In Re Donald Allen Trumble v. the State of Texas
CourtTexas Court of Appeals, 6th District (Texarkana)
Date FiledJuly 27, 2026
Docket06-26-00084-CV
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
In the
Court of Appeals
Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana
No. 06-26-00084-CV
IN RE DONALD ALLEN TRUMBLE
Original Mandamus Proceeding
Before Stevens, C.J., van Cleef and Rambin, JJ.
Memorandum Opinion by Justice van Cleef
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Relator, Donald Allen Trumble, has filed a petition for a writ of mandamus asking this
Court to compel the Honorable John L. Tidwell, presiding judge of the 202nd Judicial District
Court of Bowie County, to (1) vacate the contempt portions of the judgment against him,
(2) vacate an order denying a motion to vacate and modify final judgment, and (3) modify the
judgment to comply with the law. Because we conclude that the certification in the appendix to
the mandamus does not comply with the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, we deny the
requested relief.
Relator did not file a record with his petition but instead filed an appendix. As a result,
Relator was required to comply with Rule 52.3(l)(1)(B) of the Texas Rules of Appellate
Procedure, which states that an appendix “must contain . . . a certified or sworn copy of the
relevant trial court order, or any other document showing the matter complained of.” TEX. R.
APP. P. 52.3(l)(1)(B). A Rule 52.3(k) certification was included in the filing with this Court,
which states,
All documents included within the Appendix to Petition for Writ of Mandamus
and designated as “Trial Court Records” in Appx. A are true and correct
electronic copies of 5th Judicial District Court of Cass County, Texas court
records filed in the underlying trial court proceeding No. 4D1481A-202,
downloaded from e-filing notices of such filings, and saved as those documents
exist in our law firm’s electronic files, or are electronic mail, correspondence, and
other records though not filed of record, are from the parties to these proceedings,
are relevant to these proceedings, and are kept by our law firm in the ordinary
course of business.
2
This was the only certification included in Relator’s filing. The certification does not
comply with Rule 52.3(l)(1)(B) because the declarant swears that the records were filed in a
different court and county, namely, the 5th Judicial District Court of Cass County, Texas.
“‘Because the record in a mandamus proceeding is assembled by the parties,’ we must
‘strictly enforce[] the authentication requirements of rule 52 to ensure the integrity of the
mandamus record.’” In re Porter, No. 06-21-00054-CV, 2021 WL 2425251, at *1 (Tex. App.—
Texarkana June 15, 2021, orig. proceeding) (mem. op.) (quoting In re Morehead, No. 06-21-
00025-CV, 2021 WL 1652064, at *2 (Tex. App.—Texarkana Apr. 28, 2021, orig. proceeding)
(mem. op.) (quoting In re Smith, No. 05-19-00268-CV, 2019 WL 1305970, at *1 (Tex. App.—
Dallas Mar 22, 2019, orig. proceeding) (mem. op.))). “It is the relator’s burden to provide this
Court with a sufficient record to establish the right to mandamus relief.” In re Long, 607 S.W.3d
443, 446 (Tex. App.—Texarkana 2020, orig. proceeding) (quoting In re Henderson, No. 06-15-
00034-CR, 2015 WL 13522812, at *2 (Tex. App.—Texarkana Mar. 10, 2015, orig. proceeding)
(mem. op., not designated for publication)); see TEX. R. APP. P. 52.3(l)(1)(A), 52.7(a)(1).
Because Relator did not comply with the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, we deny
the petition for a writ of mandamus.1
Charles Van Cleef
Justice
Date Submitted: July 24, 2026
Date Decided: July 27, 2026
1
Because we deny Trumble’s petition, we overrule his emergency motion for temporary relief as moot.
3