Arias v. Kerlin
| Decision Date | 05 January 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 13-03-364-CV.,13-03-364-CV. |
| Citation | 275 S.W.3d 1 |
| Parties | Gloria Soto ARIAS, et al., Appellants, v. Gilbert KERLIN, Individually, Gilbert Kerlin, Trustee, North Central Oil and Gas Corporation and PI Corporation, Appellees. |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
Von H. Shelton, Angleton, for Appellant.
Russell H. McMains, Law Offices of Russell H. McMains, Corpus Christi, Horacio L. Barrera, Martinez & Barerra, Brownsville, M. Steve Smith, Houston, for Appellees.
Before Chief Justice VALDEZ and Justices RODRIGUEZ and GARZA.
Appellants, descendants of Jesus Balli, appeal from the trial court's entry of final judgment based on a motion for summary judgment in favor of appellees, Gilbert Kerlin, individually and as trustee, and PI Corporation (collectively, "Kerlin"). We reverse and remand.
This suit involves the disputed ownership of Padre Island in Texas. In 1827, the Mexican government granted the island to Padre Nicolas Balli and his nephew. After Padre Balli's death, his interest in the island passed by devise (i.e., through his will) to various nieces and nephews. The three children of Francisco Balli Trevino (Jesus Balli, Francisco Maria Balli, and Paula Balli) were among the heirs who acquired interests in the island. According to appellants, Jesus' interest consisted of "1/6 of 5 ½ leagues and 3 caballarias fee simple interest in Padre Island."
In 1847, Jesus' father, Francisco, allegedly conveyed his children's interest in the island to Nicolas Grisanti. This conveyance is recorded in a "Tutor's Deed." In turn, Grisanti conveyed the island to another party, beginning a chain of title transfers that ultimately culminated with the ownership of Grisanti's interest being held by Kerlin.
Appellants claim that in 1999, they discovered that the 1847 Tutor's Deed was in fact fraudulent and ineffective to convey title because Jesus was twenty-two years old and married at the time of the conveyance and was therefore not a minor, which meant that his father could not lawfully enter into a tutor's deed on his behalf or sell property belonging to Jesus. As the deed was ineffective, Jesus' 1/6th interest in Padre Island was never conveyed and therefore ultimately passed to appellants as his descendants.
Following this discovery, appellants filed suit against Kerlin, alleging claims of trespass, trespass to try title, conversion, constructive trust, and fraud. They also sought to have the 1847 Tutor's Deed declared void. Kerlin responded by filing a motion for summary judgment in which he made the following arguments: (1) Jesus Balli sold his interest in the 1847 Tutor's Deed; (2) Texas courts are required to recognize the authority of the Mexican court's decree authorizing the sale; (3) State v. Balli bars this claim because of stare decisis; (4) the descendants of Jesus Balli settled in Havre v. Dunn, which is res judicata of appellants' claims; and (5) U.S. v. 34,844 Acres also bars appellants' claims under res judicata and collateral estoppel. The trial court granted Kerlin's motion without specifying which ground it relied upon. It then entered a final judgment against appellants based on its decision on the motion for summary judgment.
Appellants appealed the judgment to this Court on each of the five grounds raised in Kerlin's motion for summary judgment.
The propriety of a summary judgment is a question of law; therefore, an appellate court reviews the trial court's granting of summary judgment de novo. Natividad v. Alexsis, Inc., 875 S.W.2d 695, 699 (Tex.1994); see Ortega v. City Nat'l Bank, 97 S.W.3d 765, 771-72 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 2003, no pet.); Mobil Producing Tex. & N.M. v. Cantor, 93 S.W.3d 916, 918 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 2002, no pet.). Summary judgment will only issue when the movant has shown the right to summary judgment as a matter of law. Gibbs v. Gen. Motors Corp., 450 S.W.2d 827, 828 (Tex.1970). The summary judgment proof must establish, as a matter of law, that there is no genuine issue of fact concerning one or more of the essential elements of the plaintiff's cause of action or the defendant's affirmative defenses. See Herrmann & Andreas Ins. Agency, Inc. v Appling, 800 S.W.2d 312, 315 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 1990, no writ). In deciding whether there is a genuine issue of material fact, evidence favorable to the nonmovant will be taken as true, and all reasonable inferences made, and all doubts resolved, in its favor. Am. Tobacco Co. v. Grinnell, 951 S.W.2d 420, 425 (Tex.1997).
In Kerlin's first ground for summary judgment, he argues that Jesus Balli's interest in the land was transferred to Grisanti through the Tutor's Deed. Specifically, Kerlin argues that the Tutor's Deed transferred Jesus' interests because under Mexican law at the time, Jesus was considered a minor and thus could not properly transfer his own interest in property. Thus, Kerlin argues, it was valid for Jesus' father to transfer his son's interest in the property. In the alternative, Kerlin adds, Jesus himself validated the sale by signing the Tutor's Deed, which effectively conveyed the property regardless of his minority.
Appellants counter that questions of fact exist as to whether Jesus' father could properly convey away his son's interests given that Jesus was legally an adult at the time of the Tutor's Deed due to both his age and his marriage to Isabel Trevino the year before the Tutor's Deed was signed. Furthermore, they allege, the deed was fraudulent and false.1 Jesus' age and marital status are important in determining which country's law controls the Tutor's Deed. According to both parties, under Mexican law at the time, a male remained a minor until he either reached the age of twenty-five or married, while under American law at the time, a male became an adult who could legally enter into binding contracts and dispose of his own property at the age of twenty-one.
We first note that Kerlin fails to attach or otherwise provide a copy of the Tutor's Deed which is the ground for his summary judgment motion. The only evidence of the deed is a copy of a translation of the deed. Kerlin also provides no evidence of Jesus' age or marital status at the time of the deed signing.
Appellants assert that the deed was "false" and "fraudulent," claims which Kerlin fails to respond to whatsoever in his motion for summary judgment. Futhermore, appellants argue that Francisco could not enter into a Tutor's Deed on behalf of Jesus because Jesus was married before the deed was signed, thus making Jesus an adult in the eyes of Mexican law at the time, regardless of his age. Again, Kerlin wholly fails to respond to this claim and does not dispute that marriage would render Jesus a legal adult. Thus, construing the pleadings in the light most favorable to appellants, as we are bound to do under the standard of review for summary judgments, see Grinnell, 951 S.W.2d at 425, we conclude that material issues of fact remain unresolved and thus summary judgment could not be granted in favor of Kerlin on this ground.
In connection with the first issue, Kerlin argues that the Mexican court decree validating the Tutor's Deed should control because Mexico still had jurisdiction over the area at the time, and principles of comity dictate that this court must defer to its decision. Appellants contend that because American troops had possession of Padre Island at the time of the conveyance, the Mexican courts that recognized the Tutor's Deed had no authority to dispose of any interest in Padre Island.
The Tutor's Deed was allegedly signed by the parties on March 17, 1847, in Matamoros, Mexico, and confirmed by a Mexican governmental decree. However, by late 1845, Texas had joined the United States, and American soldiers began occupation of the border area, including Padre Island, while the exact boundary between Texas and Mexico remained in dispute. See State v. Balli, 173 S.W.2d 522, 526 (Tex.Civ.App.-San Antonio 1943), aff'd, 144 Tex. 195, 190 S.W.2d 71 (1944). The Texas Supreme Court has noted that it never intimated that "the Mexican government had authority to grant lands in Texas north or east of the Rio Grande after the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo [signed in 1848], or for that matter, after it lost its de jure jurisdiction in 1836." Kenedy Pasture Co. v. State, 111 Tex. 200, 231 S.W. 683, 692 (1921). In fact, the rule in this State is "title to lands within the original Mexican state of Tamaulipas and the present boundaries of Texas, that was good as against the Mexican government on December 19, 1836, is within the protection of the treaty and entitled to recognition in the courts." Balli, 173 S.W.2d at 536. Title to land in Texas that was acknowledged by the Mexican government after the December 19, 1836 date is accordingly not given such automatic deference and recognition.
Kerlin argues that, Given the statements made by the Texas courts in Kenedy Pasture Co. and Balli, which imply that the Mexican government lacked jurisdiction at the time the deed was signed, we do not think the question of when Mexican jurisdiction over Padre Island ceased can be so easily answered at this stage in the proceedings simply by reference to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which formally ended hostilities.
Kerlin also argues that Martin v. Weyman, 26 Tex. 460, 465 (Tex.1863), confirms his assertion that the Mexican court still had jurisdiction over the lands in dispute when it authorized and confirmed the sale. We disagree; Martin involves a different tract of land along the disputed border area. See id. Furthermore, Ma...
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Kerlin v. Arias
...ensuing 161 years) on the basis of fraud. The trial court granted summary judgment against the heirs, but the court of appeals reversed. 275 S.W.3d 1. As the only evidence of fraud in 1847 is an affidavit by one of the current heirs—who could not possibly have personal knowledge of those ev......