Second Court of Appeals

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of April 19, 2021.

NOTE: Summaries are prepared by the court's staff attorneys and law clerks for public information only and reflect his or her interpretation alone of the facts and legal issues. The summaries are not part of the court's opinion in the case and should not be cited to, quoted, or relied upon as the opinion of the court.

Links to full text of opinions (PDF version) can be accessed by clicking the cause number.

Responsive Education Sols. v. Kirschner, No. 02-21-00001-CV (Apr. 22, 2021) (Sudderth, C.J., joined by Kerr and Womack, JJ.).

Held:  The trial court erred by denying Appellant’s plea to the jurisdiction on the 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim brought by Appellee as next friend of her minor child because, based on Appellee’s pleadings, exhaustion of administrative remedies under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act was required by the test set out by the United States Supreme Court in Fry v. Napoleon Community Schools, 137 S. Ct. 743 (2017).

James v. State, No. 02-19-00427-CR (Apr. 22, 2021) (Wallach, J., joined by Sudderth, C.J., and Womack, J.).

Held: The trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting evidence of Appellant’s extraneous offenses because the evidence showed the nature of the relationship of Appellant and the complainant and its probative value was not substantially outweighed by a danger of unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, misleading the jury, undue delay, or needlessly presenting cumulative evidence. The trial court likewise did not abuse its discretion by allowing the vice president of nonresidential services at Safe Haven to testify as an expert. Her training and experience qualified her as a domestic-violence expert, and her testimony about the cycle of violence was relevant to help the jury understand the relationship of Appellant and the complainant and the counterintuitive actions of the complainant.