Court Opinion

ID: 9767635
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 05:22:54.933325+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:32.115430
License: Public Domain

PHILLIPS, Chief Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. Based on the authorities cited in the fifth and sixth paragraphs of Justice Spears’ dissent, I would affirm the judgment of the court of appeals.
I cannot, however, join in the remainder of Justice Spears’ opinion. The majority’s opinion has overruled a number of prior decisions by applying the “no evidence” test in a new manner in condemnation cases. That action, in my opinion, in no way compromises the constitutionally guaranteed right of trial by jury. To my knowledge, no member of this court has previously ever suggested that the right of trial by jury limits the authority of an appellate court to reverse a judgment when the jury’s verdict is not supported by any evidence.
Finally, I strongly concur in the majority’s suggestion that condemnation cases should, in the future, be submitted broadly under TEX.R.CIV.P. 277. The broad submission of this case would have both avoided the present controversy and allowed the jury to reach the correct result.