72 results for 'judge:"Soto"'.
J. Soto dismisses, for lack of jurisdiction, an appeal in a premises liability suit. A woman obtained a no-answer default judgment against a bar after she injured herself there, and while the bar is now attempting to appeal, there is not a final appealable judgment and “no constitutional or statutory grant of jurisdiction permits us to review it.”
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: December 11, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00110-CV, Categories: Tort, Damages, Premises Liability
J. Soto remands to lower court several cases, including this one, stemming from arrests of migrants for criminal trespass under Texas’ “Operation Lone Star,” a state policy ostensibly intended to “deter[] illegal border crossing” and “prevent criminal activity along the border.” Defendant argued the charge was unconstitutional, including because the state was “selectively prosecuting men, and not similarly situated women.” Following a favorable ruling from the Fourth Court of Appeals in a similar case, defendants facing such charges are entitled to reconsideration.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: November 30, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00204-CR, Categories: Constitution, Immigration, Trespass
J. Soto remands to lower court several cases, including this one, stemming from arrests of migrants for criminal trespass under Texas’ “Operation Lone Star,” a state policy ostensibly intended to “deter[] illegal border crossing” and “prevent criminal activity along the border.” Defendant argued the charge was unconstitutional, including because the state was “selectively prosecuting men, and not similarly situated women.” Following a favorable ruling from the Fourth Court of Appeals in a similar case, defendants facing such charges are entitled to reconsideration.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: November 30, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00201-CR, Categories: Constitution, Immigration, Trespass
J. Soto finds a lower court ruled correctly in convicting defendant of sexual abuse of his stepdaughter. In both this and another case stemming from the abuse, defendant argues a lower court inappropriately admitted expert testimony that he said was overly opinionated, but defendant did not adequately preserve error or show that his case was improperly harmed by the testimony. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: November 30, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00093-CR, Categories: Sex Offender, Experts, Child Victims
J. Soto remands to lower court several cases, including this one, stemming from arrests of migrants for criminal trespass under Texas’ “Operation Lone Star,” a state policy ostensibly intended to “deter[] illegal border crossing” and “prevent criminal activity along the border.” Defendant argued the charge was unconstitutional, including because the state was “selectively prosecuting men, and not similarly situated women.” Following a favorable ruling from the Fourth Court of Appeals in a similar case, defendants facing such charges are entitled to reconsideration.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: November 30, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00203-CR, Categories: Constitution, Immigration, Trespass
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J. Soto remands to lower court several cases, including this one, stemming from arrests of migrants for criminal trespass under Texas’ “Operation Lone Star,” a state policy ostensibly intended to “deter[] illegal border crossing” and “prevent criminal activity along the border.” Defendant argued the charge was unconstitutional, including because the state was “selectively prosecuting men, and not similarly situated women.” Following a favorable ruling from the Fourth Court of Appeals in a similar case, defendants facing such charges are entitled to reconsideration.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: November 30, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00200-CR, Categories: Constitution, Immigration, Trespass
J. Soto finds a lower court ruled correctly in convicting defendant of sexual abuse of his stepdaughter. In both this and another case stemming from the abuse, defendant argues a lower court inappropriately admitted expert testimony that he said was overly opinionated, but defendant did not adequately preserve error or show that his case was improperly harmed by the testimony. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: November 30, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00094-CR, Categories: Sex Offender, Experts, Child Victims
J. Soto remands to lower court several cases, including this one, stemming from arrests of migrants for criminal trespass under Texas’ “Operation Lone Star,” a state policy ostensibly intended to “deter[] illegal border crossing” and “prevent criminal activity along the border.” Defendant argued the charge was unconstitutional, including because the state was “selectively prosecuting men, and not similarly situated women.” Following a favorable ruling from the Fourth Court of Appeals in a similar case, defendants facing such charges are entitled to reconsideration.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: November 30, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00202-CR, Categories: Constitution, Immigration, Trespass
J. Soto finds a lower court ruled correctly in convicting defendant on domestic assault charges. Defendant argued there was insufficient evidence to convict him, not least because the victim did not recall the events that led to her hospitalization, but in fact court testimony did consider and rule out other alternatives, including the possibility that the victim fell. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: November 21, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00048-CR, Categories: Evidence, Assault, Domestic Violence
J. Soto finds a lower court ruled correctly in dismissing a suit brought by citizens against the Texas comptroller’s office over property valuations. Because the citizens are suing over a tax program involving local school districts, their claimed injuries are not “fairly traceable” to the comptroller’s office. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: November 21, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00086-CV, Categories: Government, Property, Tax
J. Soto finds a lower court did not err in denying an insurance company’s efforts to intervene in a personal injury lawsuit brought against an oil services company by workers who said they were injured in an explosion. The insurer cannot show a lower court abused its discretion by denying its intervention because the insurer’s question of whether it has a duty to indemnify the oil company can be determined “if and when a judgment is entered” against the oil company.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: October 31, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00223-CV, Categories: Civil Procedure, Insurance, Tort
J. Soto finds a lower court ruled correctly in determining an insurance company has a duty to indemnify a construction contractor following a dispute between the contractor and its client over allegedly shoddy workmanship, which resulted in a jury verdict in favor of the client. The insurance company argued, among other things, that the contractor had assumed liability beyond what was covered in its insurance policy, but the record does not support this argument.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: October 31, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00047-CV, Categories: Insurance, Indemnification, Contract
J. Soto finds a lower court erred in dismissing a lawsuit brought by a homeowner against Bank of America in a dispute over a loan. The homeowners raised a number of genuine factual disputes that should have defeated the bank’s motion to dismiss in lower court, including questions of whether lenders had “provided a constitutionally required notice” before starting foreclosure proceedings.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: October 25, 2023, Case #: 08-20-00184-CV, Categories: Civil Procedure, Banking / Lending, Foreclosure
J. Soto finds a lower court erred in appointing another person as joint managing conservator over a child in addition to the biological mother. The court abused its discretion in granting this non-relative conservatorship, because the biological mother — who is given preference in childcare decisions under Texas law — “has not abdicated her parental duties,” nor has the other appointed conservator provided evidence that granting the mother sole conservatorship would “significantly impair” the child’s health or wellbeing.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: October 25, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00087-CV, Categories: Family Law, Guardianship
J. Soto finds a lower court erred in denying a motion to compel arbitration brought by a health care center after it was sued by a former employee in a slip and fall lawsuit. The employee argued an arbitration agreement she’d signed as part of her onboarding was not valid because it not explicitly state the parties to the arbitration agreement, but while the premises parties have indeed “failed to meet this burden,” they are “nevertheless entitled to compel arbitration,” including based on Texas Supreme Court precedent. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: October 6, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00033-CV, Categories: Arbitration, Tort, Contract
J. Soto finds a lower court ruled correctly in convicting defendant of possessing methamphetamine with intent to deliver. Defendant argued there was not adequate evidence to show he had intent to deliver, but “a jury could have reasonably inferred” this intent as defendant “possessed more methamphetamine than is customary for a mere user” and “possessed a larger and smaller bag of methamphetamine, indicating an intent to divide the larger amount into smaller amounts for resale.” The discovery of marijuana paraphernalia was also taken to mean that defendant was a “marijuana user” and therefore that “the methamphetamine was for sale and not for personal use.” Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00084-CR, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence
J. Soto finds a lower court ruled correctly in finding defendant guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm and in determining that he deserved a repeat offender enhancement on his sentence. Defendant raised a number of issues with the trial, including arguing that the state could not show that he owned a firearm found in a vehicle he was driving and that the initial vehicle search had not been lawful. The initial search was lawful because defendant was in the park after closing, violating a city ordinance, and when an officer confronted him, he noticed a “strong smell” of marijuana coming from the car, which defendant admitted to smoking. Defendant also never moved during trial to suppress evidence of the firearm found in his vehicle. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: September 22, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00112-CR, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Firearms
J. Soto finds that a lower court properly ruled in a convoluted dispute over a "commercial real estate deal gone sour." Several parties in the case raised contract counterclaims in the dispute — but as they provide "no evidence to support any of their counterclaims," the lower court did not err in granting summary judgment against them.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 08-22-00162-CV, Categories: Civil Procedure, Real Estate
J. Soto finds a lower court erred in granting declaratory relief in a dispute over the estate of a deceased woman. Because the woman’s will made clear that she “intended to give equally to her surviving named children all of the property she owned,” this court cannot “look outside the will to find an alternate meaning,” including by delving into apparent “clerical errors” such as references to her “wife” in the will. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00019-CV, Categories: Civil Procedure, Wills / Probate, Contract
J. Soto finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of engaging in organized criminal activity and correctly ruled that a gang unit investigator was qualified to provide reliable expert witness testimony. The investigator was sufficiently qualified to give an expert opinion on whether the motorcycle club was a criminal street gang under the law. The investigator developed his expertise and gang knowledge by attending conferences covering the motorcycle gang, communicating with other law enforcement officers about the gang's alleged criminal activities and interviewing at least one gang member. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: August 23, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00032-CR, Categories: Gangs, Experts
J. Soto finds that the trial court improperly denied the employer's motion to compel arbitration in a negligence action brought by the employee arising from injuries she suffered in a workplace accident. The arbitration agreement was not illusory because it contained an effective savings clause prohibiting the employer from making changes to the agreement with regard to previously accrued claims. The notice signed by the employee made her aware of the terms of the arbitration plan. However, the trial court correctly denied the motion to compel arbitration as to the truck owner. The agreement did not give the employee notice that she was agreeing to subject her claims against the truck owner to arbitration. Reversed in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: August 23, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00001-CV, Categories: Arbitration, Negligence
J. Soto finds a lower court ruled correctly in convicting defendant of murder. Defendant argued jurors were not given adequate instructions not to let “sympathy, prejudice, or bias” influence their verdict nor that they could convict defendant of the lesser charge of manslaughter, but defendant does not show why he needed such a “curative” jury instruction, and because there is no evidence of recklessness defendant, there is also no evidence that “if he was guilty, he was only guilty of manslaughter.” Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: August 15, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00040-CR, Categories: Jury, Murder, Jury Instructions
J. Soto finds a lower court ruled mostly correctly in a convoluted real-estate dispute in which a man asserting ownership of a property sued a variety of parties for a variety of claims, including adverse possession and fraudulent inducement, prompting those parties to countersue and obtain both summary judgment and a final judgment in their favor — ultimately leading to this appeal. While the lower court mostly ruled correctly in tossing out the man’s claims, they awarded excessive exemplary damages to some of the parties even though the man had “fraudulently clouded title to the Property.” Reversed in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: August 14, 2023, Case #: 08-22-00079-CV, Categories: Fraud, Property, Real Estate
J. Soto finds the Texas Health & Human Services Commission did not err in fining and revoking the license of a home healthcare company following a range of alleged regulatory violations. The company argued there was not adequate evidence to support this action, but the company “does not even address the merits of most of the violations,” and HHSC is “broadly empowered” to revoke licenses. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: August 14, 2023, Case #: 08-22-00223-CV, Categories: Administrative Law, Health Care, Due Process
J. Soto finds a lower court ruled correctly in terminating the parental rights of a mother. The mother argued there was not sufficient evidence for the termination, but child-welfare officials established the child was living in a dangerous home environment, including due to the mother’s “significant history of substance abuse.” Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: August 14, 2023, Case #: 08-23-00101-CV, Categories: Family Law, Government, Guardianship
J. Soto finds a lower court ruled mostly correctly in a convoluted dispute between a mineral lessee and the surface-estate owner over mineral rights. While the lower court was right to grant summary judgment to the mineral lessee, it erred in its determination of attorney fees, and this court therefore will “suggest a remittitur” to lower that fee award slightly. Affirmed in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Soto, Filed On: July 31, 2023, Case #: 08-22-00198-CV, Categories: Civil Procedure, Energy, Attorney Fees
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