Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued – Week of July 11, 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.

In re Preston,   Nos. 02-09-00095-CV,   02-09-00233-CV    (July 14, 2011)   (Meier, J., joined by McCoy, J.; Livingston, C.J., concurs and dissents with opinion). [Note: Both opinions are at the same link in one document.]

Held:   The evidence is legally insufficient to support the award of exemplary damages in both causes because there is no evidence that Scherry or Michael breached any fiduciary duty for the purpose of obtaining a benefit for themselves. To the extent that the trial court awarded exemplary damages based on some other theory, there is no evidence that any harm resulted from fraud, malice, or gross negligence.

Dissent:   The evidence is sufficient to support the trial court's determination that Scherry and Michael breached a fiduciary duty to Deartis and Doris's estate for the purpose of obtaining a benefit or that they conspired to do so; thus, the evidence was sufficient to support the trial court's award of exemplary damages in accordance with the Kraus factors.

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