in Re Reidie James Jackson, Relator, 07-17-00373-CV

Jackson, a Texas prison inmate, petitions for a writ of mandamus to compel Judge Ana Estevez to rule on Ellis and Gratz’s motion for partial summary judgment and to set a trial date.
This is Jackson’s second mandamus petition on the same issue; a prior petition was denied in July 2017.
Jackson’s current record includes a certified mail receipt showing delivery to Judge Estevez on September 18, 2017 and a petition filed October 16, 2017.
Ellis and Gratz filed a response arguing the petition should be denied for lack of proof that the filings were brought to Judge Estevez’s attention; the court disagrees that this defeates awareness.
The court denies mandamus, holding a trial court has a reasonable time to rule on a properly filed motion and none of the asserted factors show clear abuse of discretion.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether mandamus should issue to compel ruling on partial summary judgment	Jackson argues the court had a non-discretionary duty to rule	Ellis/Gratz contend there was no proven delay or improper conduct establishing refusal	Denied the mandamus

Safety-Kleen Corp. v. Garcia, 945 S.W.2d 268 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 1997) (trial court must rule on properly presented pretrial motion within a reasonable time)
In re Chavez, 62 S.W.3d 225 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 2001) (reasonable time depends on docket and other matters; court has discretion over its docket)
O’Connor v. First Court of Appeals, 837 S.W.2d 94 (Tex. 1992) (mandamus requires (1) legal duty to perform; (2) demand; (3) refusal to act)