In its orders this week, the Texas Supreme Court issued four new opinions and granted review in three cases. Click here to read the order list.
Here are the four new opinions:
1. Texas Dep't of Ins. v. American Nat'l Ins. Co. -- The court held that stop-loss policies for self-funded health-benefit plans are direct insurance subject to state regulation.
2. In re M.P.A. -- This is a habeas proceeding in a juvenile-delinquency case. The court held that false testimony from a state expert witness entitled the petitioner to a new sentencing hearing. The petitioner was not entitled to relief on his claims of actual innocence and ineffective assistance of counsel.
3. In re Allen -- In this mandamus case, the court held that the petitioner was entitled to seek compensation from the state for being wrongfully imprisoned.
4. Andrade v. Venable -- The court held that Venable had no standing to complain that the Dallas County election ballot should not identify candidates by party or give voters the option to vote a straight party-line ticket.
Click here to access the four opinions.
The three cases in which the court granted review are as follows:
1. Brookshire Bros., Ltd. v. Aldridge -- In this slip-and-fall case, a key issue is the propriety of a spoliation instruction that dealt with the grocery store's failure to retain a longer length of video from the store's security camera. The store had preserved only 8 minutes right before and after the plaintiff fell.
2. In re Blair -- This case involves a currently incarcerated convict's request for compensation for having wrongfully served time earlier for a murder conviction.
3. Tracfone Wireless, Inc. v. Virgin Mobile USA, L.P. -- The question in this case is whether a prepaid wireless-telephone service must pay the statutory fee that funds the statewide 911 service for cell phones.
-- Scott Stolley, Thompson & Knight