DocketNumber： D-2178
Citation Numbers： 842 S.W.2d 641, 35 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 1226, 1992 Tex. LEXIS 122, 1992 WL 246125
Judges： Per Curiam
Filed Date： 9/30/1992
Status： Precedential
Modified Date： 11/14/2024
Supreme Court of Texas.
Ralph K. Miller, New Braunfels, for petitioner.
Stanley B. Binion, Kevin Dubose, Merry Miller, Houston, for respondent.
PER CURIAM.
The motions for rehearings are overruled. The court's opinion of July 2, 1992, is withdrawn, and the following is substituted therefor.
This land ownership dispute involves the doctrine of judicial estoppel. Ralph Miller sued William Mac Gann and Jim Perdue for breach of fiduciary duty relating to their mutual ownership of a land tract in Brazoria County. Gann and Perdue deny the land was owned by the parties' partnership. Gann and Perdue further assert that Miller is judicially estopped from claiming partnership ownership because they allege Miller had claimed individual ownership in a property settlement agreement within his 1978 divorce decree.
After the trial court dismissed Miller's suit, the court of appeals reversed and remanded, stating that Miller's prior statements in the settlement agreement did not judicially estop him from today claiming partnership ownership because he "did not appear before the court to give testimony about the property characterization" in the divorce proceeding. 822 S.W.2d 283, 288-89. This assertion by the court of appeals is inconsistent with the settled law of this state. The applicability of judicial estoppel is not limited to oral testimony, but applies with equal force to any sworn statement whether oral or writtenmade in the course of a judicial proceeding. See Aetna Life Ins. Co. v. Wells, 557 S.W.2d 144, 147 (Tex.Civ.App.-San Antonio 1977, writ ref'd n.r.e.); Van Deusen v. Connecticut Gen. Life Ins. Co., 514 S.W.2d 951, 956 (Tex.Civ. App.-Fort Worth 1974, no writ). In denying the applications for writ of error, we should not be construed as approving the court of appeals' interpretation of this doctrine.
Aetna Life Insurance Co. v. Wells , 1977 Tex. App. LEXIS 3413 ( 1977 )
Miller v. Gann , 1991 Tex. App. LEXIS 3180 ( 1991 )
Van Deusen v. Connecticut General Life Insurance Co. , 1974 Tex. App. LEXIS 2671 ( 1974 )
Rosalinda Blessing v. Joe Salvador Cardenas, Jr. ( 2008 )
vera-i-uzoh-and-john-m-uzoh-as-personal-representatives-of-the-estate-of ( 2002 )
vera-i-uzoh-and-john-m-uzoh-as-personal-representatives-of-the-estate-of ( 2002 )
fuentes-irma-imelda-and-jorge-fuentes-cardenas-v-ventura-john ( 2000 )
Southwest Intelecom, Inc. D/B/A Intelecom, Inc. v. Hotel ... ( 1999 )
Banta Oilfield Services, Inc. v. Mewbourne Oil Company , 568 S.W.3d 692 ( 2018 )
Rita Mary Gause v. Thomas X. Gause , 496 S.W.3d 913 ( 2016 )
vera-i-uzoh-and-john-m-uzoh-as-personal-representatives-of-the-estate-of ( 2002 )
in the Interest of A.N.H., a Child ( 2001 )
David Park v. Montgomery County, Texas ( 2005 )
Nine Syllables, LLC v. Gary C. Evans ( 2015 )
Rosalinda Blessing v. Joe Salvador Cardenas, Jr. ( 2008 )
Kimbley Harold v. Matthew M. Carrick Carolyn M. Berg, Doan ... ( 2013 )
Harry Williams v. William H. Nealon, M.D., and Eric M. ... ( 2006 )
Vanscot Concrete Co. v. Bailey , 862 S.W.2d 781 ( 1993 )
Commission of Contracts of the General Executive Committee ... , 1994 Tex. App. LEXIS 2116 ( 1994 )
National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh v. John ... , 972 S.W.2d 839 ( 1998 )
Southwest Intelecom, Inc. v. Hotel Networks Corp. , 1999 Tex. App. LEXIS 5155 ( 1999 )
National Loan Investors, L.P. v. Taylor , 79 S.W.3d 633 ( 2002 )