Court Opinion

ID: 9769154
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 14:36:13.452337+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:56.235970
License: Public Domain

MEYERS, J.,
delivered a concurring opinion in which BAIRD and OVERSTREET, JJ., joined.
I concur. The majority opinion purports to answer one question presented: did Appellant waive his motion for change of venue when he refused to proceed with a hearing on the motion when given the chance? In answering this question, the majority implicitly decides, without addressing, a second question: is a trial court’s initial ruling denying a motion fixed and absolute, such that it cannot subsequently be reconsidered?1 I write separately to explicitly address that question.
The majority states, “[i]n the case at bar, appellant (mistakenly) believed that his motion for change of venue was denied[.]” But Appellant was not mistaken in his belief that the trial court initially denied his motion and stated on the record: “I will deny that motion,” and “I denied it as far as the change of venue is concerned.” Clearly the trial court denied Appellant’s motion.
Realizing its own error, the trial court later rescinded its ruling and offered Appellant the opportunity to have a hearing on his motion. Appellant’s mistaken belief is that the trial court is without power to rescind its ruling. We recently recognized that a trial court can rescind its own order. Awadelkariem v. State, 974 S.W.2d 721 (Tex.Crim.App. 1998). As I stated in my concurring opinion in Awadelkariem, “a court has inherent power to correct, modify, vacate, or amend its own rulings. In other words, so long as the court does not by its ruling divest itself of jurisdiction or exceed a statutory time table, it can simply change its mind on a ruling. The ability to do so is a necessary function of an efficient judiciary.” Awadelkariem, at 728-29 (Meyers, J., concurrence). Thus a trial court’s initial ruling denying a motion is not fixed and absolute, barring a statutory prohibition or the loss of jurisdiction. A trial court may subsequently change its own ruling.
After addressing that second question, I now turn to the question of whether Appellant waived his motion. The trial court denied Appellant’s motion for change of venue but later vacated that ruling. Subsequently, the trial court offered Appellant the chance to have a hearing on his motion for change of venue. Appellant refused to proceed with the hearing. In so doing, Appellant waived his motion for change of venue. This Court need not address the remainder of the State’s grounds for review.
With these comments, I concur in the judgment of the Court.

. State Prosecuting Attorney’s third ground for review.