Second Court of Appeals | Case Summaries

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued – Week of December 10, 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.

Links to full text of opinions (PDF version) can be accessed by clicking the cause number.

Cook v. Cook, No. 02-06-00057-CV (Dec. 13, 2007) (Dauphinot, J., joined by Holman, J.; Livingston, J., dissents with opinion.).: Held: Appellant withdrew his consent to the agreement before the trial court granted the divorce and rendered judgment; the judgment is therefore void.; Dissent: The trial court rendered a binding decision on property, custody, and visitation when it approved the parties' rule 11 settlement agreement concerning those matters as "just and right"; thus, Appellant's attempt to subsequently withdraw his consent was untimely.
In re M.R., No. 02-07-00163-CV (Dec. 13, 2007) (Livingston, J., joined by Dauphinot and Holman, JJ.).: Held: The trial court did not abuse its discretion by determining that outcry statements made by one of the children were reliable under family code section 104.006. The evidence supporting the termination of Appellants' parental rights was legally and factually sufficient to support the trial court's endangerment findings under family code section 161.001(1)(D) and (E) and was also factually sufficient to support the trial court’s best interest findings.