Reynaldo Morales v. Travelers Indemnity Co of Conneticut

• Court: Court of Appeals of Texas
• Decided: April 29, 2025
• Docket: 01-24-00909-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Opinion issued April 29, 2025

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-24-00909-CV ——————————— REYNALDO MORALES, Appellant V. TRAVELERS INDEMNITY COMPANY OF CONNECTICUT, Appellee

On Appeal from the 165th District Court Harris County, Texas Trial Court Case No. 2013-54065

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Proceeding pro se, appellant Reynaldo Morales has filed a notice of appeal in

trial court cause number 2013-59065, without stating what judgment he is appealing

but instead claiming he has suffered harassment from unspecified persons. Final

judgment in case number 2013-59065 was signed on March 20, 2014. Morales appealed this judgment in appellate case number 01-14-00429-CV and this Court

affirmed the judgment. See Morales v. Travelers Indem. Co. of Conn., No. 01-14-

00429-CV, 2014 WL 7340374, at *1 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Dec. 18, 2014,

pet. denied).

Morales has been declared a vexatious litigant and is the subject of a prefiling

order. The pre-filing order was signed on M a r c h 28 , 2 01 6 , in Reynaldo

Morales v. Travelers Indemnity Co. of Connecticut, Cause No. 2 0 1 6 - 0 2 7 7 1 in

the 165 th District Court of Harris County, Texas. See Office of Court

Administration List of Vexatious Litigants Subject to Pre-Filing Orders under

Section 11.101, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, available at

https://www.txcourts.gov/judicial-data/vexatious-litigants (list last updated April

17, 2025); see also TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE § 11.104(b) (requiring office of

court administration to maintain list and post list of vexatious litigants on agency’s

website); Douglas v. Am. Title Co., 196 S.W.3d 876, 878 n.2 (Tex. App.—

Houston [1st Dist.] 2006, no pet.) (taking judicial notice of Harris County record

of vexatious litigants). This prefiling order lists trial court cases including case

number 2013-54065, which is the one in which Morales has filed the current appeal,

supporting the determination that Morales was a vexatious litigant. The prefiling

order requires the Harris County District Clerk to refuse the filing of any new

2 litigation by Morales unless he obtains written permission from the appropriate local

administrative judge.

By statute, the Clerk of this Court may not file an appeal presented by a

vexatious litigant subject to a prefiling order unless the litigant first obtains an

order from the local administrative judge permitting the filing, or the appeal is

from a prefiling order designating the person a vexatious litigant. See TEX. CIV.

PRAC. & REM. CODE § 11.103(a). Morales is not appealing from a prefiling order

designating him a vexatious litigant. See id. at § 11.103(d).

On December 12, 2024, the Court requested a special clerk’s record containing

an order from the local administrative judge permitting this appeal. A supplemental

clerk’s record, filed on January 9, 2025, indicated that no such order of permission

existed. On January 16, 2025, the District Clerk filed a letter noting that Morales had

provided no order from the administrative judge giving him permission to appeal.

On January 16, 2024, the Court notified Morales that the appeal was subject to

dismissal unless he filed proof that he had obtained an order from the local

administrative judge permitting the filing of this appeal or that this Court otherwise

has jurisdiction over an appeal from the final judgment in trial court case number

2013-54065. Morales’s response was due on January 27, 2025 but no response was

filed.

3 Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal. Any pending motions are dismissed as

moot.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Chief Justice Adams and Justices Gunn and Guiney.