Garcia v. State Farm Lloyds

287 S.W.3d 809, 2009 Tex. App. LEXIS 2978, 2009 WL 1153506
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 30, 2009
Docket13-07-00381-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by41 cases

This text of 287 S.W.3d 809 (Garcia v. State Farm Lloyds) 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. State Farm Lloyds, 287 S.W.3d 809, 2009 Tex. App. LEXIS 2978, 2009 WL 1153506 (Tex. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinions

OPINION

Opinion by

Justice BENAVIDES.

Appellants, Ramon and Anita Garcia, appeal from two orders granting summary judgment in favor of appellee, State Farm Lloyds (“State Farm”). By four issues, the Garcias contend the trial court erred in overruling their objections to State Farm’s summary judgment evidence, sustaining State Farm’s objections to their summary judgment evidence, and in granting final summary judgment in State Farm’s favor.

[812]*812We affirm, in part, and reverse and remand, in part.1

I. Jurisdiction

As a preliminary matter, we address several jurisdictional issues. First, on August 6, 2007, the clerk of this Court sent the Garcias’ counsel a “defect letter,” noting that the trial court’s March 27, 2007 summary judgment did not appear to be a final appealable order because it did not dispose of all parties; specifically, the judgment did not address causes of action against Andy’s Refrigeration, a defendant below.2 The Garcias and State Farm responded that all parties considered the trial court’s order to be a final order because Andy’s Refrigeration was never served. Although the Garcias attempted to serve Andy’s Refrigeration in 2004, service was not effected. It is undisputed that there were no further attempts at service.

Appellate courts are obligated to review sua sponte issues affecting jurisdiction. M.O. Dental Lab v. Rape, 139 S.W.3d 671, 673 (Tex.2004). We examine the entire record to determine whether an order disposes of all pending claims and parties. Lehmann v. Har-Con Corp., 39 S.W.3d 191, 205-06 (Tex.2001).

In support of their argument, the parties cite the principle that a judgment may be final, even though it does not dispose of all parties named in the petition, if the remaining party was never served with citation and did not file an answer, and nothing in the record indicates that the plaintiff ever expected to obtain service upon the remaining party. See Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Penn, 363 S.W.2d 230, 232 (Tex.1962) (describing when failure to obtain service on defendant may be treated as a nonsuit for purposes of determining finality of judgment); M.O. Dental Lab., 139 S.W.3d at 674-75 (holding that decision in Penn survives Lehmann). We agree. Here, although Andy’s Refrigeration was never served, there is nothing in the record to suggest that the Garcias ever expected to do so. “[A] judgment is final for purposes of appeal when (1) the judgment expressly disposes of some, but not all defendants, (2) the only remaining defendants have not been served or answered, and (3) nothing in the record indicates that the plaintiff ever expected to obtain service on the unserved defendants.” Sondock v. Harris County Appraisal Dist., 231 S.W.3d 65, 67 n. 1 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2007, no pet.) (citing Penn, 363 S.W.2d at 232; M.O. Dental Lab., 139 S.W.3d at 674-75). We conclude that the summary judgment is final for purposes of appeal. See id.

Second, State Farm has filed a motion to dismiss this appeal for want of jurisdiction. State Farm argues that because the Garcias’ motion for new trial was filed more than thirty days after summary [813]*813judgment was granted, the motion was untimely and therefore, the notice of appeal was untimely. The Garcias contend that their motion for new trial was timely filed under the “mailbox rule.” See Tex. R. Civ. P. 5. State Farm contends that it was not.

The trial court’s order granting summary judgment was signed on March 27, 2007; therefore, a motion for new trial was due on or before April 26, 2007. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 329b. In their response to State Farm’s motion, the Garcias assert that they mailed their motion for new trial on April 20, 2007, six days before the deadline. They contend the motion for new trial was placed in an envelope correctly addressed to the clerk, stamped first-class United States postage on April 20, 2007 by a computerized pre-paid postage machine, and mailed through the United States Postal Service on that date. The motion for new trial was received and file-stamped by the Hidalgo County District Clerk’s office on May 4, 2007. The Garcias filed a notice of appeal on June 11, 2007. See Tex. R. App. P. 26.1(a) (providing notice of appeal must be filed within thirty days after judgment is signed, or within ninety days if any party files a motion for new trial).

The question before us is whether the Garcias perfected their appeal in reliance upon the “mailbox rule.” Rule 5 provides, in pertinent part that

if any document is sent to the proper clerk by first-class United States mail in an envelope or wrapper properly addressed and stamped and is deposited in the mail on or before the last day for filing same, the same, if received by the clerk not more than ten days tardily, shall be filed by the clerk and be deemed filed in time. A legible postmark affixed by the United States Postal Service shall be prima facie evidence of the date of mailing.

Tex. R. Civ. P. 5. Texas courts have held that, “[i]n the absence of a proper postmark or certificate of mailing, an attorney’s uncontroverted affidavit may be evidence of the date of mailing.” Lofton v. Allstate Ins. Co., 895 S.W.2d 693, 693-94 (Tex.1995).

In support of their argument that they timely filed their motion for new trial, the Garcias produced a copy of the envelope, correctly addressed to the district clerk’s office, and stamped “United States Postage,” dated April 20, 2007. The Garcias acknowledge that the United States Postage stamp was affixed by a computerized rented postage machine at their counsel’s office. State Farm argues that the stamp on the envelope is not a United States Postal Service postmark and does not establish actual mailing on April 20, 2007. Thus, according to State Farm, the April 20, 2007 postmark does not constitute pri-ma facie evidence of mailing. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 5.

We need not decide whether the April 20, 2007 postmark constitutes prima facie evidence of mailing because the Garcias also produced two affidavits. The first affidavit, from Shannon Loyd, states that she completed the motion for new trial on April 20, 2007, used her office’s United States Postal Service machine to post mark the envelope, and mailed it on that date. A second affidavit, from Angelica Coronado, Ms. Loyd’s secretary, states that she and Ms. Loyd used the office postal machine to postmark the envelope containing the motion for new trial on April 20, 2007 and mailed it on that date. State Farm offered no evidence controverting either affidavit. We conclude the two affidavits constitute prima facie evidence that the motion for new trial was placed in the United States mail, postage [814]*814pre-paid, on April 20, 2007. See Lofton, 895 S.W.2d at 693-94; Alvarez v. Thomas, 172 S.W.3d 298, 302-03 (Tex.App.-Texarkana 2005, no pet.) (noting certificate of service and attorney’s affidavit are both prima facie evidence of date of mailing).

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Bluebook (online)
287 S.W.3d 809, 2009 Tex. App. LEXIS 2978, 2009 WL 1153506, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/garcia-v-state-farm-lloyds-texapp-2009.