Fourth Court of Appeals San Antonio, Texas
MEMORANDUM OPINION No. 04-19-00283-CV
IN RE ELIZABETH BENAVIDEZ ELITE AVIATION, INC.
Original Mandamus Proceeding 1
PER CURIAM
Sitting: Rebeca C. Martinez, Justice Patricia O. Alvarez, Justice Irene Rios, Justice
Delivered and Filed: May 15, 2019
PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS DENIED
In this original proceeding, relator asks this court to compel the trial court to grant its no-evidence motion for summary judgment, which it filed on March 4, 2019. We deny the petition for writ of mandamus.
DISCUSSION
Upon the filing of a no-evidence motion for summary judgment, “[t]he court must grant the motion unless the respondent produces summary judgment evidence raising a genuine issue of material fact.” TEX. R. CIV. P. 166a(i). Because the real party in interest did not respond to relator’s no-evidence motion for summary judgment, relator asserts the trial court had no discretion
1 This proceeding arises out of Cause No. 2017CVK002669-D3, styled Laredo Jet Center, LLC v. City of Laredo, et al., pending in the 341st Judicial District Court, Webb County, Texas, the Honorable Rebecca Ramirez Palomo presiding.
04-19-00283-CV to refuse to grant its motion, and this court has the authority to issue a writ directing the trial court to grant the motion.
Although Rule 166a(i) plainly states that the motion “must” be granted absent a proper response, we do not have the authority by mandamus to require the trial court to grant relator’s pending motion. Crofts v. Court of Civil Appeals, 362 S.W.2d 101, 104-05 (Tex. 1962) (orig. proceeding) (appellate court “may not tell the district court what judgment to enter”); In re Mission Consol. Indep. Sch. Dist., 990 S.W.2d 459, 460 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi 1999, orig. proceeding) (“we do not have the authority by mandamus . . . to require the trial court to grant the present ‘no evidence’ motion for summary judgment”). Therefore, we deny relator’s petition for writ of mandamus. See TEX. R. APP. P. 52.8(a).
PER CURIAM
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