Plenary power and COVID-19

The Fifth Court rejected an argument that a supreme court emergency order extended the trial court’s plenary power after a case’s dismissal: “[T]he language in the emergency orders ‘giving a court the power to modify or suspend “deadlines and procedures” presupposes a pre-existing power or authority over the case or the proceedings. . . . It does not suggest that a court can create jurisdiction for itself where the jurisdiction would otherwise be absent[.]’ Here, the trial court lost jurisdiction over the case on July 20, and the motion to reinstate was not filed until November. Because the trial court lacked jurisdiction over the case by the time the motion to reinstate was filed, it could not avail itself of the emergency order to reinstate the case, and the challenged orders are void.” Quariab v. Khalili, No. 05-20-00979-CV (March 15, 2021) (mem. op.) (citing In re State ex rel. Ogg, No. WR-91,936-01, 2021 WL 800761, at *3 (Tex. Crim. App. Mar. 3, 2021)).