Juan A. Martin-De-Nicolas v. Rex Jones

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided February 18, 2015·No. 03-13-00318-CV·Published

Opinion

February 18, 2015

No. 03-13-00318-CV

IN THE

THIRD COURT OF APPEALS

at Austin, Texas

JUAN A. MARTIN-DE-NICOLAS Appellant

V.

REX JONES Appellee.

Appealed from the County Court at Law No. 2 of Travis County, Texas Cause No. C-l-CV-12-008738

APPELLANT'S MOTION FOR EN BANC RECONSIDERATION

Filed by:

Juan A. Martin-de-Nicolas Appellant, Pro Se FL318:::] 5604 Woodview Ave. Austin, TX 78756 \r Tel. 512-565-1498

APPELLANT'S MOTION FOR EN BANC RECONSIDERATION Pagel of 19 TO THE HONORABLE MEMBERS OF THE THIRD COURT OF APPEALS:

Appellant asks the Court to grant this motion to reconsider the case en banc.

A) INTRODUCTION

On 28 August 2014, a three-judge panel of this Third Court of Appeals

issued the opinion and judgment in this case affirming the lower court's order. The

panel consisted of Chief Justice Jones, and Justices Pemberton and Rose.

On 26 January 2015, Justices Pemberton and Rose denied appellant's timely

filed motion for rehearing . Chief Justice Jones did not participate.

B) SUMMARY

The primary issue in this restricted appeal is denial ofdue process.1 Specifically, appellee failed to serve appellant a "notice-of-hearing" for the hearing

on appellee's summary judgment motion which ultimately disposed of the case.

This omission is against the Rules of Civil Procedure (see TRCP 21a & TRCP

166a).

This court's Memorandum Opinion "resolved" the lack of notice issue stated

above by holding that a statement made by appellee's counsel during said

summary judgment hearing provided "some evidence" that appellant had been

1 Denial of due process as expressed in Appellant's first issue submitted for review in his Appellant's Brief (see Appellant's Brief page 6). Issue #1: Can a case be dismissed during a hearing for a motion for dismissal where the non-movant was not notified of the reset hearing date?

APPELLANTS MOTION FOR EN BANC RECONSIDERATION Page 2 of 19 notified. Appellant has categorically denied that he was notified in any way,

shape, or form of the reset hearing date for that hearing.

The panel's resolution of this due process issue is at odds with past opinions

from the Supreme Court of the United States, the Supreme Court of Texas, and

even previous opinions from this Third Court of Appeals.

The primary issue in this case—due process—is of such vital importance to

the jurisprudence of the State of Texas that resolution of this issue by the Court en

banc is necessary. See Tex. R. App. P. 41.2(c), 49.7.

C) STATEMENT OF FACTS

The following facts are evident on the face-of-the-record and are repeated

here to guide this court in its review of this motion for en banc reconsideration.

1) This case originated in Justice court and was appealed to County Court.

2) On 30 August 2012 county court sent out its first notification to the parties of having received the appeals bond. See Exhibit A (copy of Court Docket, CR: 217-218), arrow #1.

3) On 17 September 2012, appellee filed a motion for summary judgment for lack ofjurisdiction. See Exhibit A, arrow #2.

4) On 11 October 2012 appellee filed a notice-of-hearing with a setting date of 25 October 2012. See Exhibit A, arrow #3.

5) On 15 October 2012 appellee apparently faxed a docket call for the 25 October hearing. It is entered in the docket as filed on 16 October 2012. See Exhibit A, arrow #4.

2 rr: 4—MR. BEGA: "Previously set on October 25,h and reset today at the request ofthe plaintiff."

APPELLANTS MOTION FOR EN BANC RECONSIDERATION Page 3 of 19 6) On 14 November 2012 (i.e. not 25 October), county court holds a hearing for the summary motion stated in #3 above, grants appellee's motion, and signs an order of dismissal with prejudice. See Exhibit A, arrow #5.

7) The court reporter's record included in this appeal (RR: 2) notes that appellant was not present at this hearing nor represented by counsel. See Exhibit A, arrow #6.

D) ARGUMENTS & AUTHORITIES

Summary of the Argument

Because of the severity and finality of a summary judgment dismissal order,

a movant must expressly inform the adverse partv of the exact settina date of such

hearing in order to allow the adverse party sufficient time in which to craft his

response to such motion and be heard bv the court. Period. There is no

circumventing this basic tenant of due process. The case law cited in this motion

for en banc reconsideration is equally emphatic about due process be-ng the sine

qua non ofjustice.

En Banc Reconsideration

This Court has the authority to grant this motion and submit the case to the full

court, sitting en banc (see TRAP 41.2(c), 49.7). A submission to the full court

sitting en banc is appropriate when:

1) its necessary to secure or maintain uniformity of court decisions, or when 2) extraordinary circumstances require en banc consideration (see TRAP 41.2(c)).

APPELLANT'S MOTION FOR EN BANC RECONSIDERATION Page 4 of 19 Texas Rules of Civil Procedure

The following Texas Rules of Civil Procedure (TRCPs) control the proper

implementation of due process in this appeal:

• TRCP 21—Filing & Serving Pleadings & Motions • TRCP 21 a—Methods of Service • TRCP 166a—Summary Judgment.

Appellant has categorically stated that he did not receive actual or constructive

notice of the hearing date for appellee's summary judgment motion. The facts

evident on the face-of-the-record corroborate this assertion. The following

discussion will examine what the rules require and what the record reveals.

TRCP 21 requires a movant to submit motions and the notice-of-hearing

thereof, to the court and to adverse parties in writing, and for the clerk to note them

on the docket.

The record in this case reveals that the hearing held in 14 November 2012 that

disposed of the case was not preceded by the required written notice-of-hearing nor

was there any valid notice noted on the docket. The notice-of-hearing that appears

on the face-of-the-record (filed 11 October for a 25 October setting) never took

place—it never happened! That hearing was canceled, not by agreement of the

parties as stated in the Memorandum Opinion, but by an officer of the county

court.

APPELLANTS MOTION FOR EN BANC RECONSIDERATION Page 5 of 19 These irrefutable facts should have been sufficient for this court to reverse the

summary judgment order issued by the county court on 14 November. Similar

irrefutable facts were sufficient for the courts in the following case law to reverse

faulty judgments.

TRCP 21a requires a movant to certify compliance with the rules in writing,

over signature, and on the filed instrument. It also allows the non-movant to offer

the court proof that the notice or instrument was not received. Such proof may be

offered in the form of an affidavit that accompanies the non-movant's response to a

summary judgment motion. This rule underscores the importance of allowing the

non-movant an opportunity to be heard by the court who hears the motion for

dismissal.

TRCP 166a(c) increases the three-day minimum filing deadline of TRCP 21 to

twenty-one days when it states that "the motion and any supporting affidavits shall

be filed and served at least twenty-one days before the time specified for hearing."

Appellant is of the opinion that the notice-of-hearing is subject to the same twenty-

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