Wilson-Everett v. Christus St. Joseph

• Decision Date: 29 November 2007
• Docket Number: No. 14-05-00999-CV.,14-05-00999-CV.
• Citation: 242 S.W.3d 799
• Parties: Mercedes WILSON-EVERETT, individually and as Representative of the Estate of Ruby J. Wilson, Deceased, Appellant, v. CHRISTUS ST. JOSEPH, Jeff Webster, Edith Irby Jones, Lakisha Hose, Mariamme Kurian, Laura Fortin, Sophie Meyers, Nedra Thomas and Laura Flint, Appellees.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

242 S.W.3d 799

Mercedes WILSON-EVERETT, individually and as Representative of the Estate of Ruby J. Wilson, Deceased, Appellant, v. CHRISTUS ST. JOSEPH, Jeff Webster, Edith Irby Jones, Lakisha Hose, Mariamme Kurian, Laura Fortin, Sophie Meyers, Nedra Thomas and Laura Flint, Appellees.

No. 14-05-00999-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Houston (14th Dist.).

November 29, 2007.

Ramel Jacoy Blue, Houston, TX, for appellants.

Kevin William Yankowsky, Alison Louise Webster, Traci Carr Dvorak, Houston, TX, for appellees.

Panel consists of Justices FOWLER, FROST, and EDELMAN.^*

MAJORITY OPINION

RICHARD H. EDELMAN, Senior Justice, (Assigned).

In this health care liability case, Mercedes Wilson-Everett, individually and as Representative of the Estate of Ruby J. Wilson, deceased, ("Everett") appeals the trial court's order of dismissal on the ground that section 74.351 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code¹ ("section 74.351") violates the Separation of Powers provision of the Texas Constitution.² We affirm.

Background

In 2004, Everett sued appellees, asserting health care liability claims relating to the treatment of Ms. Ruby Wilson, now deceased, while she was a patient at Christus St. Joseph Hospital. Appellees filed a motion to dismiss these claims for failure to file an expert report pursuant to section 74.351, Everett filed no response, and the trial court granted the motion. Everett filed a motion to modify the judgment dismissing the action (the "motion to modify"), which the trial court denied.

Preservation of Complaint

As a preliminary matter, appellees contend that Everett waived her constitutional challenge to section 74.351 by raising it for the first time in her motion to modify.³ To preserve a complaint for appellate review, a party must generally present it to the trial court in a timely request, motion, or objection that states the specific grounds therefor, and obtain a ruling. Tex.R.App. P. 33.1(a). This rule applies to constitutional issues. In re L.M.I., 119 S.W.3d 707, 710-11 (Tex.2003); Dreyer v. Greene, 871 S.W.2d 697, 698 (Tex.1993). However, a motion to modify a judgment can raise for the first time a constitutional challenge to a trial court decision, particularly where, as here, the trial court held a hearing on the issue.⁴ In this case, Everett raised her constitutional challenge to section 74.351 in her motion to modify and argued those constitutional challenges at a hearing, and the trial court entered an order denying the motion. Because this satisfied the requirements of rule 33.1(a), we find no basis to conclude that the complaint was waived and, thus, proceed to the merits.

Standard of Review

An analysis of the constitutionality of a statute begins with a presumption of validity, and the burden of proof is on those parties challenging this presumption.⁵ If possible, we interpret a statute in a manner that renders it constitutional because the legislature is presumed to have intended compliance with the Texas Constitution.⁶

Separation of Powers

Everett argues that section 74.351 violates the Separation of Powers provision because, by dictating to courts exactly when and how to render a judgment with prejudice if a plaintiff does not provide an adequate expert medical report within the prescribed time period, it interferes with the judiciary's constitutional power to decide when and how to render judgments.⁷

The Separation of Powers provision prohibits one branch of government from exercising a power inherently belonging to another branch. Gen. Servs. Comm'n v. Little-Tex Insulation Co., 39 S.W.3d 591, 600 (Tex.2001). However, it is only when the functioning of the judicial process in a field constitutionally committed to the control of the courts is interfered with by the executive or legislative branches that a constitutional problem arises. Id.

The Texas Constitution explicitly vests the judicial power of the State in the courts. Tex. Const. art. V, § 1. Although the Constitution grants the Legislature authority over judicial administration, this authority does not allow the Legislature to encroach on substantive judicial powers.⁸ The Legislature may thus define certain parameters within the operation of the judicial branch, but it may not interfere with the powers of the judicial branch so as to usurp those powers. Williams v. State, 707 S.W.2d 40, 45-46 (Tex.Crim.App. 1986).⁹ Judicial powers under the Constitution include the powers to: (1) hear facts; (2) decide the issues of fact made by the pleadings; (3) decide the question of law involved; (4) enter a judgment on the facts found in accordance with the law as determined by the court; and (5) execute the judgment or sentence.¹⁰

The parties have cited, and we have found, no Texas appellate court decision on whether section 74.351 or any similar statute violates the Separation of Powers provision of the Texas Constitution.¹¹ The Court of Criminal Appeals has held that a statute, requiring dismissal of a prosecution with prejudice if an indictment against the defendant is not presented at the next term of court held after commitment or admission to bail, violated the Separation of Powers provision. See Ex parte Young, 213 S.W.3d 327, 329, 331-32 (Tex.Crim. App.2006). However, that decision was based on a determination that the statute disrupted the prosecutor's ability to perform his duties, rather than interfering with the court's power to render decisions, as asserted in this case. Similarly, courts of other states have rejected challenges to similar statutes on Separation of Powers grounds, but those decisions were also based on different arguments than Everett advances here.¹²

Although not cited by either party in this case, or binding on this court, an arguably more relevant decision is that in In re S.G., 175 Ill.2d 471, 222 Ill.Dec. 386, 677 N.E.2d 920, 930 (1997). There, the State challenged a statute, requiring dismissal of a petition for adjudication of wardship if the adjudicatory hearing was not completed within 90 days of service, as encroaching on the court's power to decide the best interest of minors. See id, at 923, 927. The court concluded that the statute did not violate the separation of powers principle because it represented a legislative expression of public policy requiring the expeditious resolution of abuse and neglect cases, provided a reasonable time for the exercise of judicial duties, and did not deprive the courts of the power to adjudicate a child's best interest, but only required that power to be exercised in a manner that protects the rights of all parties. See id. at 930.

In the present case, the expert report requirement in section 74.351 imposes a threshold to prevent frivolous or premature lawsuits from proceeding until a good-faith effort has been made to demonstrate that at least one expert believes that a breach of the applicable standard of care caused the claimed injury. See Murphy v. Russell, 167 S.W.3d 835, 838 (Tex.2005); Walker v. Gutierrez, 111 S.W.3d 56, 66 (Tex.2003). The courts retain the judicial power to determine whether a timely filed report is adequate in this regard and to render a decision accordingly. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 74.351(l), (r)(6). Everett does not contend that the applicable time limits for submitting reports are unreasonable or that courts are otherwise unduly constrained by the statutory requirements in deciding whether an adequate report has been filed. Because Everett has therefore not overcome the presumption that section 74.351 is constitutional, we overrule her issue and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

FROST, J., concurring.

* Senior Justice Richard H. Edelman sitting by assignment.

1. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 74.351 (Vernon 2005 & Supp.2007). Although the facts on which Everett's claims were based are alleged to have occurred prior to the effective date of section 74.351, the differences between section 74.351 and its predecessor statute, art. 4590 section 13.01, are not material to our disposition of the constitutional challenge. Therefore, our opinion will refer to section 74.351, as the parties' briefs have, for expedience.

2. See Tex. Const. art. II, § 1. Everett does not argue that she timely filed an adequate report or that the trial court improperly applied the statutory requirements of section 74.351. Nor does she otherwise challenge the procedural or factual basis for the dismissal other than the constitutionality of the statute.

3. However, 4 of appellees' brief contradicts this contention by acknowledging that Everett's separation of powers argument was preserved.

4. See Romero v. State, 893 S.W.2d 550, 551 (Tex.App.-Texarkana 1994), aff'd, 927 S.W.2d 632, 635-36 (Tex.1996) (addressing, but rejecting, Romero's contention, raised for the first time in a motion to modify the judgment, that the settlement and dismissal of the case should be reversed because the settlement violated her constitutional rights).

5. See In re Commitment of Fisher, 164 S.W.3d 637, 645 (Tex.2005); Walker v. Gutierrez, 111 S.W.3d 56, 66 (Tex.2003).

6. City of Houston v. Clark, 197 S.W.3d 314, 320 (Tex.2006); FM Properties Operating Co. v. City of Austin, 22 S.W.3d 868, 873 (Tex. 2000).

7. Everett contends that the statute, by its terms, always operates unconstitutionally, i.e., there is no set of circumstances in which it will be valid, rather than that it is unconstitutional as applied in this particular case. See generally, Tex. Mun. League Intergovernmental Risk Pool v. Tex. Workers' Comp, Comm'n, 74 S.W.3d 377, 381 (Tex.2002); Tex. Workers' Comp. Comm'n v. Garcia, 893 S.W.2d 504, 518 n. 16 (Tex.1995); Santikos v. State, 836 S.W.2d 631, 633 (Tex.Crim.App.1992).

8. State v. Williams, 938 S.W.2d 456, 459 (Tex. Crim.App.1997); Armadillo Bail Bonds v. State, 802 S.W.2d 237, 240 (Tex.Crim.App. 1990).

9. The concurring opinion takes issue with our application in this civil case of Separation of Powers principles...