Garcia v. Pruski

563 S.W.3d 333
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 29, 2018
DocketNo. 04-17-00632-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 563 S.W.3d 333 (Garcia v. Pruski) 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
Garcia v. Pruski, 563 S.W.3d 333 (Tex. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

Opinion by: Patricia O. Alvarez, Justice

This is a personal injury case arising out of an automobile accident involving a bull that escaped its enclosure and wandered onto the highway where appellant Joshua Garcia was driving. Garcia sued Pruski, alleging he was responsible for the bull wandering onto the highway. After the trial court granted appellee Shary Pruski's traditional and no-evidence motion for summary judgment and rendered a final judgment, Garcia timely appealed. We affirm the judgment in part, reverse the judgment in part, and remand the case for further proceedings.

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Garcia was injured when the vehicle he was driving collided with a bull on State Highway 123 in Wilson County. Garcia filed suit against Pruski, who owned the bull and the land from which the bull escaped, alleging he was negligent in various ways. Pruski filed a traditional and no-evidence motion for summary judgment. Both the no-evidence grounds and the traditional grounds challenged the elements of Garcia's negligence claims: the existence of a legal duty, breach, and proximate cause. Pruski filed a supplement to his summary judgment motion, and produced additional evidence in support thereof. After Garcia filed a response, the trial court signed an order granting Pruski's motion for summary judgment. The trial court's order stated it was a final judgment as to all claims and parties. Garcia timely perfected this appeal.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

"We review the grant of [a] summary judgment de novo." Katy Venture, Ltd. v. Cremona Bistro Corp. , 469 S.W.3d 160, 163 (Tex. 2015). To prevail on a traditional motion for summary judgment, the movant must show "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the [movant] is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." TEX. R. CIV. P. 166a(c) ; accord Katy Venture , 469 S.W.3d at 163. A trial court must grant a no-evidence motion for summary judgment unless the nonmovant raises a genuine issue of material fact on each challenged element of the nonmovant's claims. KCM Fin. LLC v. Bradshaw , 457 S.W.3d 70, 79 (Tex. 2015). We take as true all evidence favorable to the nonmovant, resolve *337all conflicts in the evidence in the nonmovant's favor, and indulge every reasonable inference and resolve any doubts in the nonmovant's favor. Katy Venture , 469 S.W.3d at 163.

NEGLIGENCE

Garcia argues the trial court erred by granting Pruski's motion for summary judgment because he produced some evidence raising a genuine issue of material fact as to the challenged elements of his negligence claims against Pruski. The essential elements of a negligence claim are the existence of a legal duty, a breach of that duty, and damages proximately caused by the defendant's breach. Crosstex N. Tex. Pipeline, L.P. v. Gardiner , 505 S.W.3d 580, 607 (Tex. 2016). Where, as here, the trial court does not specify the grounds on which it granted a summary judgment motion, "we must affirm if any of the grounds asserted in the motion are meritorious." Cmty. Health Sys. Prof'l Servs. Corp. v. Hansen , 525 S.W.3d 671, 680 (Tex. 2017). In light of our standard of review, we must therefore determine whether Garcia produced evidence sufficient to raise a genuine issue of material fact with regard to the challenged elements of his negligence claims.

A. Garcia's Negligence Claims

Before analyzing the elements of Garcia's negligence claims, we first must ascertain the negligence claims raised by Garcia's pleadings. "Pleadings must give fair notice of the nature and basic issues so the opposing party can prepare a defense." Bos v. Smith , No. 16-0341, 556 S.W.3d 293, 305-06, 2018 WL 2749714, at *9 (Tex. June 8, 2018) (citing TEX. R. CIV. P. 47(a) ; Horizon/CMS Healthcare Corp. v. Auld , 34 S.W.3d 887, 896-97 (Tex. 2000) ). When, as here, a defendant does not file special exceptions, we must liberally construe the pleadings. See id. "When a pleader provides both general and specific allegations, the specific controls, and the pleader cannot rely on the general allegations to expand the scope of the claim." Id.

In his first amended petition, his live pleading, Garcia alleged Pruski was negligent by failing to properly restrain and restrict the bull within a fenced area on his property, by failing to prevent the bull from gaining access to and wandering onto the state highway, and for violating chapter 143 of the Texas Agriculture Code. Garcia also alleged that Pruski "owed him a legal duty to prevent [the bull] from straying onto State Highway 123 and that [Pruski] clearly breached such duty." He further alleged that "[e]ach and all of the above stated acts and/or omissions constitute negligence." Liberally construed, Garcia's pleadings seek the imposition of liability on Pruski for negligence under the common law and on statutory provisions. See id.

B. Existence of a Legal Duty

The first element of a negligence claim, and the threshold issue, is the existence of a legal duty. See Crosstex N. Tex. Pipeline, L.P. , 505 S.W.3d at 607 ; Peek v. Equip. Servs., Inc. , 906 S.W.2d 529, 534 (Tex. App.-San Antonio 1995, no writ).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
563 S.W.3d 333, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/garcia-v-pruski-texapp-2018.