In re Douglas

• Decision Date: 31 August 2010
• Docket Number: No. 01–08–00542–CV.,01–08–00542–CV.
• Citation: 333 S.W.3d 273
• Parties: In re Ralph O. DOUGLAS, Appellant.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

333 S.W.3d 273

In re Ralph O. DOUGLAS, Appellant.

No. 01–08–00542–CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Houston (1st Dist.).

Aug. 31, 2010.Rehearing Overruled Dec. 10, 2010.

Ralph O. Douglas, Rosharon, TX, pro se.Panel consists of Justices KEYES, SHARP, and MASSENGALE.

OPINION

EVELYN V. KEYES, Justice.

Appellant Ralph O. Douglas ¹ filed a petition for bill of review seeking to set aside a judgment entered against him in a breach of contract suit he filed against Jimmie and Christine Jones. Because he is an inmate and he filed an affidavit or unsworn declaration of inability to pay costs, Douglas' lawsuit was, and is, subject to Chapter 14 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, which addresses inmate litigation.² On May 23, 2008, the trial court issued orders (1) declaring Douglas a vexatious litigant under Chapter 11 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code and (2) dismissing his petition for bill of review pursuant to Chapter 14 of the Code as frivolous and malicious inmate litigation. Douglas filed a notice of appeal and an affidavit of inability to pay costs.

We affirm.

BACKGROUND

This case arises out a petition for bill of review filed by Douglas with respect to two consolidated cases he filed against the defendants in this case in 2001, Jimmie W. and Christine Jones. The trial court dismissed the petition for bill of review for want of prosecution; it declared Douglas a vexatious litigant under section 11.101 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, reciting his litigation history and observing that he had previously been declared a vexatious litigant; and it dismissed his appeal as a frivolous and malicious appeal brought by an inmate in violation of section 14.003 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code.

A. Proceedings

1. Douglas's criminal conviction

According to the trial court's order, incorporated in the record of this case, Jones, a person with an eighth grade education, was looking for a lender to help him avoid foreclosure on his home at 11515 Lockgate Lane in Houston, Texas.³ He contacted Douglas, who told him that he could assist him in obtaining a loan. While assisting Jones to fill out several “loan” forms, Douglas had Jones sign a warranty deed. Jones later testified that he did not want to sell his house, that he did not know what a warranty deed was, and that he would not have signed the deed if he had understood that Douglas intended to secure a loan in his own name using the Joneses' house as collateral. Subsequently, Douglas attempted to evict Jones and later deeded the property to another person.

In August 2002, a jury convicted Douglas of theft of property in the aggregate amount of between $1000 and $200,000 and, due to enhancement for a prior theft, sentenced him to life in prison and to a $10,000 fine. The Fourteenth Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment on August 29, 2002, and the Court of Criminal Appeals denied Douglas's petition for review. The defendants in the instant case, Jimmie W. Jones and Christine Jones, were victims of the theft for which Douglas is incarcerated.

2. Douglas's 2001 consolidated suits against the Joneses and 2004 appeal

The 127th Judicial District Court of Harris County became involved in Douglas's dispute with the Joneses in August, 2001, when, as an inmate in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice—Institutional Division (TDCJ), Douglas filed a pro se action in forma pauperis against the Joneses in trial court cause number 2001–43967. Jones subsequently filed a second case against the Joneses, No. 2001–47586, on September 17, 2001, and the trial court consolidated the cases. Douglas's petition indicated he was suing the Joneses for breach of contract and fraud regarding the property at “11515 Lockwood (sic)”. After determining that the United States Bankruptcy Court had already considered the contested issues between the parties, the 127th District Court “dismissed the cases with prejudice as to any further suit by Mr. Douglas against Jimmy W. and Christine Douglas” on August 12, 2004. On January 13, 2005, the Fourteenth Court of Appeals dismissed Douglas's appeal for want of prosecution.

3. Douglas's 2006 petition for bill of review of the consolidated cases

On June 19, 2006, Douglas filed a petition for bill of review in the trial court, seeking again to set aside the trial court's August 12, 2004 judgment. In his petition, Douglas contended he was entitled to a bill of review because he had a meritorious claim for breach of contract against the Joneses which he was prevented from raising in his 2004 attempted appeal of the consolidated cases due to official mistake, i.e., the district clerk's alleged failure to serve him a copy of the judgment. He also paid the filing fee of $197 and filed an affidavit of inability to pay costs. Douglas did not serve with citation the defendants named in his petition for bill of review. Therefore, they never entered an appearance in this case.

On October 4, 2006, Douglas filed “Plaintiff's No–Evidence Motion for Summary Judgment” in the district court, claiming that the trial court had held a hearing and had dismissed his August 27, 2001 petition against the Joneses on August 12, 2004 “for reasons unknown.” Douglas reiterated his claims of breach of contract against the Joneses, alleged that adequate time for discovery had passed, and sought summary judgment against them.

On January 31, 2007, the trial court notified Douglas that his bill of review was scheduled for dismissal for want of prosecution on March 2, 2007 unless he could show good cause why it should be retained. The notice stated, “This case is eligible because our records indicate that the referenced cause has no service and or no answer(s).”

On February 8, 2007, after receiving the January 31, 2007 notice from the district court, Douglas filed a “Motion to Retain” in that court, stating that on receiving his declaration in forma pauperis for the filing of the bill of review, “the district clerk inadvertently did not include the fee for the constable to serve defendants with the citation.” He attached an inmate's declaration and asked the court to allow him “to request the clerk to serve defendants the citation” and to retain the cause on its docket.

On April 22, 2008, the trial court again sent a notice to Douglas stating that, on May 16, 2008, it would sua sponte consider dismissing his case “for want of prosecution or under Chapter 14 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code” and that “[a]t that time, the Court will also determine whether Ralph O. Douglas, the plaintiff in this matter, should be declared a vexatious litigant pursuant to Chapter 11 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code.”

On May 23, 2008, the trial court issued orders (1) dismissing Douglas's cause of action as “malicious, frivolous, without basis in law and ... brought for the purpose of harassing the defendants” and, therefore, subject to dismissal under Chapter 14 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, which prohibits the filing of such suits by inmates who have filed affidavits of indigency, and (2) finding him to be a vexatious litigant and prohibiting him from filing any new pro se litigation in Harris County, Texas without first being granted permission to file by the local administrative judge. The order notified him that he was “subject to punishment by contempt if he fails to obey this order.”

B. The Trial Court's Order Appealed From

1. The trial court's order finding Douglas to be a vexatious litigant

The trial court's order finding Douglas to be a vexatious litigant was issued pursuant to the court's authority under Chapter 11 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code to declare a litigant vexatious on its own motion. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 11.101 (Vernon 2002). The order states:

On January 13, 2005, the Fourteenth Court of Appeals dismissed Mr. Douglas's appeal for want of prosecution. Not to be deterred, Mr. Douglas filed this suit against Jimmie and Christine Jones, on June 19, 2006.

It has come to the Court's attention that, since his conviction, Mr. Douglas has also sued his other victims—Linda Porter, Hattie Mae Willis, and Vernon King[—]multiple times. He has also sued the title company, American Title Company, and the lending institutions he involved in his schemes, Washington Mutual, Anson Financial, Inc., Quaker Home Financial Services, Bank of America, and Unity National Bank. According to Westlaw, Mr. Douglas has filed at least nineteen appeals and mandamuses involving his victims and these assorted lending institutions since 2003. Once he became an inmate, Douglas has continuously filed malicious, frivolous law suits against his victims, which have been repeatedly determined to have no basis in law. The Court cannot allow litigants to abuse the judicial system and harass their victims from the security of a prison cell. The Court Finds that Douglas is such a litigant and his conduct is subject to review and action by this Court.

Having noted that it had the authority on the defendant's motion or sua sponte to designate a party as a vexatious litigant under section 11.101 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, the court referenced the standard for a court's finding a person to be a vexatious litigant under section 11.054 of the Code, namely “if there is not a reasonable probability that he will prevail in litigation and the party has a history of filing or repeatedly re-litigating unsuccessful or frivolous suits.” See id. § 11.054 (Vernon 2002). As grounds for its determination that there was not a reasonable probability that Douglas would prevail, the court recited the determination by the 179th District Court,

when convicting him of theft, ... that Ralph O. Douglas did not own the property at 111515 Lockridge Lane [ sic ] and that any fraud in the transaction was attributable to Douglas, not the Joneses. Later, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court determined that the Joneses owned the property and that...