately, including dismissing the appeal."); see also In re Washington, 7 S.W.3d 181, 182 (Tex.App.Houston [1st Dist.] 1999, orig. proceeding) (appellate court has jurisdiction to determine whether it has jurisdiction).
On Monday, March 14, 2005, the Clerk of this Court sent a copy of the notice of appeal to the trial-court clerk pursuant to Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 25.1(a). The trial-court clerk randomly assigned the appeal to the Fourteenth Court of Appeals, and the trial-court clerk notified both appellate Courts.
Because the appeal has not been assigned to this Court, we no longer have jurisdiction to issue a writ of injunction to protect our appellate jurisdiction of the appeal. Accordingly, we dissolve the injunction and dismiss the original proceeding.
It is so ordered.
Justice JENNINGS concurring.