Thompson v. Texas Department of Human Resources

859 S.W.2d 482, 1993 WL 231678
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 30, 1993
Docket04-92-00475-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 859 S.W.2d 482 (Thompson v. Texas Department of Human Resources) 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
Thompson v. Texas Department of Human Resources, 859 S.W.2d 482, 1993 WL 231678 (Tex. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinions

OPINION

CHAPA, Justice.

Appellant, Larry Thompson, questions a nunc pro tunc judgment that purports to correct a clerical error in a nonsuit order of a paternity suit rendered twelve years earlier.

Specifically, appellant’s sole point of error states: “There was no clerical error and the original judgement was not subject [484]*484to correction by entry of judgment nunc pro tunc.” Although the point of error is multifarious and violates Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 74, we will nevertheless consider it a no evidence point in the interest of justice.1

On December 15, 1977, appellee Texas Department of Human Resources, acting by and through Olicea D. Taylor, brought a paternity suit against appellant Larry Thompson.

On September 18, 1980, the appellee filed a written motion for nonsuit, specifying that the nonsuit be granted “without prejudice.”

On October 14, 1980, the trial court entered a judgment specifically granting ap-pellee’s motion for nonsuit, but inconsistently stating “with prejudice” instead of “without prejudice” as had been requested in the motion.

On June 26, 1992, a motion for nunc pro tunc relief was filed to correct the “with prejudice” language of the October 14, 1980 nonsuit order, which was alleged to be a clerical error.

On June 29, 1992, the nunc pro tunc motion was granted by the same judge who had originally granted the nonsuit judgment of October 14, 1980. The granted nunc pro tunc judgment, which is the subject of this appeal, corrects the nonsuit judgment of October 14, 1980 to read “without prejudice” as had been originally requested in appellee’s September 18, 1980 motion for nonsuit.

The record before us consists of a statement of facts of the nunc pro tunc hearing only and the transcript. The statement of facts contains no testimony, but only the arguments of counsel. Since no findings of facts and conclusions of law were requested or filed, this court must affirm the judgment if it can be sustained on any reasonable theory supported by the evidence and authorized by law. Lassiter v. Bliss, 559 S.W.2d 353, 358 (Tex.1977), rev’d in part on other grounds, Cherne Indus., Inc. v. Magallanes, 763 S.W.2d 768 (Tex.1989).

NONSUIT

[T]he granting of a nonsuit is merely ministerial, ... a plaintiff’s right to non-suit of its own action exists at the moment a motion is filed, ... the only requirement is the mere filing of the motion with the clerk of the court, ... [and] [a] trial court is without authority to nonsuit parties without a motion for non-suit of those parties by the plaintiff.

Shadowbrook Apartments v. Abu-Ahmad, 783 S.W.2d 210, 211 (Tex.1990).

“It is elementary that a dismissal is in no way an adjudication of the rights of parties; it merely places the parties in the position that they were in before the court’s jurisdiction was invoked just as if the suit had never been brought.” Crofts v. Court of Civil Appeals, 362 S.W.2d 101, 104 (Tex.1962). However, “it is well established that a dismissal with prejudice functions as a final determination on the merits.” Mossier v. Shields, 818 S.W.2d 752, 754 (Tex.1991).

NUNC PRO TUNC

After the trial court loses jurisdiction over the judgment, it can only correct clerical errors made in the entering of a final judgment. However, the trial court may not correct a judicial error which occurs in the rendering as opposed to the entering of a judgment. Escobar v. Escobar, 711 S.W.2d 230, 231 (Tex.1986). Clerical errors are corrected by the nunc pro tunc procedure outlined in Texas Rules of Civil Procedure 316. Although it is correct that whether an error in a judgment is judicial or clerical on appeal is a question of law, what judgment the trial court actually rendered initially is a question of fact for the trial court, and it is only after the trial court makes a factual determination of what it actually rendered that the judicial or clerical question becomes a question of law on appeal. Id. at 232. Thereafter, “[a]ppellate courts may only review for no [485]*485evidence and factual insufficiency of the evidence the trial court’s factual determination on whether a judgment has been rendered,” and may not substitute their judgment for the judgment of the trial court in this respect. Id.

An application for entry of a judgment nunc pro tunc requires the trial court to determine what the facts were at the time the original judgment was rendered, ... [a] judgment nunc pro tunc should be granted if the evidence is clear and convincing that a clerical error was made, ... [and] [e]vidence may be in the form of oral testimony of witnesses, written documents, the court’s docket, and the judge’s personal recollection.

Pruet v. Coastal States Trading, Inc., 715 S.W.2d 702, 705 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1986, no writ). Further, “if [the trial judge] corrects the judgment nunc pro tunc, a presumption arises that his personal recollection supports the finding of clerical error.” Id. Moreover, recitations in a nunc pro tunc judgment alone may:

provide sufficient evidence that the court relied upon its recollection of the facts at the time the original judgment was rendered, [that] [s]uch recollection raises the presumption of the court’s finding that clerical error had occurred in the entry of the [judgment], and that the nunc pro tunc judgment correctly reflects the judgment rendered.

Id.

NO EVIDENCE

In considering a “no evidence” or legal sufficiency point, we consider only the evidence favorable to the decision of the trier of fact and disregard all evidence and inferences to the contrary. Davis v. City of San Antonio, 752 S.W.2d 518, 522 (Tex.1988); Garza v. Alviar, 395 S.W.2d 821, 824 (Tex.1965).

No findings of facts or conclusions of law having been requested or filed, we must affirm the judgment if it can be sustained on any reasonable theory supported by the evidence and authorized by law. Lassiter, 559 S.W.2d at 358. All necessary findings to support the judgment must also be considered as having been impliedly found by the trial court. Carter v. William Sommerville & Son, Inc., 584 S.W.2d 274, 276 (Tex.1979).

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Thompson v. Texas Department of Human Resources
859 S.W.2d 482 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1993)

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859 S.W.2d 482, 1993 WL 231678, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thompson-v-texas-department-of-human-resources-texapp-1993.