Justia Texas Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Relator sought compensation from the state following the Texas Court of Appeals' grant of habeas relief. Under the Tim Cole Act, Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 103.001(a), a wrongfully imprisoned person could seek compensation from the state for the period of wrongful imprisonment. The court conditionally granted the petition for mandamus and instructed the Comptroller to comply and compensate relator under the terms of the Act where the Court of Criminal Appeals granted habeas relief on a Schlup v. Delo claim and relator's order clearly indicated that relief was based on actual innocence. View "In re Allen" on Justia Law

This case arose when respondent was arrested by a state trooper for driving while intoxicated. At issue was whether a peace officer's arrest report must be excluded from evidence if not sworn as required by law. Because it was no less a criminal offense to make a false statement in a governmental record than it was to make one under oath, the court held that an officer's failure to swear to a report did not deprive it of the assurance of veracity or render it inadmissible. Consequently, the court reversed the court of appeals' judgment and remanded. View "Texas Dept. of Public Safety v. Caruana" on Justia Law

Relator was held in contempt of court and confined for perjuring himself during a deposition. At issue was whether a trial court could hold a litigant in contempt for perjury committed during a deposition and whether the court should exercise mandamus jurisdiction to provide a forum for a civil litigant who was deprived of liberty pursuant to a court's contempt order, and the Court of Criminal Appeals had declined to exercise its habeas jurisdiction. The court held that the trial court abused its discretion where such perjury did not obstruct the operation of the court. The court also held that relator had no adequate remedy by appeal where the underlying suit was civil in nature and the Court of Appeals declined to grant relator leave to file a habeas petition in that court. Accordingly, mandamus was the appropriate remedy to correct the trial court's abuse of discretion and the court conditionally granted relief.