79 results for 'casenum:"06"'.
J. Rambin affirms a trial court’s summary judgment ruling against one of two female family members in a car collision action, finding the older female’s claim in the suit is time-barred. On appeal, however, the trial court’s ruling of summary judgment is reversed and remanded as improper as to the younger female because she was a 16-year-old minor at the time of the accident; the limitations were tolled until she reached 18. Reversed in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Rambin, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 06-24-1, Categories: Civil Procedure, Tort, Vehicle
J. Stevens affirms the trial court’s sentencing of defendant to 30 years in prison after a jury convicted him of armed robbery of a store. The trial court had no duty to inquire about whether there was a conflict of interest between the defendant and his defense attorney, who had recently been elected county district attorney. At trial, defendant’s counsel told the jury: “I’m the DA-elect. I’m the one that is going to be sitting in this chair come 2023.” On appeal, the defendant fails to specify any conflict of interest with his counsel even though he was not yet the county’s prosecutor. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Stevens, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 06-23-171-CR, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Robbery, Sentencing
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J. Stevens, finding no reversable error, upholds the trial court’s revocation of the defendant’s 10-year sentence to community supervision following his plea of guilty to deadly discharge of a firearm. He was sentenced to eight years in prison. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Supreme Court, Judge: Van Cleef, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: 06-23-221-CR, Categories: Firearms, Sentencing
J. Van Cleef uphold the trial court’s judgment of a life sentence for aggravated sexual assault and family violence “occlusion,” which requires enhanced penalties under Texas law for choking the victim, a mother of three young children. The trial court properly allowed the victim to testify about the defendant’s prior conviction and allowed a state witness to testify about the victim’s truthfulness. Furthermore, the conviction is supported by sufficient evidence, including the victim's detailed testimony that defendant would force her to brush his teeth and bathe him after he raped and sodomized. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Van Cleef, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 06-23-00128-CR , Categories: Evidence, Ineffective Assistance, Sex Offender
J. Stevens reverses, in part, the trial court’s order of parental termination rights related to three children who were found living with their drug-using mother in a U-Haul van, then placed in the custody of the father, who is now incarcerated for child endangerment after the kids tested positive for methamphetamine abuse. The state’s family service plan was not filed into the trial court’s record or the appellate record and, therefore, there is insufficient evidence to support the mother's failure to comply with the plan. Furthermore, there is no evidence to support the state’s assertions the mother did not complete a drug abuse program or that she continued using drugs after completing such a program. Reversed in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Stevens, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 06-23-97, Categories: Evidence, Family Law, Negligence
J. Stevens upholds defendant's drug conviction and 40-year sentence. He argues that, since he was only staying at the apartment temporarily and was not the sole occupant of the apartment, the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he knowingly possessed methamphetamine. However, "the logical force of the evidence strongly links” defendant to the illegal drug. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Stevens, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 06-23-223, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Search
J. Rambin reverses a trial court order denying a male noncitizen’s request to dismiss a criminal misdemeanor charge against him, pursuant to the governor’s order to jail migrants for illegally crossing the Texas-Mexico border. Citing similar evidence in precedent cases, the non-citizen met his burden of showing the governor’s order has the discriminatory effect and purpose of selective prosecution based on gender discrimination. Reversed.
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Van Cleef, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 06-24-40-CR, Categories: Constitution, Immigration, Trespass
J. Stevens upholds a trial court judgment denying the appeal of a convicted felon whose eight-year suspended sentence for illegal possession of a firearm was revoked. Defense counsel found no genuine issues to justify an appeal, and, upon review of the record, no reversible error exists. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Stevens, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 06-23-157-CR, Categories: Firearms, Sentencing, Restitution
J. Stevens reverses and remands a trial court's order denying a non-citizen's claim of selective prosecution under the Texas Equal Rights Amendment. The defendant was arrested for criminal trespass on a railroad, a misdemeanor, pursuant to Governor Greg Abbott’s disaster proclamation in 34 counties to prevent the “ongoing surge” of illegal migrants from Mexico. The court of appeals is constrained to rule under another district's precedent, which found the state failed to show its prosecution of male, but not female, immigrants served a governmental interest in border protection. Reversed.
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Stevens, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 06-24-39-CR, Categories: Constitution, Immigration, Trespass
J. Van Cleef affirms the trial court’s defendant's conviction for aggravated sexual assault of a child and sentence of 99 years in prison. The trial court properly allowed defendant to impeach a witness - the mother of the child victim -- who had a prior conviction for receiving stolen property from more than 10 years ago. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Van Cleef, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 06-23-105, Categories: Witnesses, Child Victims
J. Stevens affirms the trial court’s defendant's guilty plea conviction for murder and jury-imposed life sentence. The trial judge properly denied defendant’s request for a change of venue. He unsuccessfully argued he could not get a fair trial in the small county, citing comments by 95 people on earlier Facebook posts by the parents of the victim. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Stevens, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 06-23-142, Categories: Jury, Murder, Sentencing
J. Stevens finds that while the trial court properly reinstated a prior summary judgment in a property dispute case, a portion of the order should be reversed for being overbroad. The specified paragraph in the order that prohibits the owners from "using or advertising the property for special events or other non-residential uses" is overbroad, so the case is remanded for the trial court to reconsider and redraft the language. Reversed in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Stevens, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 06-23-00080-CV, Categories: Civil Procedure, Property, Trusts
J. van Cleef finds that the trial court improperly denied summary judgment to the property owner after a driver crashed into a tree that had earlier fallen from the property and onto the road during a windstorm. The property owner "owed no legal duty" to the driver, who takes nothing on the claim. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: van Cleef, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 06-23-00060-CV, Categories: Property, Negligence
J. van Cleef finds the lower court properly granted summary judgment to an heir in this matter of property ownership. A tract of land was divided between three children of a decedent, then two of the three children died. The one remaining child conveyed the property to a couple, who then sold the property to a foundation. The documented heir of one of the deceased children contested the sale of the property, and the lower court found her to be the rightful half owner of the tract. On appeal, the foundation argues it is the sole owner of the property because they purchased it in good faith, but the instant court agrees with the lower court’s finding that the heir is one-half owner of the tract. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Van Cleef, Filed On: March 13, 2024, Case #: 06-23-00073-CV, Categories: Property, Wills / Probate
J. van Cleef finds that the trial court improperly granted default judgment against the mother and appointed the paternal grandparents as sole managing conservators of the children. Service on the mother was defective since the individual who attempted service was the attorney for the grandparents, and she was not authorized under the rules of civil procedure to serve process. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: van Cleef, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: 06-23-00067-CV, Categories: Civil Procedure, Family Law
J. Rambin finds that the trial court properly entered a take-nothing judgment in a suit stemming from a collision between a disabled vehicle and wrecker along the shoulder of the interstate. Based on the conflicting evidence, it was reasonable for the jury to conclude that neither party's negligence caused the accident and that the crash could not have been avoided. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Rambin, Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: 06-23-00062-CV, Categories: Civil Procedure, Evidence, Negligence
J. Troutman answers a reformulated certified question by finding that Venezuelan law governs the validity of notes offered for swap by a state-owned oil company to avoid default. While documents outlining the exchange of older, unsecured notes for newer, secured ones contained a choice-of-law provision, New York's uniform commercial code specifies that the laws of the issuer's jurisdiction apply, and the swap was not authorized as required by the Venezuelan National Assembly. New York law, however, will determine all other aspects of the transaction under the uniform commercial code, including any consequences of a defect in a security's validity.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Troutman, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 06, Categories: Securities, Choice Of Law, Contract
J. Stevens finds that the trial court properly entered an order of sale for the decedent's property in Hunt County. The daughter argued she had partition claims that should have been resolved prior to the property sale, but she had no viable partition claims in her third amended petition, which was her live pleading. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Stevens, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: 06-23-00017-CV, Categories: Property, Wills / Probate
J. Stevens finds that defendant was properly convicted of meth possession and given a 25-year sentence. Defendant argues that the trial court should have warned him of the "deportation consequences of his conviction," but the record shows that he was aware of the "negative immigration consequences" resulting from his guilty plea. Though, the $180 in restitution was improperly assessed and is deleted. Affirmed as modified.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Stevens, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: 06-22-00135-CR, Categories: Drug Offender, Restitution, Plea
J. Rambin finds that the trial court properly ruled in favor of the decedent's son and his wife in a dispute with the decedent's widow regarding ownership of a 304-acre ranch. The widow's issues with the jury questions lack merit, and there was no abuse of discretion in limiting her voir dire inquiry. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Rambin, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 06-22-00082-CV, Categories: Jury, Property, Contract
J. Stevens finds that the mother's parental rights to her children were properly terminated based on sufficient evidence to support the statutory ground as to endangering conduct. The mother knowingly used illegal drugs when she was pregnant, did not comply with her service plan and was unable to show she could provide for the children. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Stevens, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 06-23-00089-CV, Categories: Evidence, Family Law
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that attorney Ojeaga Adebola Longe may be reinstated following her September 2022 suspension for failing to meet registration requirements because Longe complied with the suspension and demonstrated the requisite character to practice law.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: January 25, 2024, Case #: PM-06-24, Categories: Attorney Discipline