Court Opinion

ID: 9407735
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-07-08 19:09:54.816518+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:20:39.729266
License: Public Domain

NUMBER 13-21-00415-CV

                    COURT OF APPEALS

             THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

              CORPUS CHRISTI – EDINBURG

KRISHNA MOHAN TURLAPATI, M.D.,
VALLEY PEDIATRIC CRITICAL CARE
AND HOSPITALIST SERVICES, AND
LOUISDON PIERRE, M.D.,                                 Appellants,

                                  v.

MALLORY COTTON AND
JERAMY BRIDGES, INDIVIDUALLY,
AND AS NEXT FRIENDS,
NATURAL PARENTS, AND AS
WRONGFUL DEATH BENEFICIARIES
OF BABY BOY BRIDGES,                                    Appellees.

             On appeal from the 103rd District Court
                  of Cameron County, Texas.

                 MEMORANDUM OPINION
        Before Justices Benavides, Longoria, and Tijerina
          Memorandum Opinion by Justice Benavides
        This cause is before the Court on the parties’ joint motion to dismiss the appeal as

moot. We grant the motion and dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction.

        Attached to the joint motion is a dismissal order signed by the trial court on June

19, 2023, stating that the parties have agreed to extinguish the controversy between them

in toto. “Appeals of some interlocutory orders become moot because the orders have

been rendered moot by subsequent orders.” Hernandez v. Ebrom, 289 S.W.3d 316, 319

(Tex. 2009). “A case is moot when a justiciable controversy no longer exists between the

parties or when the parties no longer have a legally cognizable interest in the outcome.”

Tex. Dep’t of Fam. & Protective Servs. v. N.J., 644 S.W.3d 189, 192 (Tex. 2022). “A case

may become moot at any time, including on appeal.” Id. When an appeal becomes moot,

we must dismiss it for want of jurisdiction. Id. (citing Heckman v. Williamson County, 369

S.W.3d 137, 162 (Tex. 2012); see also Betancourt v. Cotton, No. 13-22-00132-CV, 2022

WL 1414502, at *1 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi–Edinburg May 5, 2022, no pet.) (mem.

op.).

        Upon review of the motion to dismiss, the Court is of the opinion that the motion

should be granted. See TEX. R. APP. P. 42.1(a)(1). Therefore, this cause is reinstated, the

motion to dismiss is granted, and the appeal is hereby dismissed. Costs are taxed against

appellants. See id. R. 42.1(d) (“Absent agreement of the parties, the court will tax costs

against the appellant.”). Having dismissed the appeal at the parties’ request, no motion

for rehearing will be entertained.

                                                               GINA M. BENAVIDES
                                                               Justice

Delivered and filed on the
6th day of July, 2023.

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