RWayne Johnson v. Gerald and Vicki Cornelius ( 2011 )


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  •                                   NO. 07-11-00091-CV
    IN THE COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE SEVENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
    AT AMARILLO
    PANEL A
    SEPTEMBER 28, 2011
    R. WAYNE JOHNSON, APPELLANT
    v.
    GERALD CORNELIUS AND VICKI CORNELIUS,
    APPELLEES
    FROM THE 242ND DISTRICT COURT OF CASTRO COUNTY;
    NO. B9231-1011; HONORABLE EDWARD LEE SELF, JUDGE
    Before CAMPBELL and HANCOCK and PIRTLE, JJ.
    MEMORANDUM OPINION
    Appellant R. Wayne Johnson, proceeding pro se, appeals the trial court’s
    dismissal of his suit against appellees Gerald Cornelius and Vicki Cornelius. We will
    affirm.
    Background
    In his original petition, Johnson alleged appellees employed a state law,
    “BP03.91,” to infringe on his free speech rights. He sought monetary damages under
    42 U.S.C § 1983.1
    1
    42 U.S.C. § 1983 provides in part, “Every person who, under color of any
    statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District
    Appellees moved the trial court to dismiss Johnson’s suit on the ground he was
    previously declared a vexatious litigant, required to obtain permission of an
    administrative judge before filing suit, and did not obtain permission.2 The trial court
    granted appellees’ motion and dismissed Johnson’s case.3 This appeal followed.
    Jurisdiction
    On September 8, 2011, after briefing was completed, Johnson filed in this case a
    petition for writ of mandamus, in which he contends the trial court lacked jurisdiction
    over the underlying case because Johnson filed it in Castro County rather than in Potter
    County, where Johnson is incarcerated in the William P. Clements Unit. Civil Practice
    and Remedies Code § 15.019 establishes mandatory venue for actions accruing while
    the plaintiff was housed in a facility of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in the
    of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or
    other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or
    immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in
    an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress . . . .”
    2
    See Chapter 11, Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. §§ 11.001-11.104 (West
    2002).
    3
    To be noted, Johnson is an inmate in the Institutional Division of the Texas
    Department of Criminal Justice, and filed in the trial court an affidavit of inability to pay
    costs. His suit was not brought under the Family Code. The action therefore is subject
    to the inmate litigation provisions of Chapter 14 of the Civil Practice and Remedies
    Code. The record demonstrates Johnson’s failure to comply with its requirements. The
    suit was subject to dismissal also under Chapter 14. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code
    Ann. §§ 14.002 (scope of chapter), 14.003 (providing for dismissal of claim before or
    after service of process), 14.004 (requiring filing of affidavit relating to previous filings)
    (West 2002); Retzlaff v. TDCJ, 
    94 S.W.3d 650
    (Tex.App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 2002,
    pet. denied) (dismissing claim under Chapter 14).
    2
    county in which the facility is located. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 15.019
    (West 2002).4
    In June of this year, we issued an opinion in a mandamus proceeding brought by
    Johnson. In re Johnson, No. 07-10-0254-CV, 2011 Tex. App. Lexis 4886 (Tex.App.--
    Amarillo, June 28, 2011, orig. proceeding) (mem.op.). There, we addressed briefly, in a
    footnote, a motion Johnson had filed in that proceeding, in which he made the same
    argument, contending the Hale County trial judge who was the respondent lacked
    jurisdiction because Johnson improperly filed his suit there instead of in Potter County.
    In that footnote, we cited Scott v. Gallagher, 
    209 S.W.3d 262
    (Tex.App.--Houston [1st
    Dist.] 2006, no pet.), in which the court considered and rejected the jurisdictional
    argument Johnson is asserting. Noting the distinction between jurisdiction and venue,
    and noting that Chapter 15 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, which contains §
    15.019, is entitled “Venue,” the court found that filing suit in a county of improper venue
    under § 15.019 does not deprive the court of jurisdiction. 
    Scott, 209 S.W.3d at 264-65
    .5
    In his present petition for mandamus, Johnson argues Scott ignores controlling
    authority from the Texas Supreme Court, in the form of two cases, In re Reliant Energy,
    Inc., 
    159 S.W.3d 624
    (Tex. 2005) and Subaru of Am., Inc. v. David McDavid Nissan,
    4
    The mandatory venue provision does not apply to actions brought under the
    Family Code and contains an exception for those subject to Civil Practice and
    Remedies Code § 15.014. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 15.019(a), (c) (West
    2002).
    5
    Another court of appeals also cited Scott in rejecting the same jurisdictional
    argument, made by Johnson with respect to a case he filed in Smith County, Texas. In
    re Johnson, No. 12-07-0032-CV, 2007 Tex. App. Lexis, at *1 (Tex.App.--Tyler Jan. 31,
    2007, orig. proceeding) (mem. op.).
    3
    Inc., 
    84 S.W.3d 212
    (Tex. 2002) (op. on reh’g), and supporting authority from a court of
    appeals, In re Tyler Asphalt & Gravel Co., 
    107 S.W.3d 832
    (Tex.App.--Houston [14th
    Dist.] 2003, orig. proceeding). Johnson is mistaken; neither Reliant Energy nor Subaru
    is controlling here. And the language Johnson relies on from Tyler Asphalt is
    inapplicable to this case.
    Johnson acknowledges that Reliant Energy, a mandamus proceeding, involved
    the determination which of two venue provisions, one in the Probate Code, the other in
    the Civil Practice & Remedies Code, was controlling for wrongful death and survival
    claims under the facts there presented. The facts presented included causes pending
    both in Hidalgo County and in Harris County, an order issued by the Hidalgo County
    probate court transferring the Harris County litigation to Hidalgo County and an
    injunction issued by the Harris County district court prohibiting the plaintiff from
    proceeding further with the wrongful death and survival claims in Hidalgo 
    County. 159 S.W.3d at 626
    .      On the basis of its decision in the related interlocutory appeals,
    Gonzalez v. Reliant Energy, Inc., 
    159 S.W.3d 615
    (Tex. 2005), the court determined the
    Civil Practice & Remedies Code venue provision was 
    controlling. 159 S.W.3d at 626
    .
    Considering whether mandamus relief was appropriate, the court found that the
    order of the Hidalgo County probate court transferring the Harris County proceeding to
    itself without statutory authority, “actively interferes with the Harris County district court’s
    jurisdiction.” Reliant 
    Energy, 159 S.W.3d at 626
    . Considering the propriety of injunctive
    relief in the related interlocutory appeals, the court made the same statement.
    
    Gonzalez, 159 S.W.3d at 622-23
    . On the basis of that active interference with the
    4
    district court’s jurisdiction, the court found mandamus relief necessary. Reliant 
    Energy, 159 S.W.3d at 626
    . And, partially on the basis of that same active interference, the
    court affirmed the order for injunctive relief. 
    Gonzalez, 159 S.W.3d at 623
    .
    Johnson seizes on the court’s use of the word “jurisdiction” in these venue cases,
    and from that usage reasons that the improper venue in his Castro County case actually
    deprived the court of jurisdiction. The reasoning is faulty. As the Gonzalez opinion
    makes clear, both the Hidalgo County probate court and the Harris County district court
    had jurisdiction to adjudicate the wrongful death and survival 
    claims. 159 S.W.3d at 620
    (noting Probate Code amendment gave jurisdiction, but did not confer venue). And the
    Harris County district court’s jurisdiction was invoked when Mrs. Gonzalez filed suit
    there. 
    Id. at 617.
    The effort of the Hidalgo County probate court to transfer the pending
    Harris County litigation to itself clearly interfered with the Harris County district court’s
    jurisdiction to litigate the case before it, as the supreme court determined. But the
    court’s reference to that jurisdiction can in no way be read to equate venue with
    jurisdiction. See Gonzalez, 
    159 S.W.3d 622
    (“transfer of a case pertains to venue, not
    jurisdiction”). Johnson’s argument based on Reliant is meritless.6
    Johnson’s reliance on Subaru also is meritless. Subaru deals with concepts of
    jurisdiction not present either in Scott or this present case. The opinion addresses the
    allocation of jurisdiction between administrative agencies and courts under the doctrines
    of primary and exclusive jurisdiction. 
    Subaru, 84 S.W.3d at 220-21
    . The word “venue”
    6
    By its action dismissing the suit Johnson filed in Castro County, the court hardly
    can be said to have interfered with the jurisdiction of another court. Johnson’s suit was
    not pending in another court.
    5
    does not appear in the opinion. Johnson does not explain, and we do not perceive, how
    any holding of Subaru supports his contention that the improper venue in Castro County
    deprived the district court of jurisdiction.
    Finally, in Tyler Asphalt, a workers’ compensation case, the court of appeals was
    confronted    with   jurisdictional   questions    arising   when   a   course-and-scope-of-
    employment issue as to the death of an employee was presented in cases filed in two
    district courts. The court inter alia found Texas Labor Code § 410.252(b)(1)7 to state a
    jurisdictional requirement, explaining “[a] statute which lodges in the courts of a single
    county the exclusive power to try a certain type of case is jurisdictional, not a matter of
    
    venue.” 107 S.W.3d at 843
    . Assuming, without deciding, the principle has broader
    application,8 it can have no application here because its premise is not present.
    Johnson did seek a statutory remedy, § 1983, for his alleged injury, but the statute does
    not lodge in a single Texas court the exclusive power to adjudicate such a complaint
    arising in Texas.     Rather, the district courts of this state possess subject matter
    jurisdiction to try § 1983 cases. See generally Nevada v. Hicks, 
    533 U.S. 353
    , 366, 121
    S.Ct.2304, 2313-14, 
    150 L. Ed. 2d 398
    (2001) (“It is certainly true that state courts of
    ‘general jurisdiction’ can adjudicate cases invoking federal statutes, such as § 1983,
    absent congressional specification to the contrary”); Thomas v. Allen, 
    837 S.W.2d 631
    ,
    633 (Tex. 1992) (per curiam) (district courts of this state possess jurisdiction to hear §
    7
    In pertinent part this section provides, “The party bringing suit to appeal the
    decision must file a petition with the appropriate court in the county where the employee
    resided at the time of the injury or death, if the employee is deceased.” Tex. Lab. Code
    Ann. § 410.252(b)(1) (West Supp. 2010).
    8
    See Dubai Petroleum Co. v. Kazi, 
    12 S.W.3d 71
    (Tex. 2000) (finding
    requirements of Civil Practice & Remedies Code ' 71.031(a)(4) not jurisdictional).
    6
    1983 complaints). For this reason alone, the language from Tyler Asphalt does not
    support Johnson’s challenge to the trial court’s jurisdiction.
    As plaintiff Johnson disregarded a mandatory venue provision and chose the
    wrong county for his suit. But, in his suit against non-governmental defendants, that
    decision raises a venue issue, not one of jurisdiction. See Univ. of Tex. Southwestern
    Med. Ctr. v. Loutzenhiser, 
    140 S.W.3d 351
    , 360 (Tex. 2004) (noting court’s previous
    holding that “filing suit in the wrong county does not deprive the court of subject matter
    jurisdiction”); 
    Scott, 209 S.W.3d at 264
    .         The trial court possessed subject matter
    jurisdiction over Johnson’s suit and we possess jurisdiction over his appeal. Johnson’s
    jurisdictional challenge is overruled.
    Analysis
    In a single issue, Johnson asserts the 2001 order of the 156th Judicial District
    Court of Bee County declaring him a vexatious litigant and imposing a prefiling order is
    void, and the trial court thus erred in dismissing his present suit.
    The gist of Johnson’s voidness claim is the Attorney General of Texas obtained
    the Bee County order but had no statutory authority to represent the State of Texas in
    state district court. Johnson has previously presented the same argument in this court.
    In re R. Wayne Johnson, No. 07-07-0431-CV, 2009 Tex. App. Lexis 5795 (Tex.App.--
    Amarillo July 27, 2009, orig. proceeding) (mem. op.). We addressed and rejected the
    argument on that occasion, and again reject it here.
    In pleadings filed in the trial court and on appeal, Johnson relies heavily on a
    statement from a 1996 opinion of the Texas Supreme Court, in which the court noted,
    7
    “While there is no general statute authorizing the Attorney General to represent the
    State and its agencies in district court, the Legislature has provided for such
    representation in particular types of cases.” El Paso Elec. Co. v. Texas Dep’t of Ins.,
    
    937 S.W.2d 432
    , 439 (Tex. 1996).9 Johnson misquotes the court’s statement by leaving
    out the word “general” preceding the word “statute,” and insists our supreme court has
    held there is no statute authorizing the attorney general to defend suits in state district
    court. As is readily seen from a reading of the court’s actual statement, Johnson’s
    argument is misguided.
    Moreover, the Bee County district court’s prefiling order was issued in cause
    number B-01-1159-0-CV-B, styled R. Wayne Johnson A.K.A. “Legal Eagle,” plaintiff, v.
    John Cornyn, Attorney General and Andy Taylor, defendants. We take judicial notice
    that John Cornyn was serving as Attorney General of Texas on June 14, 2001, the date
    of the prefiling order. From the style of the cause, Attorney General Cornyn was himself
    a defendant in the suit Johnson brought in Bee County, and nothing shows the capacity
    in which Johnson sued him. The trial court in Johnson’s current suit against these
    appellees would have had no way to know whether the Attorney General was
    representing “the State [or] its agencies” in the Bee County suit. For these and other
    reasons not necessary to discuss, the trial court did not err by failing to accept
    9
    As one example of a particular type of case in which the legislature has
    provided for representation by the attorney general, the court cited §101.103 of the Civil
    Practice and Remedies Code. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 101.103 (West
    2011). There are other examples the court could have chosen. See, e.g., Tex. Civ.
    Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 104.004 (West 2011) (attorney general shall defend public
    servant listed in statute in cause of action covered by chapter 104).
    8
    Johnson’s contention the Bee County prefiling order is void because of the Attorney
    General’s apparent involvement in the case.
    Johnson’s first issue is overruled.
    Johnson’s brief also contains references to three other matters we will address.
    First, his brief refers to the trial court’s error as “fundamental error.” He cites to the
    discussion of fundamental error in Operation Rescue-National v. Planned Parenthood of
    Houston & SE Tex., Inc., 
    975 S.W.2d 546
    , 569 (Tex. 1998), in which the court
    discussed complaints that may be addressed on appeal even though not raised in the
    trial court. As we interpret his brief,10 Johnson is not seeking review of a complaint not
    preserved in the trial court, but is using the term “fundamental” to emphasize the gravity
    of the trial court’s dismissal of his action. Because we have addressed the merits of the
    court’s dismissal, concluding it did not err, and because Johnson does not complain of
    any other asserted error of the trial court, we do not address the application to this
    appeal of the concept of fundamental error.         To any extent Johnson intends his
    discussion of fundamental error to state a separate appellate issue, it is overruled.
    Second, Johnson’s brief contains discussion condemning the judge of the trial
    court as biased, and condemning the actions of counsel for appellees as violative of
    disciplinary rules. All these contentions, as we read them, are based on Johnson’s
    position that the trial court was required to view the Bee County prefiling order as void
    10
    Johnson’s brief largely disregards the requirements of an appellate brief. Tex.
    R. App. P. 38.1. It is only with difficulty that we ascertain whether his numbered
    paragraphs are intended as statements of appellate issues or simply as points of
    argument in support of his single issue. See Tex. R. App. P. 38.1(f) (requiring that brief
    state concisely all issues or points presented for review).
    9
    and thus required to give it no effect. The trial judge was biased, Johnson contends,
    because he gave effect to the prefiling order and dismissed Johnson’s current suit.
    Appellees’ counsel violated disciplinary rules, Johnson argues, by moving for dismissal
    of the suit against his clients based on what Johnson contends is the void Bee County
    prefiling order. Our conclusion the trial court did not err by dismissing Johnson’s suit
    requires also that we reject his related complaints of bias and misconduct on the part of
    the trial judge and opposing counsel. To any extent Johnson intends these complaints
    as separate appellate issues, they are overruled.
    Third, citing In re Hinterlong, 
    109 S.W.3d 611
    (Tex.App.--Fort Worth 2003, orig.
    proceeding) and DeRuy v. Garza, 
    995 S.W.2d 748
    (Tex.App.--San Antonio 1999, no
    pet.), Johnson asserts also that application of Chapter 11 to him was unconstitutional
    under the open courts provision of the Texas Constitution.11 Tex. Const. art. I, § 13.
    His argument consists simply of a statement broadly quoted from DeRuy to the effect
    that a law which unreasonably abridges a justiciable right to obtain redress amounts to
    a denial of due process under the open courts provision. See 
    DeRuy, 995 S.W.2d at 752
    . Johnson’s open courts contention required that he show he has a well-recognized
    common law cause of action that is being statutorily restricted and that the restriction is
    unreasonable or arbitrary when balanced against the legislature’s actual purpose in
    enacting the statute. 
    Hinterlong, 109 S.W.3d at 626
    . Assuming, but without deciding,
    that Johnson’s pleadings alleged a cognizable common-law cause of action restricted
    11
    The record contains a post-judgment letter from Johnson to the trial court
    complaining of a due process violation. For this discussion, and reading Johnson’s
    argument liberally, we will assume the correspondence sufficed as a motion for new trial
    and preserved the complaint for appellate review. Tex. R. App. P. 33.1(a).
    10
    by Chapter 11, Johnson’s brief contains no explanation how Chapter 11’s requirement
    that he obtain administrative judge permission to file a new civil suit is unreasonable or
    arbitrary, given the statute’s purpose. See Leonard v. Abbott, 
    171 S.W.3d 451
    , 456-58
    (Tex.App.--Austin 2005, pet. denied); accord Dolenz v. Boundy, No. 05-08-01052-CV,
    2009 Tex. App. Lexis 9196, at *9 (Tex.App.--Dallas, December 2, 2009, no pet.)
    (mem.op.) (both rejecting open courts challenges to Chapter 11).            As the party
    challenging the constitutionality of Chapter 11, the burden to demonstrate that the
    statute fails to meet constitutional requirements was Johnson’s burden. See 
    Hinterlong, 109 S.W.3d at 626
    (citing Enron Corp. v. Spring Indep. Sch. Dist., 
    922 S.W.2d 931
    , 934
    (Tex. 1996)). He has not carried that burden.
    Conclusion
    Having overruled Johnson’s issue and finding his remaining arguments, if
    intended as issues on appeal, also without merit, we affirm the trial court’s judgment.
    James T. Campbell
    Justice
    11