The Houston First Court of Appeals granted a writ of mandamus against a trial judge who refused to set a civil case for trial in case of In re Harrell, No. 01-11-00760-CV (Tex. App. – Houston [1st Dist.] 1/26/2013) (mem. op.)(orig. proc.). The Court of Appeals stated:
A court of appeals may not prescribe the manner in which a trial court exercises its discretion, but it may, by mandamus, require a trial court to exercise its discretion in some manner. A trial court may not arbitrarily halt proceedings in a pending case, and mandamus will lie to compel a trial court to entertain and rule on motions pending before it. A trial court is required to consider and rule upon a motion within a reasonable time. If a motion is properly filed and pending before a trial court, the act of considering and ruling upon that motion is ministerial, and mandamus may issue to compel the trial court to act.
(citations omitted).