Chambers v. City of Lancaster

843 S.W.2d 143, 1992 Tex. App. LEXIS 3194, 1992 WL 310352
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 27, 1992
Docket05-90-00038-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 843 S.W.2d 143 (Chambers v. City of Lancaster) 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
Chambers v. City of Lancaster, 843 S.W.2d 143, 1992 Tex. App. LEXIS 3194, 1992 WL 310352 (Tex. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

OPINION ON REHEARING

THOMAS, Justice.

Appellees’ motion for rehearing is granted. Our opinion of March 27, 1991, is withdrawn. The following is now our opinion.

Ken and Evelyn Chambers, individually and as next friends of their son, Bradley Chambers, appeal a summary judgment rendered in favor of the City of Lancaster, Lancaster Police Officers Everett Powell *146 and Jimmy Miller, the City of DeSoto, and DeSoto Police Officers William H. Ransom and C.P. Bentley. In nine points of error, appellants generally contend that the trial court erred in granting the summary judgment because material disputed fact issues remain to be resolved. We agree as to the causes of action for negligence. Accordingly, the trial court’s judgment granting summary judgment on the causes of action for negligence is reversed and that portion of the cause is remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we affirm the trial court’s judgment as it relates to appellants’ causes of action for civil rights violations.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

During the early morning hours, Bradley Chambers was riding on the back of a motorcycle being driven by Scott Stiles. When Stiles ran a red light in front of DeSoto Police Officer C.P. Bentley, the officer turned on his emergency lights to stop the motorcycle. Stiles did not stop, and a high-speed chase ensued. William H. Ransom, another DeSoto Police Officer, joined the chase. Later, Lancaster Police Officers Everett Powell and Jimmy Miller joined in this pursuit. The DeSoto officers in their propane-fueled cars began to fall back, and the Lancaster officers in their more powerful cars passed the DeSoto officers. Eventually, Stiles, with Chambers riding behind him, led the officers onto an interstate highway. The chase reached speeds of eighty to one hundred miles per hour with the police cars on occasion driving within five to ten feet of the motorcycle. As Stiles attempted to exit the highway, he lost control of the motorcycle and crashed. Stiles was killed in the accident, and Chambers was seriously injured.

Chambers’ parents brought suit against the DeSoto and Lancaster policemen and against the cities of DeSoto and Lancaster alleging causes of action for: (a) negligence; (b) violation of civil rights; (c) violations of the inter-jurisdictional police pursuit policy; and (d) other statutory violations. Appellees filed motions for summary judgment maintaining that they were not negligent as a matter of law because they owed no duty to Chambers, because they were not a proximate cause of the accident, and because they have immunity from suit under these facts. The trial court granted the officers’ and the cities’ motions for summary judgment and ordered that appellants take nothing.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The function of a summary judgment is not to deprive a litigant of his right to a full hearing on the merits of any real issue of fact but to eliminate patently un-meritorious claims and untenable defenses. Gulbenkian v. Penn, 151 Tex. 412, 416, 252 S.W.2d 929, 931 (1952). The standards for reviewing a motion for summary judgment are:

1. The movant for summary judgment has the burden of showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
2. In deciding whether there is a disputed material fact issue precluding summary judgment, evidence favorable to the non-movant will be taken as true.
3. Every reasonable inference must be indulged in favor of the non-movant and any doubts resolved in its favor.

Nixon v. Mr. Property Management Co., 690 S.W.2d 546, 548-49 (Tex.1985); Montgomery v. Kennedy, 669 S.W.2d 309, 310-11 (Tex.1984); Wilcox v. St. Mary’s Univ., 531 S.W.2d 589, 592-93 (Tex.1975). The purpose of the summary judgment rule is not to provide either a trial by deposition or a trial by affidavit, but rather to provide a method of summarily terminating a case when it clearly appears that only a question of law is involved and that no genuine issue of fact remains. Gaines v. Hamman, 163 Tex. 618, 626, 358 S.W.2d 557, 563 (1962).

When the defendant is the mov-ant, summary judgment is proper only if the plaintiff cannot, as a matter of law, succeed upon any theory pleaded. Peirce v. Sheldon Petroleum Co., 589 S.W.2d 849, 852 (Tex.Civ.App. — Amarillo 1979, no writ). *147 Thus, the defendant can prevail by conclusively establishing against the plaintiff at least one factual element of each theory pleaded by the plaintiff, Gibbs v. General Motors Corp., 450 S.W.2d 827, 828 (Tex.1970), or by conclusively establishing every factual element of an affirmative defense. Smiley v. Hughes, 488 S.W.2d 64, 67 (Tex.1972). Conversely, the plaintiff can bar summary judgment by presenting evidence that creates a fact question on those elements of the plaintiff's case under attack by the defendant or on at least one element of each affirmative defense advanced by the defendant. Torres v. Western Casualty & Sur. Co., 457 S.W.2d 50, 52 (Tex.1970); see also Puga v. Donna Fruit Co., 634 S.W.2d 677, 680-81 (Tex.1982). Alternatively, the plaintiff can defeat the motion by conceding that the material facts are undisputed, but convincing the court that the defendant’s legal position is unsound. Estate of Devitt, 758 S.W.2d 601, 602 (Tex.App. — Amarillo 1988, writ denied).

NEGLIGENCE

Appellants argue that the trial court erred in granting the summary judgment dismissing their negligence claims. In the motions for summary judgment, the officers and the cities argued that they were not liable for negligence because, as a matter of law, they had no duty to Chambers and were not the proximate cause of the accident.

A. Duty

The existence of a legal duty under a given set of facts and circumstances is a question of law for the court to decide. Abalos v. Oil Dev. Co., 544 S.W.2d 627, 631 (Tex.1976); Producers Grain Corp. v. Lindsay, 603 S.W.2d 326, 329 (Tex.Civ.App. — Amarillo 1980, no writ). Negligence cannot exist unless there is a duty owed to the injured person; where no duty is owed to that person, no legal liability can arise on account of negligence.

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Bluebook (online)
843 S.W.2d 143, 1992 Tex. App. LEXIS 3194, 1992 WL 310352, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chambers-v-city-of-lancaster-texapp-1992.