Texas Judiciary Online - HTML Opinion

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Opinion issued August = 17, 2007=20

In The

Court = of=20 Appeals

For=20 The

First = District=20 of Texas

NO. = 01-05-00189-CV

S.E.A. = LEASING,=20 INC., Appellant

JEFF = STEELE AND=20 MELISSA STEELE, Appellees

On = Appeal from the=20 189th District Court

Harris = County,=20 Texas

Trial = Court Cause=20 No. 2000-14641

CONCURRING OPINION=20 ON DENIAL OF EN BANC RECONSIDERATION

I concur = in this=20 Court's denial of S.E.A. Leasing Inc.'s motion for en banc=20 reconsideration, but write separately to address the state of the=20 appellate record at the time of submission of the case, which does = not=20 reflect that the trial court considered S.E.A. Leasing's motion = for new=20 trial. =

The=20 dissenting opinion contends in part that the panel's holding was = erroneous=20 because the trial court conducted an oral hearing on S.E.A. = Leasing's=20 motion for new trial and overruled it and the Steeles made no = objection in=20 the trial court to S.E.A. Leasing's failure to pay the filing fee = for its=20 motion, nor did they object to the trial court's consideration of = S.E.A.=20 Leasing's motion. However, the dissenting opinion could support = this=20 position only by relying on exhibits attached to S.E.A. Leasing's = motion=20 for rehearing, rather than on anything in the record before this = Court.=20

After the = opinion in=20 this case had issued, S.E.A. Leasing argued for the first time in = its=20 motion for rehearing that the trial court actually had considered = its=20 motion for new trial because the trial court had conducted a = hearing.=20 S.E.A. Leasing attached two "exhibits" to its motion for = rehearing, both=20 allegedly evidencing that there = had been=20 a motion-for-new-trial hearing. "Exhibit A" attached to its motion = for=20 rehearing is entitled "Amended Notice of Hearing" and displays the = file=20 stamp of the Harris County District Clerk, dated January 19, 2005. = "Exhibit B" is an affidavit of an attorney who attended the=20 motion-for-new-trial hearing on February 3, 2005, claiming that = the=20 Steeles raised no objection to the court's hearing or to = consideration of=20 the motion for new trial. The affidavit is dated March 8, 2007, = after the=20 issuance of the Court's opinion.

The Steeles=20 argued in their appellees' brief on original submission that = S.E.A.=20 Leasing did not preserve any error through its motion for new = trial=20 because it had failed to pay the filing fee. Although S.E.A. = Leasing filed=20 a reply brief and supplemented the clerk's record with other = documents on=20 appeal, it did not respond to the Steeles' argument that it had = not paid=20 the filing fee for its motion for new trial, nor did it move to = supplement=20 the record with any documents showing that there had been a=20 motion-for-new-trial hearing. Thus, at the time of submission, the = appellate record did not contain either of the exhibits now = referenced in=20 S.E.A. Leasing's motion for en banc reconsideration or show that = S.E.A.=20 Leasing had requested them to be included in the clerk's record, = nor has=20 S.E.A. Leasing formally requested leave to supplement the record = even as=20 of the filing of its motion for en banc reconsideration. =

The=20 appellate record, both at the time that this case was submitted = and now,=20 does not reflect that the trial court conducted an oral hearing on = S.E.A.=20 Leasing's motion for new trial: S.E.A. Leasing's motion for new = trial did=20 not include notice of a hearing; there is no reporter's record of = a=20 motion-for-new-trial hearing; there is no docket entry of a=20 motion-for-new-trial hearing; and there is no written request by = S.E.A.=20 Leasing that the trial court clerk include any items evidencing a=20 motion-for-new-trial hearing or that a court reporter include any=20 transcript of a motion-for-new-trial hearing pursuant to rules = 34.5 and=20 34.6 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. See Tex. = R. App.=20 P. 34.5(b), (c), 34.6(b)-(d). In fact, the appellate record at the = time=20 that this case was submitted, as well as now, reflects = that the=20 trial court did not consider S.E.A. Leasing's motion for new trial = or the=20 Steeles' response because S.E.A. Leasing had not paid the filing = fee. The=20 clerk's record includes S.E.A. Leasing's motion for new trial, = filed on=20 December 22, 2004, and on the cover letter accompanying that = motion, there=20 was a handwritten note, apparently from the clerk of the trial = court,=20 stating, "MNT + Response Are Not Entered on INT 41--MNT Has Not = Been Paid=20 For." Additionally, the trial court did not expressly deny S.E.A.=20 Leasing's motion for new trial, but, rather, that motion was = overruled by=20 operation of law.

The = dissenting=20 opinion improperly relies on the exhibits that S.E.A. Leasing = attached to=20 its motion for rehearing as material facts evidencing that "the = trial=20 court conducted an oral hearing on S.E.A. Leasing's motion for new = trial=20 and overruled it." The Court cannot consider documents that are = not=20 included in the appellate record. See Burke v. Ins. Auto. = Auctions=20 Corp., 169 S.W.3d 771, 775 (Tex. App.--Dallas 2005, pet. = denied);=20 Green v. Kaposta, 152 S.W.3d 839, 841 (Tex. App.--Dallas = 2005, no=20 pet.). Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 34.5 provides that unless = the=20 parties designate the filings in the appellate record by = agreement, the=20 record must include copies of the following:

(1) in=20 civil cases, all pleadings on which the trial was = held;

(2) in=20 criminal cases, the indictment or information, any special plea or = defense=20 motion that was presented to the court and overruled, any written = waiver,=20 any written stipulation, and, in cases in which a plea of guilty = or nolo=20 contendere has been entered, any documents executed for the=20 plea;

(3) the=20 court's docket sheet;

(4) the=20 court's charge and the jury's verdict, or the court's findings of = fact and=20 conclusions of law;

(5) the=20 court's judgment or other order that is being = appealed;

(6) any=20 request for findings of fact and conclusions of law, any = post-judgment=20 motion, and the court's order on the motion;

(7) the=20 notice of appeal;

(8) any=20 formal bill of exception;

(9) any=20 request for a reporter's record, including any statement of points = or=20 issues under Rule 34.6(c);

(10) any=20 request for preparation of the clerk's record;

(11) in=20 civil cases, a certified bill of costs including the cost of = preparing the=20 clerk's record, showing credits for payments made;

(12) in=20 criminal cases the trial court's certification of the defendant's = right of=20 appeal under Rule 25.2; and

(13)=20 subject to (b), any filing that a party designates to have = included in the=20 record.

See Tex. R.=20 App. P. 34.5. The clerk is not required to include a notice of = hearing in=20 the clerk's record. See id. However, if a relevant item = has been=20 omitted from the clerk's record, the trial court, the appellate = court, or=20 any party may direct the trial court clerk to prepare, to certify, = and to=20 file in the appellate court a supplement containing the omitted = item.=20 See Tex. R. App. P. 34.5(c)(1). Then, the supplemental = clerk's=20 record becomes part of the appellate record. See Tex. R. = App. P.=20 34.5(c)(3).

S.E.A. = Leasing=20 failed to ensure that the proposed exhibits evidencing a hearing = on its=20 motion for new trial were timely made a part of the record on = appeal.=20 See generally Tex. R. App. P. 34.5 (governing = supplementation of=20 record). S.E.A. Leasing should have done so when it specifically=20 complained about the trial court's ruling on its motion for new = trial in=20 its brief on November 7, 2005. S.E.A. Leasing also could have done = so when=20 the Steeles pointed out in their appellees' brief, filed on = January 6,=20 2006, that S.E.A. Leasing's motion for new trial did not preserve = error=20 because S.E.A. Leasing had failed to pay the required statutory = fee. We=20 might have even considered the proposed exhibits evidencing a = hearing had=20 the appellate record been supplemented with them by the time of = submission=20 on January 31, 2001. See Worthy v. Collagen Corp., 967 = S.W.2d=20 360, 366 (Tex. 1998) (stating that, after submission, appellate = court has=20 more discretion to deny supplementation of record). However, = S.E.A.=20 Leasing has not even at this point requested leave to supplement = the=20 record. See id. (holding that appellate court did not = abuse its=20 discretion in denying supplementation of record after its opinion = had=20 issued).

Moreover,=20 the record could not have been supplemented with S.E.A. Leasing's = "Exhibit=20 B" because the affidavit from S.E.A. Leasing's attorney concerning = the=20 purported motion-for-new-trial hearing was not filed with the = trial court,=20 was created on appeal, and was not part of any clerk's record. = Therefore,=20 the record could have been supplemented only with "Exhibit A," the = amended=20 notice of hearing, which is not conclusive proof that the trial = court held=20 a hearing or that it considered S.E.A. Leasing's motion for new = trial.=20

Additionally, to=20 allow such free supplementation of the record at this stage would = cause=20 undue delay and segmentation of the appellate process. See = Tex. First=20 Nat. Bank v. Ng, 167 S.W.3d 842, 866 (Tex. App.--Houston = [14th Dist.]=20 2005, pet. granted, judgm't vacated w.r.m.) (refusing to consider=20 supplemental record filed more than month after court's opinion = and=20 judgment had issued). Although appellate courts strive to decide = cases on=20 the merits rather than on procedural technicalities, declining to=20 supplement the record after a case is decided (especially when the = parties=20 had ample opportunity to correct the omission prior to decision) = does not=20 violate this general policy. Further, reconsidering the prior = decision=20 after the Court's opinion has issued does not serve judicial = economy.=20 See Worthy, 967 S.W.2d at 366 (holding that appellate = courts have=20 substantial discretion not to consider supplements to appellate = record=20 that are filed after issuance of opinion and rendition of=20 judgment).

Conclusion

Accordingly, given=20 the appellate record as it has existed since the case was = submitted, the=20 panel's holding that S.E.A. Leasing did not preserve its=20 statute-of-limitations challenge was not erroneous. For this = reason, among=20 others, the Court has also properly denied en banc=20 reconsideration.

Tim=20 Taft

Justice

Panel=20 consists of Justices Taft, Alcala, and Hanks.

A = majority=20 of the justices of the Court voted to deny en banc = reconsideration.=20 See Tex. R. App. P. 41.2, 49.7.

Justice=20 Taft, joined by Justices Alcala and Hanks, concurring in the = denial of en=20 banc reconsideration.

Justice=20 Keyes, dissenting from the denial of en banc reconsideration.=20

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