Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of May 28, 2012

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.

Steele v. City of Southlake, No. 02-11-00229-CV  (May 31, 2012) (Livingston, C.J., joined by Walker, J.; McCoy, J., concurs without opinion).

Held:  Appellees conclusively established their entitlement to summary judgment on Appellant’s Whistleblower Act claim because Appellees proved, in accordance with the affirmative defense established by section 554.004(b) of the government code, that Appellant’s employment would have been terminated based solely on information, observation, or evidence that is not related to the fact that Appellant made a whistleblower report.

Johnson v. State, No. 02-10-00433-CR  (May 31, 2012) (Gardner, J., joined by McCoy and Gabriel, JJ).

Held:  Sufficient evidence supports Appellant’s conviction for assault causing bodily injury to a family member with a prior conviction. In addition, although the trial court misstated the offense for which the jury had found Appellant guilty while reading the verdict form aloud, Appellant did not preserve error for appellate review, and any alleged error is harmless.

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