F. Michael Schultz v. Fifth Judicial District Court Appeals At Dallas and Honorable Martin Richter

The issue in this original mandamus proceeding is whether a court of appeals abuses its discretion when it declines to entertain a contempt motion based on a turnover order that is the subject of the appeal then pending in the court of appeals. We hold that a post-judgment turnover order is an appealable final judgment and, consequently, subject to the rule that jurisdiction to hear contempt motions for violation of the order being appealed lies in the appellate court where the appeal is pending. We therefore conditionally grant the writ of mandamus because the court of appeals has declined to exercise its exclusive jurisdiction and misled the trial court into assuming jurisdiction when it has none.