in Re Sara Jane Batteau
Date Filed2022-12-08
Docket09-22-00355-CV
Cited0 times
StatusPublished
Full Opinion (html_with_citations)
In The
Court of Appeals
Ninth District of Texas at Beaumont
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NO. 09-22-00355-CV
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IN RE SARA JANE BATTEAU
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Original Proceeding
County Court at Law No. 3 of Montgomery County, Texas
Trial Cause No. 21-02-02642-CV
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MEMORANDUM OPINION
In a petition for a writ of mandamus, Sara Jane Batteau asks this Court to
compel the judge assigned to preside in a divorce and custody case in which she is a
party to allow her to appear for a hearing remotely and to transfer the case to the
State of Illinois.
On September 2, 2022, the trial court denied Batteau’s challenge to the
jurisdiction of the Texas court. The trial court found that when the case commenced
on February 21, 2021, the children had been domiciled in Texas for at least 6 months
and Batteau had been a resident of Texas for 6 months and a resident of Montgomery
County for at least 90 days. The trial court found it had jurisdiction over the parties
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and the subject matter of the suit. See Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 152.201 (initial child
custody jurisdiction). The mandamus record does not establish that a court in Illinois
made a child custody determination before the real party in interest, Shawn Joseph
Mullin, filed for divorce and custody in Texas. The mandamus record also fails to
show that the judge is disqualified from presiding in Trial Cause Number 21-02-
02642-CV, as Batteau argues in her mandamus petition. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 18b(a)
(grounds for disqualification). Furthermore, the mandamus record does not show
that the trial court abused its discretion by not granting Batteau’s requests to allow
her temporary non-compliance with the trial court’s order to turn over the children
and to appear remotely for evidentiary hearings.
The relator has the burden of providing this Court with a sufficient record to
establish her right to mandamus relief. Walker v. Packer, 827 S.W.2d 833, 837 (Tex.
1992) (orig. proceeding). After considering the petition for a writ of mandamus, the
appendix, and the supplemental mandamus record, and based upon the mandamus
record, we conclude that the relator has not shown that she is entitled to the relief
sought in her petition. Accordingly, the petition for a writ of mandamus is denied.
See Tex. R. App. P. 52.8(a).
PETITION DENIED.
PER CURIAM
Submitted on December 7, 2022
Opinion Delivered December 8, 2022
Before Golemon, C.J., Kreger and Horton, JJ.
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