Court Opinion

ID: 9668122
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 02:03:15.929993+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:43.148055
License: Public Domain

Dissenting Opinion by
Justice RODRIGUEZ.
I respectfully dissent from the Court’s opinion because the majority, in concluding there is legally sufficient evidence to support the verdict, makes an inference contrary to the undisputed evidence.
When considering a no-evidence point, the court must review the evidence in a light most favorable to the verdict, making every reasonable inference in its favor. See Formosa Plastics v. Presidio Engrs., 960 S.W.2d 41, 48 (Tex.1998). Though the Texas Supreme Court has often said that a court “must disregard all evidence that is contrary to a jury finding in performing a no-evidence review, that is not to say that courts must disregard undisputed evidence that allows of only one logical inference.” Universe Life Ins. Co. v. Giles, 950 S.W.2d 48, 73-74 (Tex.1997); Provident Am. Ins. Co. v. Castaneda, 988 S.W.2d 189, 206-07 (Tex.1998) (Gonzalez, J. dissenting) (there are circumstances in which courts must consider evidence contrary to the verdict in a legal sufficiency review); see Dow Chem. Co. v. Francis, 46 S.W.3d 237, 241 (Tex.2001) (court must first examine record for evidence supporting verdict, ignoring all evidence to the contrary; if there is no such evidence, the court then examines the entire record to see if the contrary finding is established as a matter of law). A no-evidence point may only be sustained when the record discloses one of the following: (1) a complete absence of evidence of a vital fact; (2) the court is barred by rules of law or evidence from giving weight *486to the only evidence offered to prove a vital fact; (3) the evidence offered to prove a vital fact is no more than a mere scintilla of evidence; or (4) the evidence establishes conclusively the opposite of a vital fact. See Juliette Fowler Homes, Inc. v. Welch Assocs., 793 S.W.2d 660, 666 n. 9 (Tex.1990) (citing Robert W. Calvert, “No Evidence” and “Insufficient Evidence” Points of Error, 38 Tex. L.Rev. 361, 362-63 (I960)); M. Rivas Enterprises, Inc. v. Gaytan, 24 S.W.3d 402, 404 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 2000, pet. denied). Obviously, in the fourth situation, “it is impossible to conclusively establish the opposite of a vital fact without considering evidence contrary to the verdict.” Castaneda, 988 S.W.2d at 206 (Gonzalez, J. dissenting).
In the present case, the majority, by disregarding the evidence contrary to the verdict, makes an unsustainable inference in light of undisputed evidence to the contrary.
As noted by the majority, Miller testified he noticed that boxes were placed on the stairway as he ascended the stairs. He also noticed the stairs seemed “slippery or slick.” Though the majority acknowledges Miller noticed the stairs were slippery, it maintains that because he did not notice this condition until half-way up the stairs, there is some evidence he did not have actual knowledge of the dangerous condition. It is undisputed, however, that Miller had already observed both the slickness of the stairs and the presence of the boxes along the stairway when he began to descend the stairs. Thus, the evidence is uncontradieted that, at the time his injury occurred, Miller was aware the stairs were slick and that they were partially obstructed with boxes. Thus, the evidence conclusively establishes Miller had actual knowledge of the dangerous condition.
The majority further contends there is some evidence that Miller did not have knowledge of the dangerous condition in that “he did not notice that the handrail was blocked by the boxes until he was coming down the stairway.” According to the majority, the jury could have reasonably inferred “that Miller did not comprehend the fact that the stairway was ‘unreasonably’ dangerous until the moment he fell-when he was forced to release the handrail at the moment the stairs became slippery and that his pathway was obstructed by a box.” The majority’s inference, however, is contrary to the undisputed evidence in the record that Miller was aware of the slickness of the stairs and the presence of the boxes along the stairs before attempting to descend them.
Miller testified he could not get to the handrail because it was blocked. This was probably about the midway point on the stairs. Miller did not testify that he was not aware of the danger of having to release the handrail to get around the boxes when he began descending the stairs.
The majority also notes that when asked if he recognized that the slippery stairs and boxes created a hazard for getting up the stairs, Miller answered, “[w]e didn’t think of it that way then, no, sir.” The majority, however, omits testimony following that question and answer in which Miller testified as follows:
Q. Okay. I would like an answer to my question please, Mr. Miller. Despite the fact that you are a trained professional whose number one responsibility, you have told us, is your own personal safety, you did not take any action to remove the boxes or to ask that the stairs be cleaned or anything, did you?
A. No, sir.
Q. You took a chance, didn’t you?
A. Yes, sir, to do one little job.
Q. You took a chance, didn’t you?
*487A. Yes, sir.
The majority’s inference that Miller did not appreciate the chance of harm and the gravity of harm is contrary to Miller’s direct testimony. I do not believe that, in order to find the existence of some evidence in a no evidence review, a court of appeals should make an inference that ignores the existence of undisputed evidence directly to the contrary. See Giles, 950 S.W.2d at 73-74.
I would hold Miller failed to present any evidence he did not have actual knowledge of the dangerous condition, to wit, a slick stairway with boxes stacked on it. Because Miller failed to prove an element of his cause of action as set forth in the jury charge, I would hold the trial court did not eiT in granting judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
Retired Chief Justice ROBERT J. SEERDEN and Justice ERRLINDA CASTILLO join in this dissenting opinion.