Opinions by Other Justices of the FIrst Court of Appeals, sitting in Houston, Texas Chief Justice Sherry Radack Justice Timothy Taft Justice Jim Sharp Justice Sam Nuchia (former) Justice Terry Jennings Justice Evelyn Keyes Justice Elsa Alcala Justice George C. Hanks, Jr. Justice Laura C. Higley Justice Jane Bland |
Justice Terry Jennings won election to the First Court of Appeals in 2000 and was sworn in by Texas Supreme Court Justice Greg Abbott, who later became Texas Attorney General, a position he still occupies. Like fellow Justice Elsa Alcala, Jennings previously served as a prosecutor in the Harris County District Attorney's Office. Jennings earned his law degree from the University of Houston Law Center. Justice Jennings is the most independent jurist on the court. In fiscal year 2006 Justice Jennings wrote 22 concurring opinions and three dissents. His 25 separate opinions account for almost 60% of concurrences and dissents on the 9 member court, of which four Justices never wrote separately during that same time period. Justice Jennings ranks third statewide in the number of separate opinions. His total number of concurring and dissenting opinions exceeded the total for all justices on several other courts of appeals. Justice Jennings’ majority opinions also draw dissenting views from other members on his court. Justice Jennings is a Republican, as are all of his peers on the court. Jennings was re-elected as an unopposed incumbent in the 2006 general election. Find more judge and court information at the Houston-Opinions Home Page |
| 2008 Opinions by Houston Appeals Court Justice Terry Jennings |
2008 Civil Cases with Opinions by Justice Jennings Also see --> More Recent Appellate Opinions by Justice Jennings Poland v. Ott (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Dec. 19, 2008)(Taft)(substituted opinion, HCLC, motion to dismiss, timely service of expert report in medical malpractice suit) AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Taft Before Justices Taft, Keyes and Alcala 01-07-00199-CV Raymon Poland, Individually and as Independent Administrator of the Estate of Jessie Poland, Robert Martin, and Frank Martin v. Dr. David Ott--Appeal from 152nd District Court of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Hon. Kenneth P. Wise Concurring Opinion by Justice Taft Dissenting Opinion by Justice Jennings Kyung Lee v. Kwik Industries, Inc. (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] Dec. 18, 2008)(Jennings) (breach of contract, declaratory judgment, sj) REVERSE TC JUDGMENT AND REMAND CASE TO TC FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS: Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Justices Jennings, Hanks and Bland 01-07-01003-CV Woo Kyung Lee and Jung Lee Jones Partnership v. Kwik Industries, Inc. Appeal from 151st District Court of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Hon. Caroline E. Baker Grant v. Laughlin Environmental, Inc. (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Dec. 18, 2008)(Jennings) (summary judgment evidence, conclusory affidavit, breach of contract, quantum meruit, fraud, negligent misrepresentation) AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Chief Justice Radack, Justices Jennings and Bland 01-07-00227-CV Carroll Grant v. Laughlin Environmental, Inc. Appeal from 164th District Court of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Hon. Martha Hill Jamison Douglas v. Booker (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] Dec. 18, 2008)(Jennings) (interlocutory order denying summary judgment not immediately appealable) DISMISS APPEAL: Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Justices Jennings, Hanks and Bland 01-06-01069-CV Ralph O. Douglas v. Joyce Booker Appeal from 129th District Court of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Hon. Grant Dorfman Cramer v. State Farm Mutual Auto Ins. Co. (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Nov. 6, 2008)(Jennings) (denial of motion to transfer venue re determined de novo by county court on appeal) REVERSE TC JUDGMENT AND REMAND CASE TO TC FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS: Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Justices Jennings, Hanks and Bland) 01-08-00270-CV Daniel Cramer and Saejin Cramer v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company Appeal from County Court at Law No 1 of McLennan County Trial Court Judge: Hon. Mike Freeman Garcia v. Harding (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Oct. 9, 2008)(Jennings) (SAPCR, appointment of father as primary JMC affirmed) AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Judge Wilson, Justices Jennings and Bland 01-07-01049-CV Ann Mercadel Garcia v. Robert E. Harding Appeal from 300th District Court of Brazoria County Trial Court Judge: Hon. K. Randal Hufstetler In the Matter of BW, (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Oct. 2, 2008)(opinion on rehearing by Jennings) (juvenile law, prostitution) AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Chief Justice Radack, Justices Jennings and Bland 01-07-00274-CV In The Matter of B. W. Appeal from 314th District Court of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Hon. John Phillips Nguyen v. Barahona (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Aug. 28, 2008)(Jennings) (personal injury, damages, workplace injury safety) MODIFY TC JUDGMENT AND AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT AS MODIFIED: Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Chief Justice Radack, Justices Jennings and Bland 01-07-00454-CV Nga "Andy" Nguyen and Ching Enterprises, Inc. v. Doris Barahona Appeal from 151st District Court of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Hon. Caroline E. Baker Texas Mutual Ins. Co. v. Ruttiger (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] July 31, 2008) (opinion on rehearing by Jennings) (worker's compensation insurance bad faith, code violation, DTPA, loss to credit reputation) MODIFY TC JUDGMENT AND AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT AS MODIFIED: 01-06-00897-CV Texas Mutual Insurance Company v. Timothy J. Ruttiger Appeal from 122nd District Court of Galveston County Trial Court Judge: Hon. John Ellisor Tran v. Trinh (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] July 31, 2008)(Jennings) (claim of breach of partnership agreement, jury found no partnership agreement, effect of failure to file request for partial record, UDJA attorney's fees) AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Chief Justice Radack, Justices Jennings and Bland 01-07-00662-CV Hang Tran d/b/a Parisian Bakery v. Lien Trinh and Intervenor Manh Tran Appeal from County Civil Court at Law No 1 of Harris County Kahng v. Verity (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] July 31, 2008)(Jennings) (auto PI, death, negligence, wrongful death, man running into freeway, no time to swerve, NE-SJ properly granted, failure to preserve error) AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Justices Taft, Jennings and Bland 01-07-00695-CV Clara Kahng, Individually and on behalf of Wony Kahng, Gredo Kahng, Howard Kahng and Sarah Roh v. John Richard Verity Appeal from 164th District Court of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Hon. Martha Hill Jamison In the Matter of BW (Tex. App.- Houston [1st Dist.] July 31, 2008)(Jennings) (juvenile case, prostitution) AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Chief Justice Radack, Justices Jennings and Bland 01-07-00274-CV In The Matter of B. W. Appeal from 314th District Court of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Hon. John Phillips Wood v. Texas Chiropractic College (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] July 24, 2008) (Jennings) (suit by student against private educational institution, DTPA, misrepresentation, no reliance shown, NE-SJ) AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Justices Taft and Jennings, The Honorable Hudson 01-07-00952-CV Kelly Wood v. Texas Chiropractic College Appeal from 190th District Court of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Hon. Jennifer Walker Elrod Goldberg v. Commission for Lawyer Discipline (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] July 3, 2008)(Taft) (attorney disciplinary matter, jurisdiction re: disbarment where criminal conviction was set aside) AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Taft Before Justices Taft, Jennings and Bland 01-07-01104-CV Daniel Goldberg v. Commission for Lawyer Discipline, and State Bar of Texas Appeal from 295th District Court of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Hon. Tracy Christopher Concurring Opinion by Justice Jennings Rinn v. Wennenweser (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] July 3, 2008)(Jennings) (real estate law, easement dispute, validity) AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Justices Taft, Jennings and Bland 01-07-00763-CV Leeland Rinn v. Max Wennenweser Appeal from 155th District Court of Austin County Trial Court Judge: Hon. Dan R. Beck In re Walker (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] June 30, 2008)(Jennings) (termination of parental rights, mandamus against denial of motion to dismiss suit after dismissal deadline had passed) GRANT PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS: Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Justices Taft, Jennings and Bland 01-08-00348-CV In re Kristal Timish Walker a/k/a Kristal Timisha Walker Appeal from 314th District Court of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Hon. John Phillips Dissenting Opinion by Justice Keyes (issued July 1, 2008) Karen McCright v. Rodriguez (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] June 26, 2008)(Jennings) (property dispute, foreclosure, deed) AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Chief Justice Radack, Justices Jennings and Bland) 01-07-00480-CV Karen McCright v. Josh Rodriguez and Emmett Sterling Huff Appeal from 125th District Court of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Hon. John Coselli In Re Tina Benkiser, Republican Party of Texas (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] June 9, 2008) (Jennings) (election mandamus on eve of party convention denied b/c contested hearing set for same day in trial court) DENY PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS: Opinion by Justice Terry Jennings Before Justices Taft, Jennings and Bland 01-08-00451-CV In re Tina Benkiser, Chairman, Republican party of Texas, and The Republican Party of Texas Appeal from County Civil Court at Law No 4 of Harris County Trial court judge: Visiting Judge Tom Sullivan Presiding judge: Hon. Roberta Ann Lloyd (who was out of town at the time TRO was granted) Edascio, LLC v. NextiraOne, LLC (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] May 22, 2008)(Jennings) (commercial law, breach of contract, JNOV, parol evidence rule bars introduction of evidence to prove claim) AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Chief Justice Radack, Justices Jennings and Bland 01-07-00362-CV Edascio, L.L.C. v. NextiraOne, L.L.C. Appeal from 281st District Court of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Hon. David J. Bernal Attorneys: Stephen G. Tipps, James J. Ormiston, D. Scott Funk, Jennifer Kingaard | Sean Gorman, James E. Doyle Salmeron v. T-Mobile West Corp. (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Apr. 24, 2008)(Subst. op. by Jennings) (county court's dismissal of appeal from JP court was error, appeal bond was timely after all as shown by supplemental record) REVERSE TC JUDGMENT AND REMAND CASE TO TC FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS: Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Chief Justice Radack, Justices Jennings and Bland 01-07-00532-CV Stella Salmeron v. T-Mobile West Corporation Appeal from County Civil Court at Law No 2 of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Hon. Jacqueline Lucci Smith UTMB v. Railsback (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Apr. 17, 2008)(Jennings) (HCLC, moton to dismiss, absence, adequacy of expert report) AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT IN PART, REVERSE TC JUDGMENT IN PART, AND RENDER JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Chief Justice Radack, Justices Jennings and Bland 01-07-00729-CV University of Texas Medical Branch v. Lynda Railsback Appeal from 405th District Court of Galveston County Trial Court Judge: Hon. Wayne J. Mallia Irannezhad v. Aldine ISD (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Mar. 20, 2008)(Jennings) (property tax litigation, tax suit, delinquent taxes, school district litigation) AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Jennings 01-07-00794-CV Mohammad Irannezhad v. Aldine Independent School District (ISD) Appeal from 270th District Court of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Hon. Brent Gamble Justice Jennings dissents in criminal appeal from conviction for unauthorized use of a car Jennings Dissent in Battise v. State (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Jan. 31, 2008)(Jennings) OPINION DISSENTING TO THIS COURT'S JUDGMENT: Dissenting Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Justices Nuchia, Jennings and Keyes 01-06-00935-CR Ruscel Lovel Battise v. The State of Texas Appeal from 344th District Court of Chambers County I agree with the majority that the evidence is legally sufficient to support the conviction of appellant, Ruscel Lovel Battise, of the offense of unauthorized use of a vehicle. (1) However, the majority misapplies the standard of review for determining the factual sufficiency of the evidence. It then erroneously concludes that the evidence in this case is factually sufficient to support the jury's implied finding that appellant operated the complainant's car "without the complainant's effective consent." Accordingly, I respectfully dissent. Majority opinion: Battise v. State (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Jan. 31, 2008)(Keyes) Hudson & Keyse, LLC v. Gipson (Tex.App. - Houston [1st Dist.] Jan. 31, 2008)(Jennings) (credit card debt suit, DWOP, substitute service, motion to reinstate) AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Chief Justice Radack, Justices Jennings and Bland 01-07-00380-CV Hudson & Keyse, L.L.C. v. Lavern W. Gipson and Emmett Gipson Appeal from County Civil Ct at Law No 1 of Harris County (Judge Jack Cagle) Smith v. County of Galveston (Tex.App.- Houston [1st. Dist.] Jan. 31, 2008)(Jennings) (prison food poisoning claim dismissed, discovery dispute, attorney malpractice) AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Chief Justice Radack, Justices Jennings and Bland 01-07-00634-CV Glenn F. Smith v. County of Galveston, Texas Appeal from 122nd District Court of Galveston County (Hon. John Ellisor) Salmeron v. T-Mobile No. 01-07-00532-CV (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Jan. 24, 2008)(First [superseded] opinion by Jennings) (county court jurisdiction, appellate timetable, appeal from JP court was not timely) (Note: In new opinion released Apr. 24, 2008, court concludes that bond was filed timely, and that dismissal was thus error) AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Chief Justice Radack, Justices Jennings and Bland Stella Salmeron v. T-Mobile West Corporation Appeal from County Civil Court at Law No 2 of Harris County (Judge Jacqueline Lucci Smith) Texas Mutual Ins. Co. v. Ruttiger (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Jan. 17, 2008)(Jennings) (insurance law, workers comp, unfair practices, Insurance Code claim, DTPA) MODIFY TC JUDGMENT AND AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT AS MODIFIED: Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Justices Nuchia, Jennings and Keyes 01-06-00897-CV Texas Mutual Insurance Company v. Timothy J. Ruttiger Appeal from 122nd District Court of Galveston County (Hon. John Ellisor) Valentine v. Cunningham (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Jan. 17, 2008)(Jennings)(attorney referral fee) AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Jennings Before Justices Nuchia, Jennings and Keyes 01-07-00054-CV Michael J. Valentine v. Lloyd R. Cunningham, Jr., and Cunningham & Associates, P.C. Appeal from 151st District Court of Harris County (Hon. Caroline Baker) Also see --> Civil Appeals Decided 2007 With Opinions by Justice Jennings --> Civil Appeals Decided 2009 With Opinions Written by Justice Terry Jennings |