This Week's Supreme Court Orders & Opinions
Today's Texas Supreme Court orders show that last week's prediction of at least four opinions wasn't totally off base.
In Norris v. Thomas, on a certified question from the Fifth Circuit, the Court determined that a houseboat did not qualify for the Texas Constitution's homestead exemption because it is a moveable chattel that does not rest "on the land," as the exemption requires. Justice O'Neill dissented, along with Justices Wainwright, Brister, and Medina.
In Wachovia Bank v. Gilliam, a restricted appeal, the Court vacated a default judgment because the court of appeals erroneously presumed that substituted service complied with statutes requiring suit papers to be forwarded to the defendant's "home office" or "principal office."
In State Farm Life Insurance Co. v. Martinez, the Court held that statutory penalties for failing to timely pay policy proceeds were properly imposed before the insurer sought interpleader, but were improper after that. The Court further held that allowing the beneficiary to recover prejudgment interest as well as interest accrued while the proceeds were in the trial court's registry would be an imermissible double recovery.
In Jack in the Box, Inc. v. Skiles, the Court held the an employer had no duty to warn its employee, a truck driver injured when he fell into a trailer after using a ladder to climb over an inoperable lift gate, because the employee had been trained to handle situations when the lift would not operate and because the danger was common and obvious.
In City of San Antonio v. TPLP Office Park Properties, the Court held that the City's decision to close a driveway from a residential street to an office development accessible from other points was a valid exercise of its police powers, that the City could not be estopped from closing the driveway (which it had previously approved), and that that the City did not "take" from the development by diverting traffic from other driveways into the office park.
