Second Court of Appeals | Case Summaries

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued – Week of February 07, 2011

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.

Garcia v. Allen, No. 02-10-00077-CV (Feb. 10, 2011) (Walker, J., joined by Dauphinot and Gabriel, JJ.).: Held: The trial court did not abuse its discretion by finding that Allen's initial expert report represented an objective good faith effort to satisfy the requirements of an expert report under civil practice and remedies code section 74.153, and even assuming Allen's initial expert report was somehow deficient, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by granting Allen a thirty-day extension to cure any deficiencies and by finding that the supplements to Allen's initial report satisfied the requirements of an expert report under section 74.351.

James v. State, No. 02-09-00334-CR (Feb. 10, 2011) (Meier, J., joined by Livingston, C.J.; Dauphinot, J., dissents with opinion). [Note: Both opinions are at the same link in one document.]: Held: The trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting Officer Fletcher's testimony that Maggie "had just had the crap beat out of her" because there was a plethora of undisputed facts demonstrating that Officer Fletcher's responsive lay opinion was rationally based on events that she personally perceived during both visits to Maggie's residence.; Dissent and Concurrence: The trial court abused its discretion by admitting as lay opinion testimony Officer Fletcher's nonresponsive, speculative testimony about the cause of Maggie's injuries, and Appellant preserved the error by timely objecting. But Maggie testified that Appellant caused her injuries, rendering the error harmless.