Second Court of Appeals | Case Summaries

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued – Week of May 21, 2007

NOTE: Summaries are prepared by the court's staff attorneys and law clerks for public information only and reflect his or her interpretation alone of the facts and legal issues. The summaries are not part of the court's opinion in the case and should not be cited to, quoted, or relied upon as the opinion of the court.

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TXI Transp. Co. v. Hughes, No. 02-04-00242-CV (May 24, 2007) (Walker, J., joined by Livingston, J.; Gardner, J., dissents with opinion).: Held: In this wrongful death and survival action stemming from a collision on Highway 114 between a Yukon and a gravel truck, a jury returned a verdict for Appellees, awarding actual and exemplary damages. After disregarding certain jury findings and the correlating damages awarded, the trial court entered judgment on the jury's verdict. On appeal, Appellants raise six issues, encompassing seventeen discrete subissues. After considering these issues and subissues, we reverse the exemplary damage award and render judgment that Appellees take nothing on their claim for exemplary damages. We affirm the balance of the trial court's judgment.; Dissent: The trial court reversibly erred by admitting the testimony of Appellees' accident reconstruction expert because Appellees failed to show his testimony was reliable. There was no evidence he followed any recognized protocol or methodology when making his assumptions or reaching his conclusions, his conclusions were based on critical assumptions unsupported by evidence, and his assumptions and conclusions varied materially from the physical evidence and testimony. Also, the trial court reversibly erred by admitting evidence concerning the truck driver's status as an illegal alien.
Tex. Cityview Care Ctr., L.P. v. Fryer, No. 02-06-00373-CV; In re Tex. Cityview Care Ctr., L.P., No. 02-06-00426-CV (May 24, 2007) (orig. proceeding) (Livingston, J., joined by Gardner and McCoy, JJ.).: Held: Appellants failed to prove the existence of a valid arbitration agreement binding Appellees because they failed to prove that appellee Griffin had authority to bind her mother, Frances Emmons, or anyone claiming by and through Emmons when Griffin signed several documents, including an arbitration agreement, upon Emmons's admission into Cityview Care Center, a nursing home. Accordingly, the trial court did not err by denying Appellants' (1) motion to compel arbitration and (2) motion to abate the trial court proceedings pending arbitration. In addition, Appellants were not entitled to mandamus relief.