CAUSE NO. 2024-00001 MICHAEL C. ENGELHART, Plaintiff, v. MIKE DOYLE, in his representative capacity and HARRIS COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY, Defendants.
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IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS
281st JUDICIAL DISTRICT
PLAINTIFF’S NOTICE OF NONSUIT WITHOUT PREJUDICE Plaintiff Michael C. Engelhart files this Notice of Nonsuit Without Prejudice as follows: It is clear from the four corners of the application filed with the Harris County Democratic Party that fewer than 250 registered voters signed the petitions submitted by Erica Roche’ Hughes on or about December 11, 2023. The appropriate remedy is mandamus. The court of appeals is the appropriate venue for this matter because “[m]andamus relief lies exclusively with the appellate courts of our state, not with district courts.” Bejarano v. Moody, 901 S.W.2d 570, 571 (Tex. App. – El Paso 1995, orig. proceeding); see also TEX. ELEC. CODE ANN. § 273.061 (assigning jurisdiction to the Supreme Court or Courts of Appeals to hear mandamus proceedings in connection with election matters). Accordingly, Michael C. Engelhart dismisses this matter without prejudice in anticipation of his possible filing for a writ of mandamus elsewhere. A proposed order is attached.
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Respectfully submitted, BERG PLUMMER JOHNSON & RAVAL, LLP By: /s/ Geoffrey Berg Geoffrey Berg (gberg@bergplummer.com) Texas Bar No. 00793330 3700 Buffalo Speedway, Suite 1150 Houston, Texas 77098 713-526-0200 (tel) 832-615-2665 (fax) Attorneys for Petitioner, Michael C. Engelhart
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I certify that, pursuant to Rules 21 and 21a of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, a true and correct copy of this document was served electronically on January 3, 2024 as follows: Cris Feldman (cris.feldman@feldman.law) 3355 W. Alabama Street, Suite 1220 Houston, Texas 77098
Lloyd Kelley (kelley@lloydkelley.com) 2726 Bissonnet Street, Suite 240 Houston, Texas 77005
/s/ Geoffrey Berg
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