Second Court of Appeals

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of August 15, 2022.

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.

Allison Publ’ns, LLC v. Doe, No. 02-21-00377-CV (Aug. 18, 2022) (Walker, J., joined by Birdwell, J., and Ruben Gonzalez, Jr., J. (Sitting by Assignment)).

Held: A defendant whose identity is wholly unknown to the trial court, the opposing party, and her own attorney cannot obtain a dismissal through a TCPA Section 27.003 motion to dismiss because the trial court cannot determine whether it has subject matter jurisdiction to consider the matter.

Williams v. State, No. 02-21-00054-CR (Aug. 18, 2022) (Walker, J., joined by Sudderth, C.J., and Kerr, J.).

Held:  When––after an abatement and warnings––retained counsel fails to file a brief, the appellate court may review the entire appellate record to determine if fundamental error exists.  See Tex. R. App. P. 38.8(b)(4).  Having done so and finding no fundamental error, this court affirmed the trial court’s judgment.