Court Opinion

ID: 9659954
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 21:59:25.259018+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:14:13.363437
License: Public Domain

OPINION ON MOTION FOR REHEARING
GREEN, Justice.
On motion for rehearing, Castaneda challenges only our holding that GM and Stone did not waive their assertion of improper venue. We overrule the motion for rehearing.
The entirety of Castaneda’s argument on rehearing rests on her claim that we are required to test the trial court’s implied finding that GM and Stone waived their venue rights by traditional “no evidence” analysis. The case cited by Castaneda for this proposition, however, fails to support her claim; rather, the case refers to the standard of review of a trial court’s venue determination. See Ford Motor Co. v. Miles, 967 S.W.2d 377, 380 (Tex.1998).
We believe the correct standard of review of a trial court’s determination of waiver is abuse of discretion. See Walker v. Packer, 827 S.W.2d 833, 839-40 (Tex.1992). Whether a waiver has occurred involves both factual determinations and legal conclusions. When a trial court decides a matter involving both factual and legal components, Texas courts generally employ the abuse of discretion standard. See Pony Express Courier Corp. v. Morris, 921 S.W.2d 817, 820 (Tex. App. — San Antonio 1996, no writ). When applying the factual component of the standard, an abuse of discretion is shown only if, on the evidence before it, the trial court could reasonably have reached only one decision. See Walker, 827 S.W.2d at 839-840.
“Waiver is an intentional relinquishment of a known right or intentional conduct inconsistent with claiming that right.” Shepherd v. Ledford, 962 S.W.2d 28, 36 (Tex.1998) (Hecht, J., concurring and dissenting) (quoting Sun Exploration & Prod. Co. v. Benton, 728 S.W.2d 35, 37 (Tex.1987)). “[W]aiver must be clearly established by facts or circumstances showing an intention by one party to waive and an understanding to that effect by the other.” Id.
No reasonable view of the record in this case supports a finding of an intention on GM’s or Stone’s part to waive their right to proper venue. To the contrary, the record shows they consistently insisted on their right to try the case in a county of proper venue. The fact that the hearing on the motions to transfer venue was not conducted until a considerable time after their motions were filed does not necessarily imply that they were dilatory or acting inconsistently with their venue rights. See Safety-Kleen Corp. v. Garcia, 945 S.W.2d 268, 269 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 1997, no writ). To the extent the trial court may have denied GM’s and Stone’s motions to transfer venue on the basis of waiver, it was an abuse of discretion.
The motion for rehearing is overruled.