State v. Walker
| Decision Date | 07 November 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. C-3090,C-3090 |
| Citation | 679 S.W.2d 484 |
| Parties | The STATE of Texas, Relator, v. The Honorable Dee Brown WALKER, Judge, 162nd District Court, Respondent. |
| Court | Texas Supreme Court |
Jim Mattox, Atty. Gen., Scott Lyford, Asst. Atty. Gen., Austin, Henry Wade, Dist. Atty., Karen Chilton Beverly and Kathi Alyce Drew, Asst. Dist. Attys., Dallas, for relator.
Leo C. Michaud, Seagoville, for respondent.
In this original mandamus proceeding, the State of Texas seeks to compel Judge Walker to reinstate a temporary injunction against Gibson Products Company, Inc. This cause has been pending in the 162nd Judicial District Court of Dallas County since December 1975. We hold that the temporary injunction was dissolved in violation of a mandate of this court, and we order the injunction reinstated.
The underlying cause of action is a suit by the State to enjoin Gibson Products from selling certain items on consecutive Saturdays and Sundays in violation of Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann art. 9001 (Vernon Supp.1984), commonly known as the "Texas Blue Law" or "Sunday Closing Law." Judge Walker granted a temporary injunction in December of 1975. Gibson Products appealed the order directly to this court on the grounds that article 9001 was unconstitutional, but this court reaffirmed the constitutionality of article 9001 and specifically approved the temporary injunction. Gibson Products Co. v. State, 545 S.W.2d 128 (Tex.1976), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 955, 97 S.Ct. 2677, 53 L.Ed.2d 272 (1977).
Two years later H.R. Gibson, Jr., president of Gibson Products, sued eight other retailers for violating article 9001 and sought the same relief which had been granted against Gibson Products. The State intervened, and the suit was consolidated with the State v. Gibson Products Co. cause which had still not been tried on the permanent injunction. The eight other retailers moved for summary judgment claiming that article 9001 was unconstitutional. In a judgment signed by Judge Walker on December 2, 1981, the motion for summary judgment was granted, and all temporary injunctions pending in the cause were dissolved, including the one against Gibson Products approved by this court.
Mandamus will lie to correct an action of a trial judge who commits an abuse of discretion or a violation of a clear duty under the law and when there is no other adequate remedy at law. State Bar of Texas v. Heard, 603 S.W.2d 829, 834 (Tex.1980). We must determine, therefore, whether Judge Walker acted in violation of a clear duty or in abuse of discretion and whether the state has been left without a clear, adequate remedy at law.
Although granting or dissolving a temporary injunction is generally within the trial court's discretion, this temporary injunction had been previously affirmed by this court. Thus, the judgment enjoining Gibson Products became a judgment of both the trial court and this court. City of Tyler v. St. Louis Southwestern Ry., 405 S.W.2d 330, 332 (Tex.1966). Dissolving the injunction was therefore a violation of a mandate of this court for which mandamus will lie. See Texas Aeronautics Comm'n v. Betts, 469 S.W.2d 394 (Tex.1971). The rule prohibiting interference by the trial court with decisions by appellate courts on...
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