In Re Bennett

In this mandamus proceeding we hold that neither the filing of a non-suit nor the subsequent removal of a case to federal court deprived the state court of jurisdiction to consider, sua sponte, whether sanctions should be imposed on attorneys for pre-removal conduct when the sanctions are unrelated to the merits of the removed case. We further hold that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in imposing sanctions under the facts of this case. Accordingly, we conditionally issue a writ of mandamus directing the court of appeals to vacate the writ of mandamus in which it ordered the trial court to vacate sanctions, 925 S.W.2d 338.