Dennis Alan Davis v. Joyce Guerra

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 10, 2013
Docket10-13-00014-CV
StatusPublished

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Bluebook
Dennis Alan Davis v. Joyce Guerra, (Tex. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

IN THE TENTH COURT OF APPEALS

No. 10-13-00014-CV

DENNIS ALAN DAVIS, Appellant v.

JOYCE GUERRA, ET AL, Appellee

From the 12th District Court Walker County, Texas Trial Court No. 26058

MEMORANDUM OPINION

This is an inmate-litigation case under chapter 14 of the Texas Civil Practice and

Remedies Code. See TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. §§ 14.001-.014 (West 2002 &

Supp. 2012). In ten issues, which can be categorized as three, appellant, Dennis Alan

Davis, challenges the trial court’s dismissal of his lawsuit as frivolous under chapter 14.

See id. §§ 14.001-.014. We affirm. I. BACKGROUND

Here, appellant, an inmate in the O.B. Ellis Unit in Huntsville, Texas, filed suit

against three employees of the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of

Criminal Justice—appellees, Joyce Guerra, Lakeshia Davis, and Brenda Hough. In his

original petition, appellant asserted claims under chapter 37 of the Texas Civil Practice

and Remedies Code and title 42, section 1983 of the United States Code. See generally

TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. §§ 37.001-.011 (West 2008); 42 U.S.C. § 1983. In

particular, appellant argued that appellees violated his civil rights by:

(1) subjecting him to deliberate indifference to his serious medical condition and/or needs, by (2) interfering with treatment once prescribed, which (3) constitutes gross negligence and malice by placing him in a life-threatening situation of physical harm with conscience [sic] indifference to his rights, safety[,] and welfare, with the intent to harm or injure the plaintiff by (4) intentionally misdiagnosing and/or identifying and reporting his true medical state by (5) tampering with a government record. Defendants also (6) denied the plaintiff adequate redress by grievance.

In response to appellant’s original petition, the Office of the Attorney General of

Texas (“OAG”) filed an “Amicus Curiae Chapter 14 Advisory To The Court.” In this

filing, the OAG argued that appellant’s claims were frivolous under chapter 14 of the

Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code because, among other things, (1) appellant’s

complaints have no basis in law and no chance of success; (2) several of appellant’s

complaints do not amount to a cognizable cause of action; and (3) appellant did not

suffer any injury as a result of appellees’ actions.

Thereafter, appellant requested a chapter 14 hearing, which the trial court

granted. On November 13, 2012, the trial court conducted a hearing in which only

Davis v. Guerra Page 2 argument was presented. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court concluded

that appellant’s suit did not comply with chapter 14. Accordingly, the trial court

dismissed appellant’s suit as frivolous under chapter 14.

Later, appellant filed a motion for new trial and requests for findings of fact and

conclusions of law. Appellant’s motion for new trial was overruled by operation of law.

See TEX. R. CIV. P. 329b(c). This appeal followed.

II. INMATE LITIGATION

Inmate litigation is governed by the procedural rules set forth in chapter 14 of the

Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. See TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. §§

14.001-.014; see also Trevino v. Ravenburg, No. 10-11-00245-CV, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS

3323, at *5 (Tex. App.—Waco Apr. 25, 2012, pet. denied) (mem. op.). The Texas

Legislature enacted chapter 14 to control the flood of lawsuits filed in state courts by

prison inmates, which consume valuable judicial resources with seemingly little

offsetting benefit. Hickson v. Moya, 926 S.W.2d 397, 399 (Tex. App.—Waco 1996, no

writ). This Court has noted:

Prisoners have everything to gain and little to lose by filing frivolous suits. It costs them almost nothing; time is of no consequence to a prisoner; threats of sanctions are virtually meaningless; and the prisoner can look forward to a day trip to the courthouse. Thus, the temptation to file a frivolous suit is strong. Such suits, however, waste valuable resources and subject the state and its prison officials to the burden of unwarranted litigation, preventing claims with merit from being heard expeditiously.

Id. (internal citations omitted).

Generally, the dismissal of inmate litigation under chapter 14 is reviewed for

abuse of discretion. Brewer v. Simental, 268 S.W.3d 763, 767 (Tex. App.—Waco 2008, no

Davis v. Guerra Page 3 pet.). “To establish an abuse of discretion, an appellant must show the trial court’s

actions were arbitrary or unreasonable in light of all the circumstances. The standard is

clarified by asking whether the trial court acted without reference to any guiding rules

or principles.” Spurlock v. Schroedter, 88 S.W.3d 733, 735-36 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi

2002, pet. denied) (internal citations omitted). We may not substitute our judgment for

that of the trial court with respect to the resolution of factual issues or matters

committed to the trial court’s discretion. See In re Spooner, 333 S.W.3d 759, 763 (Tex.

App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2010, orig. proceeding); see also Downer v. Aquamarine

Operators, Inc., 701 S.W.2d 238, 242 (Tex. 1985). The judgment of the trial court will be

affirmed if that judgment can be upheld on any reasonable theory supported by the

evidence. Ex parte E.E.H., 869 S.W.2d 496, 497-98 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1993,

writ denied); Harris County Dist. Attorney’s Office v. Burns, 825 S.W.2d 198, 200 (Tex.

App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1992, writ denied). We consider only the evidence most

favorable to the judgment, and if there is some evidence to support the judgment, we

will affirm. State v. Knight, 813 S.W.2d 210, 211 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1991,

no writ).

In conducting our review, we take as true the allegations in the inmate’s petition

and review the types of relief and causes of action set out therein to determine whether,

as a matter of law, the petition stated a cause of action that would authorize relief. See

Leachman v. Dretke, 261 S.W.3d 297, 304 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2008, no pet.) (citing

Scott v. Gallagher, 209 S.W.3d 262, 265 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2006, no pet.);

Harrison v. Tex. Dep’t of Criminal Justice, Inst. Div., 164 S.W.3d 871, 875 (Tex. App.—

Davis v. Guerra Page 4 Corpus Christi 2005, no pet.)). A claim has no arguable basis in the law if it is an

indisputably meritless legal theory. Id. (citing Scott, 209 S.W.3d at 266-67).

III. FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

In what we characterize as his first issue, appellant complains that the trial court

abused its discretion by failing to issue findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Specifically, appellant argues that the chapter 14 hearing was a fact hearing and that the

trial court was obligated to issue findings of fact and conclusions of law to explain its

reasons for dismissing his lawsuit. We disagree.

A. Applicable Law

Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 296 provides that: “In any case tried in the district

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