Musgrave v. Owen

• Court: Texas Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: Ben Z. Grant
• Citation: Musgrave v. Owen, 67 S.W.3d 513 (Tex. App. 2002)
• Decision Date: 29 January 2002
• Docket Number: No. 06-01-00040-CV.,06-01-00040-CV.
• Parties: A.C. MUSGRAVE, Jr., Appellant, v. Robert OWEN, et al., Appellees.

67 S.W.3d 513

A.C. MUSGRAVE, Jr., Appellant, v. Robert OWEN, et al., Appellees.

No. 06-01-00040-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Texarkana.

Submitted December 5, 2001.

Decided January 29, 2002.

Michael E. Starr, McGee, Hommel & Starr, PC, Tyler, for appellant.

David B. Griffith, Griffith Law Firm, PC, Gilmer, for appellee.

Before CORNELIUS, C.J., GRANT and ROSS, JJ.

OPINION

BEN Z. GRANT, Justice.

A.C. Musgrave, Jr. appeals the granting of a summary judgment in favor of Brookhaven Lake Property Owners Association (Association) and some of the lot owners in the Brookhaven Pines Addition (collectively, the movants), dismissing his claims for declaratory relief regarding certain rights and responsibilities under a restrictive covenant.

Musgrave contends that the court erred in granting summary judgment on the grounds of res judicata. He argues that his claims in this case (Musgrave II) do not arise from the same transaction that formed the basis of the prior case (Musgrave I) and would not have formed a convenient trial unit with the claims in the prior case. Musgrave also argues that summary judgment was improperly granted regarding Pinebrook Properties, Ltd. and its general partner, Pinebrook Properties Management, L.L.C. (collectively, Pinebrook), as those entities never asserted an affirmative claim against the defendants. However, Musgrave suggests that his interests are so intertwined with Pinebrook that if the judgment is reversed against him, it should also be reversed against Pinebrook.

In Musgrave II, Musgrave filed suit against the Association and all the owners of lots in the Brookhaven Pines Addition (lot owners) (collectively, the defendants), seeking several declaratory judgments. The movants asserted counterclaims against Musgrave and added Pinebrook as counter-defendants because of the acquisition of the property in question by Pinebrook. The movants filed a Motion for Partial Summary Judgment against Musgrave and Pinebrook contending that Musgrave II was barred by res judicata. The court signed an order granting partial summary judgment and a partial summary judgment nunc pro tunc clarifying the parties to which the summary judgment applied. The court entered an order severing the partial summary judgment, assigning new cause number 98-420A, and severing the counterclaims of counter-plaintiffs consolidating those counterclaims with another cause, and abating the balance of the claims.

In Musgrave II, Musgrave sought (1) a declaration that the defendants may not operate a dump facility on the recreational property owned by plaintiff because the property is subject only to the rights of recreational use by the lot owners; (2) a declaration that Musgrave, as owner of the recreational property, is the sole person authorized to create rules and regulations regarding the use of the recreational property; (3) a declaration that neither the Association nor any lot owner other than Musgrave is authorized to take any action regarding the maintenance, repairs, improvements, modifications, or alterations of the recreational property, including but not limited to the roadways, lake, and dam, without first obtaining Musgrave's consent; (4) a declaration that Musgrave is authorized to install speed control devices across the roadways within the subdivision property for safety purposes; (5) a declaration specifying the nature and extent of Musgrave's obligation, if any, to maintain the roads and lake within the recreational property; (6) a declaration that defendants are not authorized to utilize water in Brooks Lake for any purpose other than recreational purposes, and a further declaration that the current use of water by certain lot owners is unauthorized; (7) attorney's fees; (8) cost of suit; and (9) other entitled relief.

The movants base their claim of res judicata on the proceedings in Musgrave I. Summary judgment proof in Musgrave II consisted only of the final live pleadings and the final judgment in Musgrave I.

Musgrave I was filed by the Association and six individual lot owners (collectively, Musgrave I plaintiffs) against Musgrave and others claiming that a restrictive covenant obligated Musgrave to perform maintenance on the roadways and lake for the benefit of all of the lot owners in the subdivision and requesting (1) permanent injunctions enjoining defendants from closing a roadway, promoting and allowing recreational use of the property by paying customers, and timbering in the recreational areas without following reasonable restrictions to be established by the court, as well as (2) damages to reimburse Musgrave I plaintiffs for funds expended on the maintenance of the roadways and the lake. The Musgrave I plaintiffs asserted that the issue of obligation had been established in a previous suit, Anderson v. McRae, 495 S.W.2d 351 (Tex.Civ.App.-Texarkana 1973, no writ), and that Musgrave was barred from denying the obligation by collateral estoppel.

Musgrave presented several counterclaims in Musgrave I seeking (1) a declaratory judgment that he had no affirmative duty to maintain the roadways and lake in the subdivision, claiming the duty did not run with the land, (2) a declaratory judgment that guests of Musgrave's retreat may use the lake and recreational property, asking the court to determine what is necessary for a guest to be considered accompanied by a lot owner, including the maximum number of guests who may use the land at one time, (3) a declaratory judgment that implementation of the Forest Resource Management Plan was a reasonable use of the recreational areas covered by that plan, and (4) a declaratory judgment that Robert Owen's actions in maintaining a water line on Musgrave's property was a violation of Musgrave's property rights.

The Musgrave I plaintiffs asserted special exceptions to Musgrave's counterclaims, arguing that not all necessary parties were present in the suit. There is nothing in the record before us to indicate that the court ruled on these special exceptions or that the counterclaims were abandoned. We therefore assume that the counterclaims were live at the time of judgment.

The trial court granted judgment for the Musgrave I plaintiffs permanently enjoining Musgrave (1) from closing the proposed road, (2) from permitting guests of the retreat who were not lot owners to use certain areas, (3) from interfering with the exclusive rights of the lot owners to use the lake, roadways, and hunting and recreational areas in the addition, (4) from timbering for commercial purposes, or (5) from implementing the Forest Resource Management Plan or any similar plan for the commercial harvesting of trees. The judgment also awarded the plaintiffs damages to compensate them for funds expended on maintenance that the court found Musgrave had a duty to perform. The judgment stated that all relief not expressly granted was denied. Therefore, we assume that the counterclaims, although not explicitly mentioned in the judgment, were denied.

This court affirmed the judgment, in part, in Musgrave v. Brookhaven Lake Prop. Owners Ass'n, 990 S.W.2d 386 (Tex. App.-Texarkana 1999, pet. denied). We affirmed the trial court's determination that Musgrave was required by the covenants running with the land to maintain the roadways, lake, and recreational property, but reversed injunction (5) above because it referred to a document not made part of the order. We reversed the portion of the award for damages that were barred by the statute of limitations and reformed the award of attorney's fees as excessive.

Summary judgment is proper when the movant establishes that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Tex.R. Civ. P. 166a(c); Hughes Wood Prods., Inc. v. Wagner, 18 S.W.3d 202, 205 (Tex.2000). Summary judgment for a defendant is proper when the defendant negates at least one element of each of the plaintiff's theories of recovery or pleads and conclusively establishes each element of an affirmative defense. Sci. Spectrum, Inc. v. Martinez, 941 S.W.2d 910, 911 (Tex. 1997). Once the movant establishes entitlement to summary judgment, the burden shifts to the nonmovant to show why summary judgment should not be granted. Casso v. Brand, 776 S.W.2d 551, 556 (Tex. 1989). In reviewing a summary judgment, we accept all the nonmovant's proof as true and indulge every reasonable inference in the nonmovant's favor. Sci. Spectrum, Inc., 941 S.W.2d at 911. We review the summary judgment de novo to determine whether a party's right to prevail is established as a matter of law. See Keever v. Finlan, 988 S.W.2d 300, 305 (Tex.App.-Dallas 1999, pet. dism'd).

The res judicata doctrine of issue preclusion, also known as collateral estoppel, prevents relitigation of particular issues already resolved in a prior suit. Barr v. Resolution Trust Corp., 837 S.W.2d 627, 628 (Tex.1992). In order to invoke collateral estoppel, a party must establish that (1) the facts sought to be litigated in the first action were fully and fairly litigated in the prior action; (2) those facts were essential to the judgment in the first action; and (3) the parties were cast as adversaries in the first action. Eagle Props. Ltd. v. Scharbauer, 807 S.W.2d 714, 721 (Tex. 1990).

Although the movants, in their First Amended Answer, argued that Musgrave's claims were barred by collateral estoppel because the issues involved had already been decided in Musgrave I, the question of collateral estoppel is not before us on appeal.

The broader res judicata doctrine of claims preclusion prevents the relitigation of a claim or cause of action that has been finally adjudicated, as well as related matters that, with the use of diligence, should have been litigated in the prior suit. Compania Financiara Libano v. Simmons, 53 S.W.3d 365 (Tex.2001). Res judicata requires proof of the following elements: (1) a prior final judgment on the merits by a court of competent...