Mathis v. Barnes

316 S.W.3d 795, 2010 Tex. App. LEXIS 5480, 2010 WL 2776097
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 14, 2010
Docket12-08-00340-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 316 S.W.3d 795 (Mathis v. Barnes) 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
Mathis v. Barnes, 316 S.W.3d 795, 2010 Tex. App. LEXIS 5480, 2010 WL 2776097 (Tex. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

*799 OPINION

SAM GRIFFITH, Justice.

Dr. Lee Roy Mathis appeals the trial court’s take nothing judgment entered in favor of Appellee H.E. Buster Barnes. In two issues, Mathis contends that the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to support the trial court’s take nothing judgment and this court should render injunc-tive relief against Barnes. We affirm in part, reverse and remand in part, and dismiss for want of jurisdiction in part.

Background

Mathis and Barnes own adjoining property in rural Anderson County, Texas. Lake Creek runs through the two properties at a point where Barnes’s property lies approximately six inches lower in elevation than Mathis’s property. For some time, Mathis had sought to cultivate “pristine wetlands” on the portion of his property close to Barnes’s property. Due to multiple beaver dams on Mathis’s property and in spite of seasonal rainfall variations, it was “full of water year round[,]” with “very limited” seasonal fluctuation. As a result, the property was a watering, nesting, and roosting place for waterfowl.

In mid to late 2006, Barnes constructed an earthen road on his property. The road, in effect, served as a dam where it crossed Lake Creek. 1 According to Barnes’s testimony, he initially incorporated two twenty-eight inch culverts into the road. However, even though Barnes testified that he had constructed numerous roads in the past, he did not consult an engineer regarding his construction of this road.

By October 2006, Lake Creek’s water flow increased and water began to rise on Barnes’s property upstream of the road. By November 3, 2006, the water had crossed the property line between Mathis’s and Barnes’s properties.

On November 4, 2006, Mathis contacted Barnes concerning the rising water and asked him to modify the road to permit sufficient flow of the water to alleviate the flooding. Barnes met with Mathis and his son, Rusty, about the problem.

As time passed, the water continued to rise. By mid December, the water was several feet high at the fence line and had begun to crest at some of the beaver dams. Rusty contacted Barnes about the problem, and Barnes responded that he would add another culvert to the road. Thereafter, Barnes installed another twenty-eight inch culvert in the road above the two previously installed culverts. In mid to late December 2006, the road gave way to the waters of Lake Creek. The waters retreated from Mathis’s property revealing the remnants of many of the beaver dams that did not survive. As a result of the destruction of the beaver dams, the property retains a significantly smaller amount of water than it once did. Furthermore, the duck sightings on or above the property have been greatly reduced.

Mathis filed the instant suit on January 26, 2007 alleging that Barnes was liable to him for nuisance, trespass, negligence, and gross negligence. Specifically, Mathis claimed that Barnes’s actions permanently damaged 409.27 acres of his land, thereby reducing its fair market value, which resulted in actual damages. Mathis further sought injunctive relief. The trial court granted Mathis both a temporary restraining order and, later, a temporary injunction, prohibiting Barnes from repairing the *800 breached road across Lake Creek. The matter proceeded to a jury trial. At trial, Barnes did not dispute that he built the road across Lake Creek. The parties presented conflicting evidence regarding the monetary value of the property before and after the flooding. The testimony can be summarized as follows: Mathis put on testimony of various witnesses supporting that the value of the property was greatly diminished; Barnes’s witness, a real estate appraiser, testified that the value of the property was the same both before and after the incident.

Ultimately, the jury found that Barnes was not liable for nuisance, trespass, negligence, or gross negligence. Thereafter, the trial court entered a take nothing judgment against Mathis. Mathis filed a motion for new trial, which the trial court denied. This appeal followed.

Legal Sufficiency

In his first issue, Mathis argues that the evidence is legally and factually insufficient to support the jury’s finding of no liability with regard to his causes of action for nuisance, trespass, and negligence. Mathis further argues that the evidence conclusively establishes his claim for gross negligence.

Standard of Review

If a party with the burden of proof challenges the legal sufficiency of an adverse finding, we must determine whether the complaining party has demonstrated on appeal that the evidence establishes, as a matter of law, all vital facts in support of the issue. Dow Chem. Co. v. Francis, 46 S.W.3d 237, 241 (Tex.2001). In a “matter of law” challenge, we first examine the record for evidence that supports the finding, while ignoring all evidence to the contrary. Id. If there is no evidence to support the finding, we will examine the entire record in order to determine whether the contrary proposition is established as a matter of law. Id. We will sustain the issue if the contrary proposition is conclusively established. Id. The final test for legal sufficiency must always be whether the evidence at trial would enable reasonable and fair minded people to reach the verdict under review. City of Keller v. Wilson, 168 S.W.3d 802, 822 (Tex.2005). In making this determination, we must credit favorable evidence if a reasonable finder of fact could, and disregard contrary evidence unless a reasonable finder of fact could not. Id. at 827. The finder of fact is the sole judge of the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be assigned to their testimony. See Canal Ins. Co. v. Hopkins, 238 S.W.3d 549, 557 (Tex.App.Tyler 2007, pet. denied) (citing City of Keller, 168 S.W.3d at 819). The finder of fact is free to believe one witness and disbelieve another, and reviewing courts may not impose their own opinions to the contrary. Id. Accordingly, we must assume that the finder of fact decided all credibility questions in favor of the findings if a reasonable person could do so. Id. If a reasonable finder of fact could have done so, we must assume that the finder of fact chose what testimony to disregard in a way that favored the findings. See Canal, 238 S.W.3d at 557 (citing City of Keller, 168 S.W.3d at 820). A finder of fact “may disregard even uncontradicted and unimpeached testimony from disinterested witnesses” where reasonable. Canal, 238 S.W.3d at 557 (quoting City of Keller, 168 S.W.3d at 819-20).

Moreover, it is within the finder of fact’s province to resolve conflicts in the evidence. Canal, 238 S.W.3d at 557 (citing City of Keller, 168 S.W.3d at 820). Consequently, we must assume that, where reasonable, the finder of fact resolved all conflicts in the evidence in a manner consistent with the findings. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
316 S.W.3d 795, 2010 Tex. App. LEXIS 5480, 2010 WL 2776097, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mathis-v-barnes-texapp-2010.