In Re: Lawrence Allen Fuller Appeal from Criminal District Court No. 3 of Dallas County (memorandum opinion)
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DENIED and Opinion Filed April 20, 2022 In The Court of Appeals Fifth District of Texas at Dallas No. 05-21-01124-CV No. 05-21-01125-CV IN RE LAWRENCE ALLEN FULLER, Relator Original Proceeding from the Criminal District Court No. 3 Dallas County, Texas Trial Court Cause Nos. F97-01742-J & F97-02170-J MEMORANDUM OPINION Before Justices Myers, Partida-Kipness, and Carlyle Opinion by Justice Myers Lawrence Allen Fuller has filed a petition for writ of mandamus seeking to compel the trial court to issue a ruling on his motion for post-conviction DNA testing. The Court requested a response to the petition. In its response, the State has shown the respondent trial court issued a March 14, 2022 order denying relator’s motion. Accordingly, we deny relief on the petition because the matter is now moot. To obtain mandamus relief, relator must show: (1) that he has no adequate remedy at law, and (2) that the act he seeks to compel is a ministerial act for which he has a clear right to relief. See In re Bonilla, 424 S.W.3d 528, 534 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014) (orig. proceeding). In seeking to compel a ruling from the trial court, relator has a right to a ruling, but mandamus may not be used to compel the trial court to rule a certain way on a matter in which it is exercising its judicial discretion. In re State ex rel. Young v. Sixth Judicial Dist. Ct. of Appeals, 236 S.W.3d 207, 210 (Tex. Crim. App. 2007). The trial court’s ruling denying relator’s motion delivers all of the relief he is requesting and entitled to in a mandamus proceeding, thus rendering his cause moot. See Bonilla, 424 S.W.3d at 534 (mandamus relief rendered moot when relator received information he was seeking); In re Johnson, 599 S.W.3d 311, 311–12 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2020, orig. proceeding) (mandamus proceeding seeking ruling on motion rendered moot when respondent trial court ruled on motion); see also In re Graves, No. 05-14-00306-CV, 2014 WL 1032466, at *1 (Tex. App.—Dallas Mar. 13, 2014, orig. proceeding) (mem. op.) (mandamus proceeding seeking ruling on post-conviction DNA motion rendered moot when trial court issued ruling on motion). Accordingly, relator’s petition for writ of mandamus is denied as moot. 211124f.p05 211125f.p05 /Lana Myers// LANA MYERS JUSTICE –2–
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