Luis S. Lagaite v. Gregory C. Boland ( 2015 )

In The
Court of Appeals
Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo
No. 07-15-00111-CV
LUIS S. LAGAITE, APPELLANT
V.
GREGORY C. BOLAND, ET AL., APPELLEE
On Appeal from the 251st District Court
Potter County, Texas
Trial Court No. 97,061-C, Honorable Douglas Woodburn, Presiding
April 23, 2015
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Before QUINN, C.J., and CAMPBELL and PIRTLE, JJ.
Appellant, Luis S. Lagaite filed an appeal in the above-referenced cause without
paying the requisite filing fee. By letter dated April 1, 2015, this court directed Lagaite to
pay the filing fee or file an affidavit of indigence, and if indigent, he must comply with
Chapter 14 by filing 1) an affidavit describing his previous filings and 2) a certified copy
of his inmate trust account. He was also told that the appeal would be dismissed if he
did not comply. TEX. R. APP. P. 42.3(c); see TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. § 14.002
(West Supp. 2014) (stating that Chapter 14 applies to appeals brought by an inmate in
an appellate court); Douglas v. Moffett, 418 S.W.3d 336 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th
Dist.] 2013, no pet.). In his response, Lagaite filed an affidavit of indigence and a
certified copy of his inmate account. However, in his affidavit of previous filings, he
failed to state the operative facts pertinent to the ten suits he did list. Inclusion of those
operative facts is required by § 14.004 (a) (2) (A) of the Civil Practice and Remedies
Code.
He also stated in the affidavit that: “Due to the fact that appellees have continued
to withheld [sic] all my legal documents, pleadings drafts [sic], and personal property
appellant cannot acertain [sic] or remember the actual correct dates, names and filing of
previous lawsuits of the other 12 or more that he has filed that are within his legal
documents.” Whether he requested the return of those documents to comply with our
previous directive went unmentioned. Similarly unmentioned is why he did not supply
us with the information about the twelve other lawsuits that he could remember and their
disposition.
Given the foregoing admissions, his affidavit fails to comply with the
requirements of § 14.004. See TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. § 14.004 (West
Supp. 2014). And, the requirement to tender an affidavit complying with Chapter 14 of
the Civil Practice and Remedies Code is mandatory; the failure to do so is grounds for
dismissal of the lawsuit. Douglas v. Moffett, 418 S.W.3d at 340; see also In re Anthony
G. Hereford, Jr., No. 07-14-00348-CV, 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 11521, at *1-2 (Tex.
App.—Amarillo October 17, 2014, orig. proceeding) (holding that the failure to comply
with Chapter 14 subjected the mandamus proceeding to dismissal).
Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal.1
Brian Quinn
Chief Justice
1
Pending before the court is Lagaite’s “Motion to Make the January 15, 2015 Hearing Part of the
Appeal,” we deny the motion as moot.
2