Court Opinion

ID: 9647384
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 13:34:37.011657+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:11:48.691658
License: Public Domain

*231BLAIR REEVES, Justice2,
dissenting.
I agree with the majority that the trial court should have considered the evidence Steak & Ale tendered at the motion for new trial. I would hold the agreed judgment void as a matter of law, however, because Steak & Ale revoked the settlement agreement before judgment was rendered. Additionally, the judgment should not be enforced because it does not comply strictly with the agreement.
FACTS
During the trial on the merits, Annie Marie Leal sat in a wheelchair and acted' as if she was in constant and intense pain. Leal testified that as a result of her alleged injuries caused by the negligent acts of a Steak & Ale employee: (1) she cannot get out of her wheelchair without assistance; (2) she suffers constant, • excruciating pain; (3) she cannot walk without the use of a walker or personal assistance; (4) she cannot do her cooking, house cleaning, and other household chores; and (5) her dressing, bathing, and bathroom needs require her to use special equipment such as a raiser on the commode seat and tub bench for bathing.
Ms. Leal’s doctor, Dr. Stephen Early, testified that at “this point in time” (a week before trial) she was a partial paraplegic and, in his opinion, would not improve, with her condition deteriorating with time. Dr. Early estimated her future medical care would cost $2.2 million.
Dr. Apex Willingham, Medical Director at Warm Springs Rehabilitation Center, testified that Ms. Leal suffers from chronic pain that would require an ongoing rehabilitation program and, in time, would require attendant care. The doctor testified that Leal could not dress herself except while lying down or using adaptive equipment. Dr. Will-ingham further testified that Ms. Leal needed a wheelchair when she came for treatment, and that her condition had deteriorated since her release from Warm Springs Rehabilitation Center.
The testimony of Ms. Leal and her medical witnesses convinced Steak and Ale to settle.
One month later, a member of the legal staff of the firm representing Steak & Ale happened to see Ms. Leal walking normally, without apparent difficulty, in three-inch high heels. Steak & Ale hired a private investigator and videotaped Ms. Leal’s activities. These tapes show Ms. Leal walking normally without apparent difficulty, driving an unmodified automobile, shopping, and carrying a wash basket full of clothes. Not once during the five-day surveillance did any of the private investigators see Ms. Leal walk with the assistance of a cane, walker, or wheelchair. In fact, the only time Ms. Leal was observed limping was when she entered or left the Warm Springs Rehabilitation Center.
The following dialogue occurred at the settlement hearing on May 14, 1991:
Mr. MALONEY: And I would say to you, just listen to this. So that we have now asked the Court to approve a settlement in the total sum of $2. million_
THE COURT: You realize that once this judgment is signed and I approve it, everything else, it’s full, final and complete? ... I’ll approve the settlement.
MR. PLUNKETT: There is a confidentiality agreement among the parties, the attorneys. None of us will disclose it.
THE COURT: And I am not going to disclose it.
MR. MALONEY: And I think there should be. And confidentiality means we don’t discuss the sums that are terminated, and I think that’s in your best welfare, for a lot of reasons. And I really recommend that you keep it that way. In effect, what that means, the judge is saying, “Don’t discuss the terms of it.”
THE COURT: Okay.
(Emphasis Added).
On June 18, 1991, Steak & Ale contacted the attorneys for Ms. Leal and advised them Steak & Ale was revoking its consent to the *232settlement agreement. Less than 24 hours later the trial court entered a purported agreed judgment in favor of Leal for $2 million. Steak & Ale objected to the judgment on the basis that it had revoked the agreement, that it was not given reasonable notice of the judgment hearing, and that it wanted to present evidence of fraud perpetrated by Ms. Leal.
JUDGMENT
A party may revoke its consent to settle a case anytime before judgment is rendered. Samples Exterminators v. Samples, 640 S.W.2d 873, 874-75 (Tex.1982). Consequently, if the trial judge did not render judgment on May 14, Steak & Ale had the unequivocal right to withdraw from the settlement agreement.
Ms. Leal asserts that judgment was rendered on May 14th and, in support thereof, cites the trial judge’s statement at the June 19th hearing whereby the judge recalled that he had rendered judgment on May 14th.
The trial judge may have intended to render judgment on May 14th but he certainly did not announce a rendition. See Intercoastal Warehouse Corp. v. Clear Lake Nat’l Bank, 795 S.W.2d 294, 296 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th] Dist.1990, writ dism’d w.o.j.). The judge merely announced his approval of the settlement. When asked to approve the settlement for $2 million, the court admonished Ms. Leal that “once this judgment is signed and I approve it, everything else, it’s full, final and complete.” The court asked Ms. Leal, “And you want me to approve the settlement and sign the Judgment ?” The trial judge concluded, “I’ll approve the settlement. ” It is apparent to me that the judge was only approving the settlement while postponing rendition of judgment for a later date. His intention to render at some future time is no rendition. See Reese v. Piperi, 534 S.W.2d 329, 330 (Tex.1976).
Moreover, the judgment entered June 19th did not follow the conditions of the settlement agreement.
A final judgment which is founded upon a settlement agreement reached by the parties must be in strict or literal compliance with that agreement. Vickrey v. American Youth Camps, Inc., 532 S.W.2d 292, 292 (Tex.1976); Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. v. Auyon, 709 S.W.2d 698, 700 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1986, no writ). The court has no power to supply terms, provisions, or essential details not previously agreed to by the parties. Delta Drilling Co. v. Cruz, 707 S.W.2d 660, 669 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1986, writ refd n.r.e.). Where the judgment fails to conform' to the settlement agreement, the judgment will not be enforced. Delta Drilling Co., 707 S.W.2d at 669.
The parties’ settlement agreement neither stipulated that a judgment would be entered against Steak & Ale nor did the agreement stipulate Steak & Ale’s liability. It is obvious from the testimony that the parties contemplated either a take nothing judgment in favor of Steak & Ale or a dismissal. A monetary judgment could not be rendered under this settlement agreement. Additionally, the agreement required that the amount of the award could not be divulged. Consequently, the judgment could not disclose the amount of the settlement, but it did. Because the final judgment was not in strict or literal compliance with the agreement, it should not be enforced.
Upon revocation of the agreement before entry of judgment, the trial court was left with no other option than to set aside the agreed judgement. Ms. Leal’s recourse is governed by the law of contracts which must be determined in a separate suit. See Stewart v. Mathes, 528 S.W.2d 116, 118 (Tex.Civ.App.—Beaumont 1975, no writ). I am of the opinion that as a matter of law Steak & Ale revoked the settlement agreement prior to the rendition of the agreed judgment. Consequently, the judgment is void.
For these, reasons, I dissent.

. Assigned to this case by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas pursuant to Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 74.003(b) (Vernon 1988).