in Re Maria Cristina Newall De Kallop ( 2020 )

Petition for Writ of Mandamus Dismissed and Memorandum Opinion filed
April 9, 2020.
In The
Fourteenth Court of Appeals
NO. 14-20-00168-CV
IN RE MARIA CRISTINA NEWALL DE KALLOP, Relator
ORIGINAL PROCEEDING
WRIT OF MANDAMUS
Probate Court No. 4
Harris County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. 475,050
MEMORANDUM OPINION
On February 26, 2020, relator Maria Cristina Newall de Kallop filed a petition
for writ of mandamus in this court. See Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 22.221; see also
Tex. R. App. P. 52. In the petition, relator asks this court to compel the Honorable
James Horwitz, presiding judge of the Probate Court No. 4 of Harris County, to
vacate his temporary restraining order signed on February 21, 2020 (“TRO”). On
February 28, 2020, real parties in interest Brent Kallop and Brooks Kallop, as
Independent Co-Executors of the Estate of William Moore Kallop, Deceased, file a
motion to strike evidence or, in the alternative, motion to consider additional
evidence (“motion to strike evidence”).
On April 2, 2020, the parties provided status reports stating that the Probate
Court issued a temporary injunction on March 16, 2020, and the TRO is no longer
in effect. The parties also provided a copy of the temporary injunction. When a
temporary restraining order has expired and is no longer in force, the mandamus
proceeding challenging the order is moot. See In re Henry, No. 14-17-00138-CV,
2017 WL 1103553, at *1 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] Mar. 23, 2017, orig.
proceeding) (mem. op.); Hermann Hosp. v. Tran, 730 S.W.2d 56, 57 (Tex. App.–
Houston [14th Dist.] 1987, no writ). When a case becomes moot, the court of appeals
loses jurisdiction and cannot hear the case because any decision would constitute an
advisory opinion that is “outside the jurisdiction conferred by Texas Constitution
article II, section 1.” Matthews v. Kountze Indep. Sch. Dist., 484 S.W.3d 416, 418
(Tex. 2016).
We therefore dismiss as moot relator’s petition for writ of mandamus and real
parties in interest’s motion to strike evidence.
PER CURIAM
Panel consists of Chief Justice Frost and Justices Spain and Bourliot.
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