Rosas v. Doreen

402 S.W.2d 813, 1966 Tex. App. LEXIS 2208
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 25, 1966
Docket16710
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 402 S.W.2d 813 (Rosas v. Doreen) 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
Rosas v. Doreen, 402 S.W.2d 813, 1966 Tex. App. LEXIS 2208 (Tex. Ct. App. 1966).

Opinion

BATEMAN, Justice.

The appellant Tony Rosas brought this suit against appellee Bill Doreen for damages on account of bodily injuries sustained by appellant when he fell on a sidewalk alleged to have been made dangerous by appellee’s construction work near the sidewalk. The court rendered summary judgment for appellee, and appellant presents three points of error on appeal.

The first point is that the court erred in granting the summary judgment on the theory that this was a “slip and fall” case, whereas appellee’s liability had been alleged as being based on “the negligence per se theory.” We do not find anything in the record before us to indicate on what particular theory or doctrine the summary judgment was rendered. The motion was bottomed on allegations that the condition of the sidewalk where appellant fell was open and obvious, that the dangers involved and the possibility of injury were patent, and that appellant voluntarily and with full knowledge and appreciation of the dangers and risk involved entered into a situation fraught with obvious danger. The judgment itself did not indicate on what theory or doctrine it was rendered. The first point is therefore overruled.

By his second point of error appellant says that the court erred in entertaining the motion for summary judgment “attacking Appellant’s Second Amended Original Petition,” because prior to the hearing appellant filed his Third Amended Original Petition, to which appellee’s motion and “attacks” were inapplicable. The motion for summary judgment did not “attack” any pleading. It merely referred to the Second Amended Original Petition as having described or alleged the condition of the property where appellant fell, and also contains this allegation: “Further, as set forth in Plaintiff’s Second Amended Original Petition and depositions as contained in the record, Plaintiff fully recognized and appreciated the dangers and the risk involved.” Appellant’s pleadings will be further discussed in our disposition of the third point of error. The second, as worded, presents no reversible error and is overruled.

Appellant’s third point of error asserts that the pleadings and affidavit of appellant presented an issue of fact, and that it was therefore error to grant the summary judgment. This necessitates a careful survey of the state of the pleadings and the evidence presented to the court at the hearing of the motion.

First, however, we should consider the rules applicable to summary judgments. Rule 166-A, Vernon’s Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, authorizes such judgments only when it is shown that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The movant must carry the burden of establishing the absence of any such issue; and in determining whether this burden has been carried the court must disregard all conflicts in the evidence and view the evidence in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion, accepting as true all evidence which tends *815 to support his position and resolving all doubts as to the existence of a genuine issue of a material fact against the movant. If the motion involves the credibility of af-fiants or deponents, or the weight of their statements, or a mere ground of inference, the motion should be denied. Great American Reserve Ins. Co. v. San Antonio Plumbing Supply Co., Tex.Sup.1965, 391 S.W.2d 41, 47.

Appellee’s motion for summary judgment is unsworn, and he presents no evidence in any form in support thereof, relying wholly upon the allegations of appellant’s Second Amended Original Petition. (He mentions “depositions as contained in the record,” but we find no depositions in the record before us.) In the Second Amended Original Petition, after alleging his injuries resulting from “an uncovered and unprotected upheaval caused by construction work being conducted at a building * * ” and the failure of appellee to maintain any sort of warning, there was the following paragraph:

“HI.
“Plaintiff would show that he had just completed eating at the Taco Village, 2911 McKinney Street, Dallas, Texas, when he began walking West on McKinney on the North side of the sidewalk. When he reached the 2700 block of McKinney Street, Dallas, Texas, he observed an area of construction, and that he did see an upheaval of concrete, but from all indications it appeared as though he could safely cross the unguarded area; that he cautiously stepped through the maze of broken concrete, until one seemingly secure piece caved under his weight; that the turning, twisting and caving of this concrete, caused Plaintiff to suddenly and abruptly, fall to the ground. Plaintiff says that the absence of barricades and warning signs encouraged him to proceed; that he was lulled into a sense of security.”

After the filing of the motion for summary judgment, appellant filed his Third Amended Original Petition, substantially the same as the Second except that Paragraph III was changed to read as follows:

“Plaintiff would show that he just completed eating at the Taco Village, 2911 McKinney Street, Dallas, Texas, when he began walking West on McKinney Street on the North side of the sidewalk. When he reached the 2700 block of McKinney Street, Dallas, Texas, he observed an area of recent construction, and from all indications it appeared as though he could safely cross the unguarded area; that he walked safely over the concrete, when a piece of concrete, not visible to Plaintiff, turned and twisted causing Plaintiff to suddenly and abruptly fall into a latently, unseen hole. Plaintiff says that the absence of barricades and warning signs encouraged him to proceed; that he was lulled into a sense of security by absence of any warning sign.”

Appellant also filed an affidavit in opposition to the motion for summary judgment in which he alleged that he had read his Third Amended Petition and swears that it is true and that “the condition of the property was not open and obvious to all, neither was it open and obvious to myself in that it seemed I could safely cross the unguarded area. Furthermore, I did not recognize or appreciate the dangers and the risk involved in that, I was lured (sic) into a sense of security. I did not believe there would be danger involved and the possibility of injury was latent. Furthermore, I did not have full knowledge of the danger or risk involved when I entered the area of construction.”

The affidavit contains a number of legal conclusions, which we shall not consider. Rule 166-A (e), T.R.C.P. However, it contains sufficient statements of fact, to which appellant could have testified, to cause us to doubt seriously that the appellee has carried the burden of es *816 tablishing the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.

As stated, appellee offered nothing to buttress his motion except certain statements contained in appellant’s Second Amended Original Petition.

“As long as the pleading remains unamended or the admission stands unre-tracted, the fact alleged or admitted, for the purposes of the case, is accepted as true by the court and jury and binding on the party making it, i. e.

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Bluebook (online)
402 S.W.2d 813, 1966 Tex. App. LEXIS 2208, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rosas-v-doreen-texapp-1966.