Whitelock v. Stewart
| Decision Date | 08 February 2023 |
| Docket Number | 08-21-00185-CV |
| Parties | AARON WHITELOCK and DONNA WHITELOCK, Appellants, v. JENNIFER STEWART, DONALD STEWART, STEVEN STEWART, and KATHY STEWART, and d/b/a ROYAL HORSE FARMS, Appellees. |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
Appeal from the 13th Judicial District Court of Navarro County Texas (TC# D21-29799-CV)
Before Rodriguez, C.J., Palafox, and Soto, JJ.
Appellants Aaron Whitelock and Donna Whitelock (the Whitelocks) appeal from the trial court's order denying their Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA) motion to dismiss the petition filed by Appellees Jennifer Stewart, Donald Stewart, Steven Stewart, and Kathy Stewart, and d/b/a Royal Horse Farms (collectively, the Stewarts) accusing the Whitelocks of defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress civil conspiracy, aiding and abetting, and ratification. The Whitelocks argue that the Stewarts did not meet their burden of establishing a prima facie case with respect to any of their claims, that their claims were barred by res judicata and collateral estoppel, and that the statute of limitations ran on the defamation claim. The Whitelocks further argue that the trial court erred by granting the Stewarts' motion for a new trial, contending it was untimely filed and the trial court had no valid basis for granting the motion. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the trial court's judgment.[1]
Donald and Kathy Stewart own Royal Horse Farms (RHF), a family-run horse farm in Navarro County that breeds, raises, competes, and boards horses. Their daughter, Jennifer Stewart, is primarily responsible for operating the farm, along with her brother, Steven Stewart, who also owns a horse supplement company. Donna Whitelock and her son, Aaron Whitelock, similarly own and operate a horse farm in the same area and had regular business dealings with the Stewarts.
In the summer of 2019, the Stewarts and Whitelocks became embroiled in a dispute over a debt the Stewarts claimed the Whitelocks owed RHF for the purchase of a stallion and the leasing of a brood mare as well as over the ownership of the brood mare's foals. According to the Stewarts, Donna Whitelock threatened to "ruin" their business if they did not give her the stallion and foals.
Within the same time period, Aaron Whitelock retrieved two of his horses from RHF, including a mare named Navarra that was approximately 27 years old and a filly that had been born there. According to Aaron, when he picked them up, the horses-and Navarra in particular- appeared to be malnourished and neglected. Aaron consulted with a veterinarian, who reported that the filly was two to three hundred pounds underweight, had a severe parasite load, and suffered from malnutrition and lack of exercise. The veterinarian reported that Navarra was 400 pounds underweight, emaciated, heavily invested with parasites, and in need of deworming, hoof care, and dental care. Aaron concluded that the condition of both horses was attributable to the lack of an appropriate diet and the lack of veterinary care while at RHF.
Shortly thereafter, Donna Whitelock filed a report with the Navarro County Sheriff's Office, complaining that Jennifer Stewart, who she identified as the owner of RHF, was "not taking care of her horses"; that one of her horses had lost 500 pounds while in Jennifer's care; and that she had seen "a lot of poor horses in need of food on the ranch and one dead [foal] that had rotted away to bones laying on top of the ground." She further reported that Jennifer kept the "poor horses hidden on the back side of her ranches." And finally, she claimed that Jennifer had "been in trouble before for in Florida for animal cruelty." According to the sheriff's incident report, deputies went to RHF on multiple occasions but never saw any starving horses or other signs of animal cruelty. Despite the incident report, Jennifer Stewart was arrested on August 8, 2019, on two charges of "cruelty to livestock animals." She was released the next day. At least one newspaper published a story about her arrest, with the title, "Well-Known Corsicana Horse Breeder Arrested: Sheriff."
In late June of 2019, Aaron Whitelock began making comments on his personal Facebook page regarding the condition of his horses and accused Jennifer Stewart and RHF of starving and neglecting his and other horses in their care. The Stewarts claim that in July of 2019, the Whitelocks created a Facebook group titled, "Royal Horse Farms Revealed," which had the stated purpose of providing "official news and information about the ongoing Royal Horse Farms investigation (or at least as much that can be shared)."[2] According to the Stewarts, this page contained similar statements accusing RHF of starving and neglecting horses as well as information about Jennifer Stewart's arrest. It further contained photos the Whitelocks represented were photos of their horses in an emaciated condition after Aaron Whitelock picked them up from RHF and a booking photograph from Jennifer Stewart's arrest.
The Stewarts contend the Whitelocks also created a Facebook page titled "We Are IALHA" on which they accused Jennifer Stewart, the then vice president of the IALHA (International Andalusian and Lusitano Horse Association)-a well-known association in the horse-breeding industry, of abusing horses and committing fraudulent acts in role in the association. And, the Stewarts contend that the creators and administrators of the page, which they believed included Aaron Whitelock, invited others to join the page, including individuals active in the "Andalusian Equine Community" in general, board members of IAHLA, and judges of equine competitions. The Stewarts also claim Aaron Whitelock spearheaded a referendum campaign to remove Jennifer from her vice-president position based on the same allegations.
The Whitelocks acknowledge the controversy surrounding the animal-cruelty accusations garnered national attention, and individuals from across the country commented on the situation on social media. The Stewarts claim that the Whitelocks themselves reposted their accusations hundreds of times, and that in turn, third parties reposted thousands of times on various social media sites.
Initially, the Stewarts sent Aaron Whitelock a letter listing several statements they believed the Whitelocks had posted on social media sites that were false and defamatory and requested that he correct, clarify, or retract the statements. It appears that the letter was returned to the Stewarts with hand-written comments to the effect that the statements were true and that the matter could be settled in court. As explained below, the Stewarts thereafter filed two lawsuits against the Whitelocks in a Navarro County statutory county court with respect to the allegedly defamatory statements, one of which resulted in a nonsuit and the second of which resulted in a default judgment in favor of the Stewarts on liability.
On September 14, 2020, the Stewarts filed their current lawsuit in the Navarro County District Court against the Whitelocks and other named defendants (who had allegedly reposted the challenged statements on social media or posted their own comments accusing the Stewarts of animal cruelty), bringing claims of defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED), civil conspiracy, aiding and abetting, and ratification. The Whitelocks denied the Stewarts' claims and raised two affirmative defenses: (1) that the one-year statute of limitations had run on the Stewarts' defamation claim; and (2) that the Stewarts' claims were barred by res judicata and collateral estoppel based on the default judgment they had previously received in the statutory county court case. The Whitelocks then filed a timely motion to dismiss all of the Stewarts' claims pursuant to the TCPA, alleging that the Stewarts' lawsuit was based on or in response to their exercise of free speech on a matter of public concern; that the Stewarts could not meet their burden of establishing a prima facie case on their various causes of action; and that their affirmative defenses barred the Stewarts from bringing the claims.
The Stewarts responded to the TCPA motion with various declarations and evidence in support of their claims, but the trial court sustained multiple objections to most, if not all, of their evidence and granted the Whitelocks' motion to dismiss, stating only that it was dismissing the claims under the TCPA. The trial court thereafter granted the Whitelocks' request for attorney fees and costs and sanctioned the Stewarts. The parties agree that the trial court's order granting the Whitelocks' TCPA dismissal motion became final on June 16, 2021, when the trial court severed the case against the Whitelocks from the remaining defendants.
The Stewarts then filed a motion for new trial alleging, among other things, that the Stewarts had discovered new evidence from Raechel Rohach, one of the defendants who had previously been dismissed from the lawsuit, as well as from Raechel's husband, Stefan Rohach. The Rohaches claimed the Whitelocks had made false statements in their declarations. [3] In addition, Raechel Rohach averred that Donna Whitelock admitted that she had threatened the Stewarts with "burning down" their farm. Although the Whitelocks argued that the motion lacked merit and was not timely filed, as discussed below, following an unrecorded hearing, the trial court granted the motion. The court issued an order stating that it was vacating its prior order dismissing...
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