Mark A. Hughes v. Bruce Zellar ( 2002 )

                             NUMBER 13-01-586-CV

                         COURT OF APPEALS

               THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS

                           CORPUS CHRISTI

MARK A. HUGHES,                                                  Appellant,

                                           v.

WARDEN BRUCE ZELLAR,

TRACY CULLEN, AND

LOYD MASSEY,                                                      Appellees.

                  On appeal from the 258th District Court

                             of Polk County, Texas.

                              O P I N I O N

                   Before Justices Dorsey, Castillo, and Kennedy^[1]

                                 Opinion by Justice Kennedy  

This is a suit for damages brought by an inmate in the Texas Department of

Criminal Justice B Institutional Division.^[2]  Plaintiff-Appellant sought damages in the

sum of $10,000 from each defendant-appellee for embarrassment and humiliation when he, along with other inmates, was ordered to take off his clothes for a strip search in the presence of female officers and female prison visitors.  The case was dismissed by the trial court as frivolous pursuant to Chapter 14 of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code. Section 14.003 of this chapter states:

(a)      A court may dismiss a claim, either before or after service of process, if the court finds that: . . .

(2)      the claim is frivolous or malicious; . . .

(b)      In determining whether a claim is frivolous or malicious, the court may consider whether:

(1)      the claim=s realistic chance of ultimate success is slight;

Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. ' 14.003 (Vernon 2002).  A trial court=s dismissal of a claim pursuant to Chapter 14 of the code is reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard.  Jackson v. Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice-Institutional Division, 28 S.W.3d 811, 813 (Tex. App. B Corpus Christi 2000, no pet. denied).

We find no abuse of discretion by the trial court is dismissing appellant=s suit as frivolous.  We AFFIRM the judgment of the trial court.                                                                                  

NOAH KENNEDY

Justice

Do not publish.

Tex. R. App. P. 47.3(b).

Opinion delivered and filed

this 25th day of April, 2002.

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^[1]Retired Justice Noah Kennedy assigned to this court by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas pursuant to Tex. Gov=t Code Ann. ' 74.003 (Vernon 1998).

^[2]Chapter 14 of the code sets out all of the rules with respect to suits brought by inmates in which an affidavit or unsworn declaration of inability to pay costs is filed by the inmate.  Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. ' 14.002(a) (Vernon 2002).