Relator Matthew Murphy has filed a motion to dismiss this mandamus proceeding as moot. Murphy’s petition for writ of mandamus asked this Court to direct the county court to vacate its order granting the real party in interest Mojdeh Delshad’s motion to exclude and motion to disqualify Murphy’s expert witness on real-property valuation. See Tex. Gov’t Code § 22.221; see also Tex. R. App. P. 52.1. At the same time, Murphy filed an emergency motion for temporary relief, seeking a stay of the trial set for November 6, 2017, in the underlying case. See Tex. R. App. P. 52.10(a). We granted the emergency motion and stayed the trial. See id. R. 52.10(b).

In response to Murphy’s petition for writ of mandamus, Delshad advised this Court that she had filed a “Notice of Abandonment of Plaintiff’s Diminution of Value Claim” in the underlying proceeding, pursuant to Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 165; accordingly, she asked the Court to dismiss Murphy’s petition for writ of mandamus as moot. Murphy subsequently filed a motion to dismiss his petition for writ of mandamus. In his motion to dismiss, Murphy confirms that the petition for writ of mandamus is moot because Delshad’s abandonment of her claim means that *2 evidence of the value of the real property at issue no longer has any relevance to the underlying suit. See In re Kellogg Brown & Root , Inc. , 166 S.W.3d 732, 737 (Tex. 2005) (“A case becomes moot if a controversy ceases to exist between the parties at any stage of the legal proceedings . . . .”). Therefore, we grant Murphy’s motion and dismiss this mandamus proceeding as moot, and we lift the stay of the trial in the underlying case. See Tex. R. App. P. 52.10(b).

__________________________________________ Cindy Olson Bourland, Justice Before Justices Puryear, Field, and Bourland

Filed: November 28, 2017

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