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Haygood v. Chandler10/31/2003
e imposition of sanctions against Nichols, Khoury, Bishop, and the Bishop firm. The trial court never ruled on these motions.
On June 27, 2002, the trial court signed an order granting summary judgment in favor of Nichols, Khoury, Bishop, the Nichols Firm, and the Bishop firm and ordered that the Association take nothing with regard to those defendants. The order also granted summary judgment in favor of Chandler on the Association's intentional infliction of emotional distress claim, but denied summary judgment on the malicious prosecution claim. Therefore, the only live claim remaining was the Association's malicious prosecution cause of action against Chandler.
On or about July 8, the Association's malicious prosecution case went to trial. On July 10, the jury returned its verdict and found that Chandler's conduct constituted malicious prosecution. The jury also found that the Association was entitled to $10,000.00 in punitive damages; however, the jury found that the Association was not entitled to any actual damages.
On July 23, Chandler filed a "Motion for Take-Nothing Judgment in Disregard of Jury Findings", contending that the $10,000.00 award of punitive damages must be set aside because the jury did not award any actual damages. The Association filed a response to the motion on July 30. That same day, the trial court signed a take-nothing judgment in favor of Chandler, ordering that the Association take nothing from the suit against Chandler.
The Association filed a notice of appeal on August 26. On appeal, the Association raises five issues, arguing 1) a meritorious defendant is not limited to seeking sanctions under rule 13 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure against a plaintiff in previous litigation and may assert a cause of action against that plaintiff for malicious prosecution, 2) the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Nichols, Khoury, the Nichols firm, Bishop, and the Bishop firm, 3) the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to Chandler on the Association's intentional infliction of emotional distress claim, 4) the trial court erred in granting a take-nothing judgment in favor of Chandler, and 5) the trial court erred in refusing to hear and grant the Association's motions to compel Nichols, Khoury, the Nichols firm, Bishop, and the Bishop firm to produce documents in response to requests for production.
Review of the Trial Court's Grant of Summary Judgment
In his first through third issues, the Association contends that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Nichols, Khoury, the Nichols firm, Bishop, and the Bishop firm on all of the Association's causes of action. The Association also argues that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Chandler with respect to its intentional infliction of emotional distress claim.
Standard of Review
In reviewing a traditional motion for summary judgment, this court must apply the standards established in Nixon v. Mr. Property Management Co., 690 S.W.2d 546, 548-49 (Tex.1985), which are:
1. The movant for summary judgment has the burden of showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law;
2. In deciding whether there is a disputed material fact issue precluding summary judgment, evidence favorable to the non-movant will be taken as true;
3. Every reasonable inference must be indulged in favor of the non-movant and any doubts resolved in its favor.
See Nixon, 690 S.W.2d at 548-49. For a party to prevail on a motion for summary judgment, he must conclusively es
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