Second Court of Appeals

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of October 31, 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.

Finley v. State, No. 02-21-00112-CR (Nov. 3, 2022) (op. on reh’g) (Walker, J., joined by Kerr and Bassel, JJ.).

 Held:  The trial court erred in allowing the complaining witness to testify while wearing a mask over her mouth and nose when there were no findings sufficient to show why it was necessary for that particular witness to do so in violation of Appellant’s right to face-to-face confrontation, and such error was not harmless. 

In re K.C., No. 02-22-00167-CV (Nov. 3, 2022) (Sudderth, C.J., joined by Birdwell and Bassel, JJ.).

Held:  The trial court lost jurisdiction, and the suit was dismissed automatically under Family Code Section 263.401, when the extension order entered pursuant to the Texas Supreme Court’s First Emergency Order Regarding the COVID-19 State of Disaster omitted either a date certain or a time frame by which a new dismissal date could be calculated and a subsequent extension order was rendered too late and thus could not revive jurisdiction that had already been lost.