Ruth Wheeler v. John Collier Hinson

TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS, THIRD DISTRICT, AT AUSTIN

NO. 03-11-00067-CV

Ruth Wheeler, Appellant v.

John Collier Hinson, Appellee

FROM COUNTY COURT AT LAW NO. 1 OF TRAVIS COUNTY

NO. C-1-CV-10-00825, HONORABLE J. DAVID PHILLIPS, JUDGE PRESIDING

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appellant Ruth Wheeler filed a notice of appeal of a county court at law judgment in favor of appellee John Collier Hinson. According to Wheeler, the cause originated from a small claims proceeding in Travis County Justice Court, which rendered judgment in her favor on March 15, 2005. The decision was then appealed to Travis County Court at Law No. 2 for a trial de novo, see Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 28.053(b) (West Supp. 2010), resulting in a default judgment in Hinson’s favor. Wheeler asserts that she filed a bill of review in Travis County Court at Law No. 1, which again found for Hinson.1

The underlying case was filed in March 2005. At that time, there was no statutory provision extending our appellate jurisdiction to suits originating in small claims court. See Act of May 17, 1985, 69th Leg., R.S., ch. 480, § 1, 1985 Tex. Gen. Laws 1721, 1816 (amended 2009). The Texas Supreme Court has held that, under that version of the statute, courts of appeals lacked jurisdiction over such appeals. See Sultan v. Matthew, 178 S.W.3d 747, 749-50 (Tex. 2005). The government code was amended in 2009 to confer jurisdiction on appellate courts to review a county court at law’s judgment following de novo appeal from a small claims court, but this amendment was expressly made to apply only in actions filed on or after the effective date of the Act, September 1, 2009. See Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. § 28.053(d) (West Supp. 2010). Therefore, we lack jurisdiction to consider the merits of Wheeler’s appeal. Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. See Sultan, 178 S.W.3d at 752-53.

J. Woodfin Jones, Chief Justice Before Chief Justice Jones, Justices Henson and Goodwin

Dismissed for Want of Jurisdiction

Filed: May 19, 2011