June 29, 2024
Dearly Beloved:
A Texas Supreme Court opinion on rehearing, following an opinion last June 30 on the merits, not only included a lively majority, concurrence, dissent discussion about whether the Court was altering Casteel, it also issued an error preservation decision yesterday concerning Casteel error.
Jury Charge (Casteel): “Of course, the appellant must also have preserved its complaint in the trial court by timely and specifically objecting to the error in the proposed broad-form jury charge…. Here, KC Southern properly preserved its complaint by objecting to the trial court’s broad-form question, arguing that it could permit the jury to find negligence on an invalid liability theory. It also tendered a proposed question that included two blanks for the jury to separately determine whether liability in negligence arose from the humped crossing or the missing yield sign.” Horton v. Kan. City S. Ry. Co., No. 21-0769, __ WL ___, *__, 2024 Tex. LEXIS 547, at *45 n.30 (June 28, 2024)
NOTE: This is an opinion on rehearing, following the issuance of an opinion on the merits by the Court last June 30, 2023. It is beyond this blog to delve into the countervailing discussions in the majority, the concurrence, and the dissent on harmful error and whether this case significantly changes the Casteel doctrine. But you should read those opinions.
All for now. Y’all have a good weekend.
Yours, Steve Hayes
shayes@stevehayeslaw.com; 817/371-8759; www.stevehayeslaw.com