Elsa Alcala

In Dixon v. State, Anthony James Dixon appealed his conviction for attempted aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after an incident in which he allegedly chased his passenger, Cherlyn Kelly, with his truck following an argument, striking a house and tree in the process. The trial court used a single verdict form allowing the jury to convict on the greater offense of aggravated assault, the lesser-included offense of attempted aggravated assault, or acquit, and admitted a 911 call and witness statements over hearsay objections while denying requests for instructions on additional lesser-included offenses like deadly conduct and reckless driving. The appellate court affirmed the conviction, holding that the single verdict form complied with Texas Code of Criminal Procedure articles 37.07, 37.08, 37.09, and 37.14 for handling greater and lesser-included offenses in one count; the jury instructions and evidence rulings were proper; and no separate unanimity requirements applied beyond those statutes. The court rejected claims of error in the jury charge and evidentiary admissions.

criminal lawprocedure

This case involved taxpayers who were listed on the appraisal roll as owners of property including 0.96 acres they did not actually own and who paid taxes on that land under protest after the taxing units sued to collect delinquent taxes from prior years; the taxpayers then filed a counterclaim seeking a refund once the taxing units nonsuited. The trial court denied the taxing units' plea to the jurisdiction, but the appellate court reversed. The court held that the taxpayers were required to exhaust administrative protest remedies under the Tax Code before filing suit for a refund, even though non-ownership can be raised as a defense in a collection action, and therefore the trial court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over the refund claims. The opinion emphasizes that the statutory exhaustion requirement applies to refund actions and that the taxpayers had not timely protested the erroneous ownership determination.

taxespropertyprocedure

In Certified EMS, Inc. v. Potts, a patient sued a nurse staffing agency alleging both direct negligence and vicarious liability under respondeat superior for an alleged sexual assault by a temporary nurse employee during a hospital stay for kidney infection complications. The trial court denied the agency's motions to dismiss the health care liability claims for inadequate expert reports under Chapter 74 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code and granted a 30-day extension to file amended reports. On interlocutory appeal, the Court of Appeals held it lacked jurisdiction to review the first motion to dismiss but affirmed denial of the second, reasoning that the reports were adequate as to the vicarious liability theory based on the employee's conduct, even if deficient regarding direct liability.

healthcareproceduretorts & liability

In Taylor v. Allstate Insurance Co., the insured sued his auto insurer after settling an underlying personal injury suit above policy limits, alleging that Allstate negligently handled his defense through retained counsel, along with claims for breach of contract, tortious interference, vicarious liability, and statutory violations under the Insurance Code and DTPA. The trial court granted Allstate's summary judgment motion, ruling that no viable causes of action existed beyond a Stowers claim, which the facts did not support, and denied leave to replead. On appeal, the court affirmed summary judgment on the negligence, vicarious liability, and tortious interference claims, finding that Texas law limits common-law recovery for insurer mishandling of third-party claims to Stowers actions and that Taylor had already amended his pleadings. However, it reversed and remanded on the breach of contract and statutory claims, holding that those theories were not precluded by the Stowers doctrine. The court also upheld the denial of further repleading because Taylor had received prior notice and opportunity to amend.

torts & liabilitybusiness & regulatory

The case involved Marara Jean Kibble's conviction for possession with intent to deliver cocaine after officers executing a search warrant at her apartment found crack and powder cocaine in a red bag, along with stolen items and drug paraphernalia, and cash on her person that a narcotics dog later alerted to. Kibble appealed, challenging the admission of the dog-sniff evidence on the money, the prosecutor's closing argument, and the factual sufficiency of the evidence for intent to deliver. The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction, concluding that any errors regarding the dog evidence and argument were harmless and that the evidence was sufficient to support the verdict under the Jackson standard applied to both legal and factual sufficiency challenges.

criminal lawprocedure

The case involved Marco Rivera suing TDIndustries (TDI), a licensed professional engineering firm providing management services at the George R. Brown Convention Center, along with the City of Houston, for personal injuries from a freight elevator door striking him; Rivera asserted negligence and premises liability claims without initially filing a certificate of merit. TDI moved to dismiss under Section 150.002 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, arguing that the claims required such a certificate with the original petition and that a later-filed certificate was untimely and deficient. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's denial of the motion to dismiss, concluding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion because Rivera's premises liability and negligence allegations against TDI did not implicate the certificate of merit requirement. The reasoning focused on the nature of the claims as presented in the pleadings and the statute's scope regarding professional services.

proceduretorts & liability