68 results for 'judge:"Soto"'.
J. Soto finds a lower court ruled correctly in a “hotly contested trust-modification proceeding.” Some parties to the trust argued among other things that a lower court abused its discretion by denying them a jury trial, but as the Texas Supreme Court has clarified, “there is no statutory right to
a jury trial” for a trust-modification proceeding in Texas. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: July 28, 2023, Case #: 08-18-00074-CV, Categories: Jury, Trusts, Wills / Probate
J. Soto finds that a lower court properly convicted defendant of murder. Defendant argues that prosecutors did not disprove his claim of self-defense, but while it does appear that a physical altercation may have preceded the murder, there is no clear evidence that defendant was in fear of his life. The jury was "free to reject" his claims that the use of deadly force was "immediately necessary." Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: July 21, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00023-CR, Categories: Murder, Self Defense
J. Soto finds that a lower court properly convicted defendant of aggravated robbery. Defendant argues that the lower court improperly excluded evidence allegedly showing that the robbery victim had threatened defendant because of his sexuality, but in court defendant was able to examine the theory that he was threatened, including through cross-examination, making this alleged error "harmless." Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: July 21, 2023, Case #: 08-22-00240-CR, Categories: Evidence, Fair Trial, Robbery
J. Soto withdraws this court’s previous opinion issued on Jan. 23, 2023, and substitutes it for one finding a lower court erred in granting summary judgment in a mineral rights dispute concerning the wording of a decades-old deed. A careful reading of that deed shows it established “a mineral estate shorn of all attributes but for the right to receive a royalty interest if and when there was production on the land.” Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: July 10, 2023, Case #: 08-21-00217-CV, Categories: Energy, Real Estate, Contract
J. Soto finds a lower court erred in determining royalties in a mineral rights dispute. A careful reading of a mineral rights deed, as well as an understanding of “the ‘usual’ royalty during the era in which [the 1937 deed] was drafted,” shows the appealing parties are correct that they should have reserved a “1/2 floating royalty interest” rather than a “1/16th fixed royalty,” as the lower court determined. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: July 10, 2023, Case #: 08-22-00168-CV, Categories: Energy, Real Estate
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J. Soto finds a lower court ruled correctly in convicting defendant of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after a woman was shot at an apartment complex following an argument. Defendant argued there was not sufficient evidence to convict him, but while “the record contains no direct evidence” that he was the shooter, the “cumulative force of the circumstantial evidence,” including the lack of any other suspects at the scene when the woman was shot, was enough evidence to convict him. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: June 23, 2023, Case #: 08-22-00211-CR, Categories: Evidence, Firearms, Assault
J. Soto finds a lower court ruled correctly in denying a motion to compel arbitration in a contract dispute between former business partners. While the parties did have an arbitration agreement, it narrowly applied to the terms of a construction contract between them and does not apply to the dispute here, which specifically concerns whether one party was “time-barred from seeking payment.” Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: June 23, 2023, Case #: 08-22-00232-CV, Categories: Arbitration, Civil Procedure, Contract