Texas Department of Public Safety v. Merardo Bonilla

509 S.W.3d 570, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 11112, 2016 WL 5930874
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided October 12, 2016·No. 08-13-00117-CV·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinions

OPINION

ANN CRAWFORD McCLURE, Chief Justice

This Texas Tort Claims Act case returns to us with a narrow focus. The remaining question is' whether official immunity divests the trial court of jurisdiction over the lawsuit. To answer that question, we focus on whether the Texas Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) summary judgment evidence conclusively establishes the “good faith” element for official immunity, and if so, whether the innocent motorist who was injured during a police chase met his responsive burden. Stated in terms of the applicable test, did DPS conclusively show that a reasonable trooper, under the same or similar circumstances, could have believed it necessary to conduct the pursuit as the trooper did here, and if so, did the motorist present some evidence that no reasonable trooper would have pursued that course. We conclude that the appeal turns on our determination of what are the “same or similar circumstances,” and that determination is dictated by the standards which govern all summary judgment motions. Based bn the summary judgment record here, we affirm the trial court’s denial of summary judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The traffic accident giving rise to this lawsuit occurred on February 19, 2010, at the intersection of Montana and Magruder Streets in El Paso. DPS Trooper Cesar Cruz was traveling westbound on Montana [572] Avenue, which at the point of the accident has three driving lanes running in each direction. Officer Cruz was in a marked DPS vehicle. When he was about a quarter of a mile from the intersection, a pickup truck traveling in the same direction changed lanes cutting the trooper off. The pickup weaved in and out of traffic, cutting off another vehicle. The speed limit on Montana Avenue in that area is 35 m.p.h. and Cruz estimated that the speeding truck was traveling at least 55 m.p.h.1

Officer Cruz initially exercised his discretion to delay pulling the pickup over because he believed that there was no safe place to conduct a stop in that area. But when the pickup ran a red light at the Montana and Magruder intersection, Officer Cruz activated his overheard lights and accelerated to effect a traffic stop. As Trooper Cruz crossed the intersection, however, he collided with Merardo Bonilla who was traveling southbound on Magru-der. Bonilla was injured and brought this suit against DPS to recover for his injuries.

DPS answered and after some discovery in the case, filed a plea to the jurisdiction and alternative motion for summary judgment which asserted several grounds. Two of the grounds are relevant to this appeal. First, DPS contended that the accident occurred while Trooper Cruz was reacting to an emergency situation. As such, Bonilla was required to prove, but could not according to DPS, that Trooper Cruz acted with conscious indifference or recklessness. Tex.Civ.Prac.&Rem.Codb Ann. § 101.055(2)(West 2011)(requiring conscious indifference or recklessness to waive sovereign immunity when governmental employee is responding to emergency call or reacting to emergency situation). Second, DPS contended that Trooper Cruz was protected by official immunity, and as such, it was not vicariously liable for the actions of its immune employee. The trial court denied the motion, and DPS pursued an interlocutory appeal to this Court.

On first hearing this matter, we affirmed the trial court and in doing so addressed three issues. Texas Dept. of Pub. Safety v. Bonilla, 481 S.W.3d 646 (Tex.App.-El Paso 2014), rev’d, 481 S.W.3d 640 (Tex. 2015). In response to DPS’s motion, Bonil-la had submitted a traffic investigation report prepared by DPS. We first held that the trial court did not err in overruling DPS’s objections to the traffic investigation report. Id. at 649-52. The report criticized Trooper Cruz’s actions and contradicted some aspects of his version of the accident. Id. Based on findings from the report, and another interoffice DPS memorandum, we next concluded that there was some evidence of recklessness sufficient to create a fact issue as to DPS’s “emergency” response ground for summary judgment. Id. at 654-55.

With regard to official immunity, we noted that DPS carried the burden to show three elements of the affirmative defense: (1) that Trooper Cruz was performing a discretionary function; (2) that he did so in the course and scope of his duties; and (3) that he acted in good faith. Id. at 655. Bonilla did not contest the first two elements, and the only question at issue was whether Trooper Cruz was acting in good faith. Id. DPS had attempted to meet that element with an affidavit signed by Trooper Cruz, his incident report which was incorporated into the affidavit, and excerpts from his deposition.

[573] We held that the “same fact issues that defeat sovereign immunity under the emergency exception likewise defeat derivative immunity.” Id. at 655. Bonilla’s evidence showed that “a reasonably prudent police officer could determine” that the necessity to stop the speeding truck was outweighed by risk of causing an accident in proceeding through the intersection. Id. at 655-56. Prior decisional law also required as part of the good faith analysis that a police officer consider alternative methods to pursuit. E.g. Univ. of Houston v. Clark, 38 S.W.3d 578, 588-89 (Tex. 2000). We alternatively held that DPS’s evidence was insufficient because Trooper Cruz had not expressly discussed and explained why he discounted alternative courses of action to stop the speeding truck. 481 S.W.3d at 656.

On petition for review, the Texas Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case back to us for reconsideration. Texas Dept. of Pub. Safety v. Bonilla, 481 S.W.3d 640 (Tex. 2015). The court left untouched our resolution of the emergency response issue, noting there was no meritorious issue for review. Id. at 646. DPS had also not challenged our holding regarding the admissibility of DPS’s accident investigation report. As for the remaining issue— official immunity—the Texas Supreme Court held that we erred in applying the wrong standard for good faith under the official immunity doctrine. Id. at 643-44. Rather than focus on whether a reasonably prudent trooper could have made a different decision, we should have considered whether no reasonably prudent trooper could have made the same decision in light of the need and risks. The court also held that DPS’s evidence implicitly addressed alternative courses of action. Id. at 645. The court remanded the case to us to reconsider the case under the correct legal standard.

OFFICIAL IMMUNITY AND THE GOOD FAITH STANDARD

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Texas Department of Public Safety v. Merardo Bonilla, 509 S.W.3d 570, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 11112, 2016 WL 5930874 (Tex. Ct. App. 2016).

509 S.W.3d 570 (Texas Department of Public Safety v. Merardo Bonilla) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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