Carr v. Mobile Video Tapes, Inc.

893 S.W.2d 613, 1994 WL 709048
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 2, 1995
Docket13-93-080-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 893 S.W.2d 613 (Carr v. Mobile Video Tapes, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carr v. Mobile Video Tapes, Inc., 893 S.W.2d 613, 1994 WL 709048 (Tex. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinions

OPINION

SEERDEN, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal from a summary judgment. In the underlying action, Herbert and Gertrudis Carr sued Mobile Video Tapes, Inc., d/b/a KRGV-TV5, the Humane Society of the Upper Valley, and Peter Stout, an investigator for the Humane Society. The Carrs pleaded causes of action involving civil conspiracy, malicious prosecution, defamation and false-light invasion of privacy, infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, and trespass. After conducting a hearing and finding no genuine issues of material fact as to each of the Carrs’ claims, the trial court granted the defendants’ motions for summary judgment. We reverse and remand in part and affirm in part.

The Carrs’ appeal raises eight points of error. Their first point argues that unresolved fact issues preclude summary judgment in favor of the Humane Society and Stout on the claim of malicious prosecution. The Carrs’ second and third points assert that their defamation claim against KRGV-TV5 was neither barred by the statute of limitations nor disposed of by KRGV-TV5’s summary judgment proof. In their fourth point of error, the Carrs complain that none of the defendants conclusively disproved that the defendants placed Herbert Carr in a false light. The Carrs’ fifth and sixth points contend that their cause of action alleging the infliction of emotional distress was correctly pleaded and that disputed fact issues prevent summary judgment. In their final two points of error, the Carrs maintain that the court erred in granting summary judgment on their claims for invasion of privacy and trespass because fact issues remain unsettled. The Carrs do not contest the summary disposition of their civil-conspiracy claim.

FACTS

In the spring of 1989, Stout received an anonymous telephone call regarding the apparent poor health of horses kept in a pasture south of Alamo, in Hidalgo County. In his dual capacity as an investigator for the Humane Society and an animal control officer, Stout investigated the allegation. Stout recognized this pasture as the Carrs’ ranch because Herbert Carr had previously invited Stout to the ranch. Over one year before the incidents that resulted in this suit, Carr had contacted the Humane Society because Carr was concerned about a possible chemical contamination of the water supply to the pasture.

Of the forty-five horses Stout examined, several were malnourished and near death; the horses had resorted to eating the bark off the huisache trees growing in the pasture. Additionally, the horses’ hooves appeared cracked, further suggesting that the horses were not properly cared for. Based on his conclusion that these conditions indicated cruelty to animals, Stout submitted a sworn complaint and corroborating photographs to the Hidalgo County Sheriff.

While the court issued a warrant for the arrest of Herbert Carr based on Stout’s affidavit and photographs, the Humane Society contacted KRGV-TV5. Stout and an employee of KRGV-TV5 then met at the Carr pasture. After receiving permission from an employee of the Carrs, the KRGV-TV5 employee filmed the horses for a story to be aired that evening.

Before broadcasting the story, another employee of KRGV-TV5 called the sheriffs office for an update. The KRGV-TV5 employee was incorrectly told that Carr had not yet been arrested, and KRGV-TV5 ran the following story on their evening news broadcast:

An arrest warrant is out tonight for yet another person charged with cruelty to animals. It was earlier this week when we reported a former state representative had [617]*617been arrested on the same charge after he had neglected to feed his horses. This time an Alamo man, who owns forty-five horses kept at a ranch south of the city, has allegedly committed the same crime. In fact, one of Dr. Herbert Carr’s horses died as we were taking pictures of the animals today. Seven others have died recently, thirty-eight were discovered to be undernourished. Some even had cuts and bruises. Upper Valley Humane Society officials say the public is more aware of these type of situations and are helping out by reporting the crime. Stout adds that if anyone has any information leading to the arrest of those who are neglecting their animals, you’re asked to contact the Humane Society. In the meantime, the search continues tonight for Dr. Herbert Carr, the owner of these horses kept south of Alamo.

Can' claims that this story was rebroadcast over one month later, but KRGV-TV5 denies this.

The charges against Carr were subsequently dismissed, and the Carrs filed the underlying lawsuit. After the trial court granted summary judgment for each defendant, the Carrs perfected this eight-point appeal.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

On appeal, the appellees’ burden demands that we resolve each doubt and indulge all reasonable inferences in favor of the Carrs while accepting evidence against summary disposition as true. See Nixon v. Mr. Property Management Co., 690 S.W.2d 546, 548-49 (Tex.1985); Argonaut Ins. Co. v. Allstate Ins. Co., 869 S.W.2d 537, 537 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1993, writ denied). Reviewing the summary judgment evidence in this light, we must determine whether the appellees have disposed of every fact issue necessary to rebut at least one element from each of the Carrs’ claims. See Gibbs v. General Motors Corp., 450 S.W.2d 827, 828 (Tex.1970); Benavides v. Moore, 848 S.W.2d 190, 195 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1992, writ denied).

MALICIOUS PROSECUTION

To prevail on their claim for malicious prosecution, the Carrs must show, among other things, that no probable cause justified the initiation of criminal proceedings against Carr. Ellis County State Bank v. Keever, 888 S.W.2d 790, 793-94 (1994) (opinion on reh’g); Akin v. Dahl, 661 S.W.2d 917, 920 (Tex.1983), cert. denied, 466 U.S. 938, 104 S.Ct. 1911, 80 L.Ed.2d 460 (1984); Browning-Ferris Indus. v. Zavaleta, 827 S.W.2d 336, 338 (Tex.App. — Corpus Christi 1991, writ denied). Both Stout’s sworn complaint and his affidavit in support of summary judgment recite sufficient facts and circumstances to excite a reasonable belief that Carr was guilty of cruelty to animals. See Akin, 661 S.W.2d at 921 (defining probable cause in the context of a malicious prosecution suit); accord Zavaleta, 827 S.W.2d at 345-46 (noting that jury’s inquiry should nonetheless focus on whether defendant actually believed those facts that would excite belief in a reasonable mind); cf. Cross v. State, 646 S.W.2d 514 (Tex.App.—Dallas 1982, pet. refd) (discussing similar facts under cruelty-to-animals provision, Tex.Penal Code Ann. § 42.11(a)(2) (Vernon 1989)). The motion for summary judgment also includes an affidavit from Judge Garces, who issued the warrant for Carr’s arrest. In his affidavit, Judge Garces states that he reviewed Stout’s complaint and accompanying photographs and independently found probable cause to initiate criminal proceedings against Carr.

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Bluebook (online)
893 S.W.2d 613, 1994 WL 709048, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carr-v-mobile-video-tapes-inc-texapp-1995.