HOUSTON (SE Texas Record) — The case of a Houston woman who was injured when her vehicle was struck Christmas Eve 2011 by a police car responding to a robbery in progress is once again on its way back to a Harris County Court following a state appeals court opinion issued last month.
In its 6-3 en banc opinion, the Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals ruled on Oct. 29 that Maria Christina Gomez's case was strong enough to the city of Houston's claim of government immunity in the collision between her vehicle and the police cruiser driven by Office Bobby Joe Simmons.
"The city did not conclusively establish Simmons' good faith, and a material fact issue exists as to whether Simmons acted recklessly," the 19-page majority opinion said.
The appeals court reversed an earlier 333rd District Court of Harris County's judgment against Gomez and remand the case back to the trial court.
Appeals Court Chief Justice Kem Thompson Frost authored the en banc majority opinion, joined by justices Tracy Christopher, Frances Bourliot, Jerry Zimmerer, Meagan Hassan and Margaret "Meg" Poissant.
The dissenting opinion written by Justice Kevin Jewell and joined by Justice Ken Wise and Justice Charles A. Spain, argued that Gomez had not proven that Officer Bobby Joe Simmons acted recklessly or violated police departmental policy. Both are crucial in deciding whether immunity should be waived.
"The en banc majority opinion could be read to mean that a scintilla of evidence of negligence is sufficient to raise a fact issue on recklessness, which is clearly contrary to Supreme Court precedent," the 13-page dissent said. "This accident resulted from at most momentary negligence, not recklessness or conscious indifference."
The opinion was not the first that the Fourteenth Court of Appeals has handed down in the case. In December, the court reversed and remanded and even earlier 333rd District Court of Harris County's judgment against Gomez, sustaining two issues she raised on appeal.
The appeals court then agreed with Gomez that the district court was wrong when it granted the city of Houston's plea for dismissal.