Court Opinion

ID: 9960018
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-14 07:15:45.677588+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:19:04.556062
License: Public Domain

Petition for Writ of Mandamus Denied and Memorandum Majority and
Dissenting Opinions filed April 9, 2024.

                                     In The

                    Fourteenth Court of Appeals

                                NO. 14-24-00021-CV

                        IN RE MARY RUFFIN, Relator

                         ORIGINAL PROCEEDING
                           WRIT OF MANDAMUS
                             County Court No. 2
                           Galveston County, Texas
                      Trial Court Cause No. CV-0091816

                MEMORANDUM DISSENTING OPINION

      Persisting in my view that our duty as judges is to reach a decision on the
merits based on a proper record and that due process and due course of law require
that this court give notice when the original-proceeding record does not comply
with the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, I would give relator ten-days’ notice
of involuntary dismissal for failure to comply with Texas Rule of Appellate
Procedure 52.7(a) requiring (1) a certified or sworn copy of every document that is
material to the relator’s claim for relief and that was filed in any underlying
proceeding and (2) a properly authenticated transcript of any relevant testimony
from any underlying proceeding, including any exhibits offered in evidence, or a
statement that no testimony was adduced in connection with the matter
complained. Tex. R. App. P. 52.7(a); see In re Kholaif, 624 S.W.3d 228, 231
(order), mand. dism’d, 615 S.W.3d 369 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2020)
(orig. proceeding); see also Tex. R. App. P. 52.3(k)(1) (necessary contents of
petition); Tex. Civ. Prac. & Crim. Code Ann. § 132.001 (authorizing unsworn
declarations).

      I dissent from the court’s failure to provide notice and an opportunity to
cure. I express no opinion on the merits of the petition for a writ of mandamus.

                                       /s       Charles A. Spain
                                                Justice

Panel consists of Justices Jewell, Spain, and Wilson (Spain, J., dissenting).

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