James v. Valdez
James v. Valdez
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
This is an appeal from the trial court’s order dismissing Terry Ray James’s lawsuit for the alleged deprivation of his rights under the Texas and U.S. constitutions. Representing himself without an attorney, James complains that the trial court abused its discretion in (1) permitting appellee Lupe Valdez’s untimely objection to mediation, (2) dismissing the Dallas County Sheriffs Office from the lawsuit after James dismissed Valdez as a defendant, and (3) not construing James’s pleadings liberally. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal order.
I.
Lupe Valdez is the Sheriff of Dallas County. James filed his original petition against Valdez and the Dallas County Sheriffs Department on March 4, 2011.
On August 3, 2011, James filed “Plaintiffs First Amended Suit for Deprivation of Rights.” The style of the amended pleading was “TERRY RAY JAMES v. LUPE VALDEZ, et al,” and requested service on Valdez only.
II.
In his first issue, James complains about the trial court allowing Valdez’s allegedly untimely objection to court-ordered mediation. The trial court’s dismissal order was in no way related to the objection to mediation. And James has provided no discussion, analysis, or authority with respect to how the alleged error caused rendition of an improper judgment. No judgment may be reversed on appeal on the ground that the trial court made an error of law unless such error probably caused rendition of an improper judgment. See Tex.R.App. P. 44.1(a)(1). Because James has failed to demonstrate any reversible error in connection with this complaint, we resolve his first issue against him.
In his second and third issues, James challenges the trial court’s dismissal of his lawsuit after he agreed to the dismissal of Valdez and asserts his action was arbitrarily dismissed because his pleadings, when liberally construed, allege a viable cause of action. He further contends that he sought to sue the Dallas County Sheriffs Office after Valdez was dismissed from the suit. After reviewing the record and the applicable legal authority, we conclude James’s arguments are without merit.
James’s live pleading at the time of the trial court’s dismissal was “Plaintiffs First Amended Suit for Deprivation of Rights.” This pleading named and requested service on Lupe Valdez as the only defendant in the lawsuit. Valdez moved for dismissal based on section 101.106(f) of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Tex.
In his reply brief, James contends for the first time that his “et al” designation in the style of his live pleading should be construed as naming Dallas County as a defendant. We note that a party may not raise a new issue in a reply brief. Private Mini Storage Realty, L.P. v. Larry F. Smith, Inc., 304 S.W.3d 854, 859 (Tex.App.-Dallas 2010, no pet.). Consequently, this argument is not properly before us for consideration. Id. Moreover, even if we were to consider the argument, James has provided no authority, and we have found none, to support his position.
Having concluded that James has failed to establish any reversible error with respect to his complaints, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal order.
. James requested service of the petition on Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.
. James apparently amended his petition to have citation served on Valdez after a motion to quash was filed by the attorney general.
. This order was entitled “Order Granting Defendant, Lupe Valdez, Sheriff of Dallas County’s Unopposed First Amended Motion To Dismiss.”
.The order did not indicate whether the trial court granted or denied Valdez’s objection.
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