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### DISS ENT ING OP INION No . 0 4- 09 -0 01 32 -C V THE CIT Y OF LAREDO , Appellant
v. Maria A lejandro RE YE S , I ndividually and As Repr esentative of the Estate of Ka

ren Rey es, a/k/a K are n Vaque ra, D ece ased, Appellee Fr om the 341st J udicial District Court, Webb County , Texas

Trial Court No. 2008CVQ000276-D 3 Honora ble Elma Ter esa Salinas Ende r, Judge Pre siding Opinion by : Sandee B ry an Mar ion, J ustice Dissenting opinion: Steven C. Hilbig, Justi ce Sitt ing: Sandee B ry an Mar ion, J ustice

Phy lis J . Speedlin, J ustice Steven C. Hilbig, Just ice Deliver ed and F iled: September 9, 2009 I ag ree with the majority ’s conc lusion that the water on Ce ntury Boule vard w as not a spec ial defe ct and that the City

is imm une fr om suit for an y fa i l u re o n i ts part to war n of the low water crossing or install safety

features at the c rossing
. Howeve r, I respe ctfully

dissent beca

use I do not believe Sanc hez’s aff

idavit raises a

fac t issue as to the City ’s ac tual k n o wl ed ge that a da ng erous condition exis ted on C entury Boule vard at the time of the ac cident. In City of Cor sic an a v . S

te war t ,04

- 09

- 00 13 2- CV

- 2- t h e T ex as S u

p re m e C o u rt h el d

a c i t y ’s k n o w l ed ge o f p re v i o u s fl o o d s o n a r o ad wa y cr o s s i n g, knowledg e of a

crossing flooded

o ne mile upstream, and knowledg e of inc lement weather in the a rea , was not ac tual knowledg e that the c rossing from which se vera l individuals we re swept aw ay was flooded at the time the ac cident occ urre d. 249 S.W .3d 412, 415 (Tex. 2008). Her e, the City ’s knowledg e, base d on Sanchez’s 911 calls, that “the water in Chacon Cree k was rising and that ther e was g oing to be a proble m with ca rs getting sw ept awa y ” esta blished, at most, constructive knowledg e that a da

ng erous c ondition could develop over t i me, which is insufficie nt for ac tual knowledg e. See id. Although the majority acc urate ly quotes from Sanchez’s aff idavit that he had a clear view of t he cree k wher e the road crosses it , nowher e in the affidavit does Sanche z st ate he ob se rv e d w a te r o n o r o ve r C e ntu ry B ou le va rd wh e n h e c a lle d 91 1. As the po rt ion of the a ff ida vit qu ote d b y the ma jor ity de mon str a te s, Sanc he z av e rr e d o nly that “th e re wa s g oin g to b e a pr ob le m” when he made his orig inal 911 call. The only rea sonable infe renc e fr om this st atement is that the

“ pr ob le m” – d a ng e r t o th e pu bli c be c a us e of wate r r us hin g ov e r C e ntu

ry B ou le va rd – d id n ot e xist
a t th e tim e of

his c a ll. Th a t Sanc he z ob se rv e d a de br is lin e the ne xt d a y or e xpe ri e nc e d f

loo din g in his house “that nig ht” does not g ive rise to re asonable infere nce that water was ove r Century Boule vard at the time of the ac cident, or that the City was aware water was ove r the roa d, cre ating a dang erous c ondition at the time of the ac cident. See id. I t c a nn ot b e de te rm ine d f ro m th e a ff

ida vit when the r oad floode d, much less that it happene d befor e the a ccide nt or that the City knew a bout it, so as to even ra ise a fa ct issue on actua l know ledg e. Although Sanchez stated he called 911 f our or five mor e times “a s the night prog resse d,” one is le ft to spe culate as to w hen the ca lls occurr ed. I t w ou ld b e un re a so na

ble to i nf e r t he c a lls we re ma de pr ior

to a nd ne ar the tim e of

the a c c ide nt,04

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- 00 13 2- CV

- 3- which is nec essar

y for a ctual knowledg e. See id. at 414-15. And if the calls we re ma de a ft er the
acc ident, they

are irrele vant. See id. at 415.

“ [ T ] h e L e g i s l a tu r e r e qu i r e [ s ] t h a tt h e C i t y actually knowthat the cr ossing wa s flooded at the time of the ac cident.” Id. (empha sis added). H ere , as in City of Cor sicana , n ei t h er S an ch ez ’s af fi d av i t“n o r t h e i n fe re n ce s ar i s i n g t h er ef ro m ra i s e a fa ct qu es t i o n o n t h e C i t y ’s ac tu al kn o wl ed ge that a dang erous condition e x isted at or near the crossing at the time of the ac cident.” Id. Iwo uld hold Rey es did not raise a fac t issue reg ardingthe City ’s knowledg e of a dang erous c ondition.
Steven C. Hilbig, Just ice