Chase Carmen Hunter v. Texas Department of Insurance and David Mattax, in His Official Capacity as Commissioner of Insurance

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided January 16, 2015·No. 03-14-00737-CV·Published

Opinion

ACCEPTED

03-14-00737-CV

3790936

THIRD COURT OF APPEALS

AUSTIN, TEXAS

1/15/2015 6:33:26 PM

JEFFREY D. KYLE

CLERK

No. 03-14-00737-cv

FILED IN

3rd COURT OF APPEALS

_____________________________________ AUSTIN, TEXAS 1/16/2015 12:23:00 PM

IN THE THIRD COURT OF APPEALSJEFFREY D. KYLE Clerk

AUSTIN, TEXAS

CHASE CARMEN HUNTER v. ELEANOR KITZMAN IN HER OFFICIAL

CAPACITY AS COMMISSIONER OF INSURANCE, JULIA RATHGEBER

IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS COMMISSIONER OF INSURANCE,

AND THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE

APPELLANT’S BRIEF WITHOUT ORAL ARGUMENT

From Cause D-1-GN-13001957 In The 250th District Travis

County, Texas, The Honorable John K. Dietz Presiding

Chase Carmen Hunter, pro se 340 S. Lemon Ave. #9039 Walnut, CA 91789 Telephone: 707-706-3647 Facsimile: 703-997-5999 Chase_Hunter@yahoo.com

IDENTITY OF PARTIES

Appellant: Chase Carmen Hunter

Appellees: ELEANOR KITZMAN IN HER OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS

COMMISSIONER OF INSURANCE, JOHN/JANE DOE IN HIS/HER

OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS INTERIM COMMISSIONER OF INSURANCE,

OR AS COMMISSIONER OF INSURANCE, AND THE TEXAS

DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE

Counsel For Appellant:

Chase Carmen Hunter, pro se 340 S. Lemon Ave #9039 Walnut, CA 91789 Telephone: 707-706-3647 Facsimile: 703-997-5999

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CERTIFICATION.........................................5

STATEMENT OF THE CASE...............................5-7

STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION...........................7-9

STATEMENT ON ORAL ARGUMENT............................9

ISSUES PRESENTED...................................9-10

STATEMENT OF FACTS...................................11

SUMMARY............................................11

DETAILS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY..................11-12

ARGUMENT..........................................12-14

PRAYER............................................14-15

CERTIFICATIONS....................................16-17

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

FEDERAL CASES

Connally V. General Construction Co.,

269 U.S. 385, 391 (1926).........................13

Grayned v. City of Rockford,

408 U.S. 104, 108 (1972).........................14

STATE CASES

In re Bernard, 993 S.W.2d 453, 454-544...............12

In re Nubine,

No. 13-08-507-CV, 2008 Tex. App. LEXIS 6534......12

STATE STATUTES AND RULES

Gov’t Code 2001.054(c) et seq.........................6

Texas Rule of Civil Procedure

(“TRCP”) 145 (a)................................9-14,16

TRCP 145 (d)......................................13,14

TRCP 165a(3)..............................9,10,12,13,14

CONSTITUTIONS

Due Process Clause...............................passim

CERTIFICATION.

I, Chase Carmen Hunter, state under penalty of perjury

that the following facts and argument are true and

correct.

January 15, 2015

STATEMENT OF THE CASE.

1.Judge John K. Dietz (“Judge Dietz”) is the presiding

judge of the 250th District in Travis County District

Court. His physical address is 1000 Guadalupe St.

Austin, TX 78701.

2.Amalia Rodriguez-Mendoza (“Clerk”) is the Clerk of

the District Court in Travis County, Texas. Her

physical address is 1000 Guadalupe St. Austin, TX

78701.

3.The Appellant, (herein referred to as “Hunter”), is

not and never has been a resident of Texas. Hunter’s

only tie to the Appellees arises from Hunter’s non-

resident Texas insurance license. Hunter filed an

Original Verified Petition for Declaratory Judgment

(“Pet DJ”) and three motions (collectively referred

to as “Petition and Motions”) with the Clerk in June

2013. See Appendix pp 1-79. The Pet DJ1 seeks relief

from the unlawful actions taken by Eleanor Kitzman

(“Kitzman”), the then Commissioner of Insurance of

the Texas Department of Insurance (“TDI”), John/Jane

Doe, the incoming Commissioner of Insurance of TDI,

and the TDI (referred to as “Appellees”).

4.The Pet DJ2 seeks a declaratory judgment that

formally establishes that the Rules and Statutes

relied upon by the Appellees are unconstitutionally

vague, unconstitutionally vague as applied, have been

misapplied, and have been misinterpreted and, as a

result, the Official Order of the Texas Commissioner

of Insurance, No. 2497, dated May 8, 2013, ("Order of

Revocation") is not effective.

5.The Pet DJ3 seeks a declaratory judgment that

formally establishes that the Order of Revocation is

not effective pursuant Gov’t Code 2001.054(c) et seq.

6.The Pet DJ4 seeks a declaratory judgment that

formally establishes that the Order of Revocation is

1 See Appendix pp 7-73 2 See Appendix pp 7-73 3 supra 4 supra

void for any and all other relevant reasons including,

but not limited to, fraud upon the court, extrinsic

fraud, intrinsic fraud, common law fraud,

constitutionality grounds, adverse to public policy,

contrary to Texas laws, and contrary to federal laws.

7.The Clerk has refused to perform ministerial duties,

has inserted into the court record documents that

contain false statements, has refused to provide

Hunter with services, and has therefore blocked the

adjudication of Hunter’s lawsuit in the Travis County

District Court (“TCDC”).

8.Judge Dietz has refused to act upon every motion

Hunter filed with the TCDC and filed directly with

Judge Dietz.

9.As a result, the Clerk and Judge Dietz have blocked

Hunter’s Pet DJ from moving forward beyond the

ministerial event of being filed with the TCDC.

10. Judge Dietz entered an Order of Dismissal on August

25, 2014, due to want of prosecution.

11. But the record proves that Hunter’s lawsuit was

stalled only because the Clerk and Judge Dietz

refused to perform ministerial duties.

STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION.

12. The Order of Dismissal (“Dismissal”) was entered on

August 25, 2014. Hunter was notified of this

Dismissal by mail.

13. Hunter mailed her Motion to Reinstate (“MTR”) to

the TCDC on September 22, 2014, using USPS priority

mail with tracking number 9114901189866871050039.

This is a timely filing pursuant to Texas Rule of

Appellate Procedure (“TRAP”) 9.2(b)(1). The USPS

records show that this MTR was delivered to the Clerk

on September 24, 2014. The Third District Court of

Appeal record 03-14-00641-cv contains a copy of the

MTR filed with the Clerk; and it shows that the Clerk

filed the MTR on September 26, 2014. See Appendix pp.

120-125

14. Hunter received no notice of a hearing scheduled

pursuant to TRCP 165a(3).

15. Therefore, on October 23, 2014, Hunter faxed her

MTR directly to Judge Dietz. See Appendix pp. 109-119.

Hunter also mailed her MTR directly to Judge Dietz

using USPS certified mail, restricted delivery with

tracking number 70132630000059320601. The USPS

records show that this MTR was delivered to Judge

Dietz on October 28, 2014.

16. Hunter received no notice of a hearing scheduled

pursuant to TRCP 165a(3).

17. No hearing was held on Hunter’s MTR.
18. Hunter mailed her Notice of Appeal (“NOA”) on

November 23, 2014, to the Clerk. Hunter also filed

her notice of appeal electronically with this Court

on November 24, 2014. See Appendix p. 126. This is a

timely filing of this NOA pursuant to TRAP 26.1(a)(3)

and 25.1(a).

ORAL ARGUMENT.

19. Oral argument is not requested.

ISSUES PRESENTED

1) The Clerk and Judge Dietz have refused to perform ministerial duties (other than filing documents and entering the Dismissal for want of prosecution).

2) The Clerk refused to comply with Texas Rule of Civil Procedure (“TRCP”) 145 (a) which sets forth that upon the filing of the affidavit [of indigency], “the clerk must docket the action, issue citation and provide such other customary services as are provided any party.” And Judge Dietz refused to perform ministerial duties to respond to Hunter’s motions asking that he direct the Clerk to perform her ministerial duties and to comply with TRCP 145(a).

3) After the Order of Dismissal was entered in the TCDC, Hunter filed a Motion for Reinstatement (“MFR”) with the Clerk and also directly with Judge Dietz. Pursuant to TRCP 165a(3), the TCDC was required to hold a hearing on this MFR. But it did not.

STATEMENT OF FACTS.

SUMMARY

19. The Clerk refused to perform all ministerial duties

except the filing of documents; and she inserted

false documents into the TCDC record.

20. Judge Dietz has refused to act upon Hunter’s

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Chase Carmen Hunter v. Texas Department of Insurance and David Mattax, in His Official Capacity as Commissioner of Insurance, (Tex. Ct. App. 2015).

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Related

Connally v. General Construction Co.
269 U.S. 385 (Supreme Court, 1926)
Allen v. Rushing
129 S.W.3d 226 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2004)
In Re Bernard
993 S.W.2d 453 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1999)
Aguilar v. Alvarado
39 S.W.3d 244 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1999)
Boulden v. Boulden
133 S.W.3d 884 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2004)
Grayned v. City of Rockford
408 U.S. 104 (Supreme Court, 1972)