Court Opinion

ID: 9766725
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 04:57:15.42848+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:25.221117
License: Public Domain

UTTER, Justice,
concurring.
I am compelled to concur in the result reached by the majority based upon the Supreme Court’s ruling in Downer v. Aquamarine Operators Inc., 701 S.W.2d 238 (Tex.1985), representing the current state of the law in Texas concerning sanctions for discovery abuse.
My quarrel is not with the outcome of this case, but rather is with the vexing nature by which courts of appeals are forced to review the imposition of discovery sanctions.
The majority states that “[t]he Supreme Court has given appellate courts clear instructions in this regard.” I strongly disagree.
In Downer, the Supreme Court clearly enunciated a two-part test for reviewing discovery sanctions: (1) whether the applicable rule of civil procedure authorizes the trial court to impose the sanction it did, and (2) whether the exercise of that authority constituted an abuse of discretion. Id. at 240.
In order to determine whether the trial court had authority, we look to the language of the rules of civil procedure concerning sanctions for discovery abuse. Id. at 241. If the sanction is authorized by the rule, we then move on to the second prong of the test; whether the trial court abused its discretion in imposing the authorized sanction.
The Supreme Court stated that the test for abuse of discretion “is a question of whether the court acted without reference to any guiding rules and principles.” Id. at 241-2. The Court went on to state that in order “[t]o determine the trial judge’s guiding rules and principles in imposing sanctions for discovery abuse, we must look to the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure....” Id. at 242. In my opinion, this is circular reasoning. The second prong of the test leads us back to the first prong. This, in effect, says to courts of appeals that as long as the particular sanction imposed by the trial court was authorized by the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, there can never be an abuse of discretion in imposing it. If this is truly the test, why not clearly say so?
Furthermore, the Supreme Court equates acting “without reference to any guiding rules and principles” with “arbitrary and unreasonable” action. Id. at 242. This can mean nothing other than if the trial court acts within the “guiding rules and principles” contained in the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, then it can never be held to have acted arbitrarily or unreasonably.
If it is possible to have an abuse of discretion with the imposition of an authorized discovery sanction, how are we to make such a determination? I can glean no guidelines from Downer.