Opinions by Other Justices of the First Court of Appeals, sitting in Houston, Texas Chief Justice Sherry Radack Justice Tim Taft (resigned 2009) Justice Jim Sharp (elected 2008) Justice Sam Nuchia (former) Justice Terry Jennings Justice Evelyn Keyes Justice Elsa Alcala Justice George C. Hanks, Jr. Justice Laura Carter Higley Justice Jane N. Bland Justice Michael Massengale (2009) |
Like several of her sister jurists, Justice Evelyn Keyes was appointed by Governor Rick Perry to fill a vacant seat. In the general election the voters approved the choice for the remainder of her predecessor’s term on the First Court of Appeals. Justice Keyes was re-elected in 2004. Her current term ends in 2010. With six concurrences and six dissents, Justice Keyes delivered the second-highest number of separate opinions on the court (28.6%) in Fiscal Year 2006. Her most notable 2006 opinion involved the novel question of whether an agreement by former spouses about what to do with frozen embryos in the event of divorce was enforceable. Justice Keyes’ decision came down on the side of the husband, who opposed the former wife’s plans to use the embryos to have a child over his opposition, but skirted the constitutional reproductive right issues raised by the husband, resolving the appeal instead as a matter of contract law. Roman v. Roman 193 S.W.3d 40 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2006) (frozen embryo agreement between spouses enforceable). The Texas Supreme Court declined to weigh in on the matter. See Tex. Sup. Ct Docket No. 06-0554. Find more judge and court information at the Houston-Opinions Home Page |
| 2010 Opinions by Houston Appeals Court Justice Evelyn Keyes |
2010 Opinions by Justice Keyes in Civil Appeals Tx DPS v. Dahlquist (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Feb. 4, 2010)(Keyes) (expunction reversed in restricted appeal) Appellant, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), appeals an order expunging appellee Sharon R. Dahlquist’s arrest for theft. Footnote Appellee filed her petition for expunction on December 13, 2007, and the trial court granted the petition on January 18, 2008. DPS filed a restricted appeal. In its sole issue, DPS contends that appellee was not entitled to expunction under article 55.01 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure because she received deferred adjudication probation for the theft offense that she sought to expunge. We reverse the judgment of the trial court and render judgment denying Dahlquist’s petition for expunction of her theft charge. REVERSE TC JUDGMENT AND RENDER JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Evelyn Keyes Before Justices Keyes, Sharp and Massengale 01-08-00559-CV Texas Department of Public Safety v. Sharon R. Dahlquist Appeal from 1st District Court of Jasper County Trial Court Judge: Judge Joe Bob Golden Royce Homes, LP v. Bates (pdf) (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Jan. 21, 2010)(Keyes) (arbitration award confirmed by trial court, multiple challenges fail) AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Keyes Before Justices Keyes, Alcala and Hanks 01-08-00191-CV Royce Homes, L.P.; Hammersmith Group, Inc. v. Deborah F. Bates, Verdia L. Boyce, Wadie & Demetria Butler, Robert & Billye Evans, Darlene Handy, Josaulyn Hoskins, Jinnell Ray, Trilyon Taylor, Barbara Wilson Appeal from 268th District Court of Fort Bend County Trial Court Judge: Hon. Brady G. Elliott City of Houston v. Chemam (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Jan. 14, 2009)(Keyes) (governmental immunity, plea to the jurisdiction improperly denied, wrong court for inverse condemnation) We reverse the order of the trial court denying the City’s plea to the jurisdiction. We render judgment dismissing the Chemams’ detrimental reliance, estoppel, tort, UDJA, and selective enforcement claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. We dismiss the case without prejudice to the Chemams’ bringing their inverse condemnation claim in a court of appropriate jurisdiction. EVERSE TC JUDGMENT AND RENDER JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Keyes Before Justices Keyes, Alcala and Hanks 01-08-01005-CV City of Houston v. Sherif Chemam and Diann Chemam Appeal from 113th District Court of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Hon. Patricia Hancock 2009 Civil Cases With Opinions Authored by Justice Evelyn Keyes Wilstein v. Dernick Resources, Inc. (pdf) (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Dec. 31, 2009)(Keyes) (limitations and fraudulent concealment, fiduciary duty) We conclude that Dernick breached its fiduciary duty to the Wilsteins by failing to disclose its sale of their interest in the Bradshaw Field and that the Wilsteins were not put on constructive notice of the sale by the filing of the sale in the Kansas public records. The trial court found that the Wilsteins discovered the sale of their interest in the Bradshaw Field following the 2002 audit of that field. This finding is supported by the evidence. Because the Wilsteins filed their Bradshaw Field claims in 2003, their claims were not barred by the four-year statute of limitations for breach of fiduciary duty and fraud. REVERSE TC JUDGMENT AND REMAND CASE TO TC FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS: Opinion by Justice Keyes Before Justices Keyes, Alcala and Hanks 01-07-00491-CV David Wilstein, and Leonard Wilstein, Individually and as Trustee v. Dernick Resources, Inc., Appeal from 164th District Court of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Hon. Martha Hill Jamison Gordon v. Allen (pdf) (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Dec. 31, 2009)(Keyes)(errors on appeal) “[A]n appellant must attack all independent bases or grounds that fully support a complained-of ruling or judgment.” Britton v. Tex. Dep’t of Crim. Justice, 95 S.W.3d 676, 681 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2002, no pet.). If an appellant does not assign any error to an independent ground that, if meritorious, would fully support the complained-of ruling or judgment, we must accept the validity of that unchallenged independent ground and affirm the ruling or judgment. Id. at 680–81 (“This rule is based on the premise that an appellate court normally cannot alter an erroneous judgment in favor of an appellant in a civil case who does not challenge that error on appeal.”) (citing Walling v. Metcalfe, 863 S.W.2d 56, 58 (Tex. 1993)). Because Gordon did not attack other independent grounds that, if meritorious, would fully support the trial court’s rulings, we accept the validity of the unchallenged independent grounds. AFFIRM TC JUDGMENT: Opinion by Justice Keyes Before Justices Keyes, Alcala and Hanks 01-08-00435-CV Ronald X. Gordon v. Donald Allen, Marvin & Doris Bennett Appeal from 405th District Court of Galveston County Trial Court Judge: Hon. Wayne J. Mallia Brown & Brown of Texas, Inc. v. Omni Metals, Inc. (pdf) (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Dec. 17, 2009) (Substituted opinion by Keyes) (insurance coverage, certificates of insurance, DTPA) MODIFY TRIAL COURT JUDGMENT AND AFFIRM TRIAL COURT JUDGMENT AS MODIFIED: Opinion by Justice Keyes Before Justices Nuchia, Keyes and Higley 01-05-01190-CV Brown & Brown of Texas, Inc. f/k/a Poe & Brown of Texas, Inc. and Transcontinental Insurance Company v. Omni Metals, Inc. Appeal from 61st District Court of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Hon. John Donovan Dissenting Opinion by Justice Nuchia Gundogan v. Woodgrove Condo (pdf) (Tex.App.- Houston [1st Dist.] Dec. 17, 2009)(Keyes) (appeals from small claims and JP court, failure to Timely Respond to Discovery Requests, rebuttal of presumption of receipt of documents served pursuant to Rule 21a) Woodgrove objected to each of the four pieces of evidence on the grounds that Gundogan failed to timely respond to discovery requests. The trial court sustained each of Woodgrove’s four objections and excluded Gundogan’s four pieces of evidence. Having held that the trial court erred in indulging the presumption that the request for production and notice of the motion to compel Woodgrove properly sent were received, we further hold that the trial court erred in excluding Gundogan’s four pieces of evidence on the ground of failure to timely respond to discovery requests. REVERSE TC JUDGMENT AND REMAND CASE TO TC FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS: Opinion by Justice Keyes Before Justices Jennings, Keyes and Higley 01-07-00876-CV Peter Kemal Gundogan v. Woodgrove Condominum Appeal from Co Civil Ct at Law No 1 of Harris County Trial Court Judge: Hon. R. Jack Cagle Also see --> More 2009 Cases With Opinions Authored by Justice Evelyn Keyes Also see --> 2008 Cases With Opinions Authored by Justice Evelyn Keyes Also see --> 2007 Cases With Opinions Written by Justice Evelyn Keyes |