Oliver v. Rowan
| Decision Date | 29 June 2021 |
| Docket Number | No. 05-19-01433-CV,05-19-01433-CV |
| Parties | JACOB OLIVER, Appellant v. ELINOR ROWAN, ROY ROWAN, AND JULIE ROWAN, Appellees |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
On Appeal from the 162nd Judicial District Court Dallas County, Texas
Before Justices Myers, Partida-Kipness, and Garcia
Opinion by Justice Myers
Jacob Oliver appeals the trial court's judgment following a jury trial that he recover $500 damages and $3,000 attorney's fees through trial from Elinor Rowan and that he take nothing from Elinor's parents, Roy Rowan and Julie Rowan. Jacob brings five issues on appeal contending the trial court erred by (1) granting a directed verdict for appellees on Jacob's cause of action for fraud; (2) granting a directed verdict in favor of Roy and Julie for conspiracy to wiretap; (3) excluding Elinor's arrest records; (4) refusing to allow Jacob to testify about his loss of earning capacity; and (5) failing to award appropriate attorney's fees and costs. We modify the judgment to award Jacob costs of court relating to his cause of action under the Texas Theft Liability Act, and we otherwise affirm the trial court's judgment.
In early 2015, Elinor was working as a bartender at a restaurant, and Jacob was a medical student at University of Texas Southwestern Medical School (UTSW) studying to become a physician. They began dating, and Elinor moved into Jacob's apartment at UTSW in September 2015. Their relationship was troubled. Several incidents are relevant to this case.
Elinor testified that on April 23, 2016,1 at the apartment, Jacob grabbed her, pushed her onto the bed, and started to choke her. She bit him on the arm, and he let her go. That night, after work, Elinor did not go back to the apartment but went to her parents' house, where she lived until May 11. The next day, April 24, she went to the apartment with her father when Jacob was there to get some of her possessions. On April 28, Jacob went to the restaurant where Elinor worked. As Elinor was leaving, Jacob tried to push her into her car and to steer her towards his car. She got away from him, but she testified she cut her arm during the altercation. Between then and May 8, she went to the apartment one or two times when Jacob was not there to get some of her belongings.
Jacob testified he believed someone was coming into the apartment when he was not there and taking things. On April 27, he picked up a prescription for Adderall. When it went missing, either from his car or from the apartment, he reported the theft of the Adderall to his physician. Jacob asked the apartment management to rekey his apartment.
On May 8, at 1:45 a.m., as Elinor was headed home from work, a Rockwall police officer pulled her over for a traffic violation, crossing into the opposing traffic lane. The officer concluded Elinor's driver's license was invalid. After seeing an open alcohol container, a beer can, in Elinor's car, the officer searched the car and found bottles of Adderall and some hydrocodone pills, both of which are controlled substances. The Adderall bottles indicated they were prescribed to Jacob. The officer asked, "Who is Jacob," and Elinor said he was her fiancé. The officer asked Elinor why she had the pills, and she said he "drove my car earlier." The officer then arrested her. Her father bailed her out of jail the next day. Elinor was charged with possession of controlled substances and driving with an invalid license.
Elinor's defense attorney told her she needed to get an affidavit from Jacob saying the pills found in her car were his and that he had left them in her car. A friend of Elinor's who was a paralegal told her that if Jacob refused to sign the affidavit, then she should try to record Jacob saying that the pills were his.
Elinor's father ordered a "spy gear" audio recorder that looked like and worked as a cellphone charger as well as an audio recorder. On May 11, Elinorcontacted Jacob and told him that after her arrest, her parents had kicked her out of their house. That was not true—her parents had not kicked her out of their house—but was a ruse to get Jacob to let her move back into his apartment, which he did. Elinor's father received the recorder on May 14, and Elinor began audio recording her time with Jacob on May 15.2
Elinor testified that on May 17, she was in Jacob's car in the apartment parking lot, when he started driving quickly around the parking lot. She jumped out of his car and hid under a stairwell. When she looked out from the stairwell, she saw Jacob letting the air out of her car's tires. She ran to the apartment with Jacob chasing her. When she got inside the apartment, she was holding a Taser, but she did not use it. Jacob knocked it out of her hand and stomped on it, breaking it. Jacob testified Elinor was drunk and that he let the air out of her tires because she told him she was going to drive. Elinor testified that she was not drunk at the time and that he deflated her tires to prevent her from leaving.
The next day, May 18, they had a physical altercation over a computer. The evidence shows Jacob told Elinor to get out of the apartment. Elinor went to a desktop computer, unplugged the cables from it, and tried to leave with it, telling Jacob it was her computer, that she had paid for it, and that she was taking it withher.3 Jacob tried to force the computer away from her. As they tussled over the computer, Elinor fell to the floor, injuring her tailbone. Jacob told her she could take the computer if she let him remove his information and move it to another hard drive. Elinor refused, saying she knew he would not give it back to her or that he would change the password on the computer. He also told her she could not take the computer because it contained patient files, and it would be a HIPAA violation for her to take the computer with the files. Elinor left for work, driving there on her flattened tires, and Jacob went to his mother's house.
The next day, May 19, Elinor and her father returned to the apartment to get some of her belongings, and Elinor called the police. She told the UTSW police that Jacob had assaulted her the day before. She told the police she had recordings of her conversations with Jacob, and the officers asked for the recordings. Elinor's father sent the police a fourteen-minute excerpt of the recording that included the physical altercation over the computer.
The UTSW police informed the UTSW dean of medical students, Dr. Angela Mahalic, about the complaint against Jacob. Dr. Mahalic sent Jacob a letter informing him she had "received allegations that you have engaged in conduct thatendangers the health or safety of another person and the safety and security of UT Southwestern property or premises" in violation of the school's policies. The letter stated that the complainant told the police that Jacob had flattened two tires on the complainant's vehicle and "during an argument about a computer, you grabbed her and pushed her into a wall which resulted in visible bruising on her right arm." The letter directed Jacob to meet with Dr. Mahalic the following Monday.
Dr. Mahalic testified that during the meeting, Jacob admitted arguing with Elinor on May 17, becoming angry, and letting the air out of her tires. Dr. Mahalic testified, "He said he knew it was wrong and he was sorry he did it, and that he had apologized for letting the air out of the tires." Dr. Mahalic said Jacob "definitely admitted he did it in anger after a fight and argument." Jacob did not tell Dr. Mahalic he let the air out of the tires because Elinor was drunk and had said she was going to drive. Concerning the incident with the computer on May 18, Jacob admitted grabbing the computer and struggling with Elinor over it, but he denied touching, hitting, or hurting her. After the meeting, Dr. Mahalic concluded there was sufficient evidence that Jacob violated school policy by letting the air out of Elinor's tires on May 17, but there was insufficient evidence to conclude he had violated school policy in the May 18 struggle over the computer. On May 25, Dr. Mahalic sent Jacob notice that he was on disciplinary probation because of the May 17 incident. The notice informed Jacob of the steps to appeal the disciplinary action, but Jacob did not appeal this disciplinary action.
On May 24, Elinor went to the apartment with some friends and movers and took her clothing and furniture. Jacob's mother went there the next day; she noticed items belonging to Jacob were missing, and she called the police.
On May 26, Jacob traveled to Florida, where he took the Step exam, which is an exam medical students must pass in order to continue in medical school. Jacob took the Step exam in Florida on May 31, and he passed it.
While Jacob was in Florida, Elinor was interviewed by UTSW Police Detective Cynthia Laredo about the incidents on May 17 and 18. The interview was video recorded. Elinor described what happened and wrote out a statement. Elinor showed Detective Laredo the bruises on her arms she said she sustained in the incident, and Detective Laredo took pictures of them. Based on the interview, Elinor's written statement, her bruises, and the audio recording, Detective Laredo obtained an arrest warrant for Jacob.
On June 14, Jacob his attorney met with Detective Laredo, and his interview was also video recorded. Detective Laredo read Jacob the Miranda warnings. Jacob's attorney asked Detective Laredo if Jacob was in custody, and Laredo said he was not in custody and that the warnings were precautionary. She did not tell Jacob or his attorney that she had a warrant for Jacob's arrest. Jacob explained his version of events for May 17 and 18, including asserting that Elinor was intoxicated on May 17 when he let the air out of her tires. Detective Laredo then played anexcerpt of Elinor's audio recordings, and she told Jacob a warrant for his arrest had been signed the previous week and...
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