Notable Appellate Opinions Involving Attorney Eric R. Little

Zahorik v. State, 475 S.W.3d 459, 460 (Tex. App. – Houston [14th Dist.] 2015) – [As Trial Attorney] –The evidence was legally insufficient to support defendant’s conviction for making a false report to a police officer or law enforcement agency under Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 37.08 (2011), because the State failed to show that defendant made his report that an employee of the police department checked defendant’s credit report without authorization for reasons other than to obtain action on a valid grievance. CONVICTION REVERSED AND DEFENDANT EXHONERATED BY COURT OF APPEALS BASED ON TRIAL COURT RECORD DEVELOPED BY ERL.

In re Marriage of Butts, 444 S.W.3d 147 (Tex. App. – Houston [14th Dist.] 2014) – [As Appellate Attorney] – The trial court erred in ordering the father to pay $800 per month in child support in the absence of evidence of his net resources and without making the findings mandated by Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 154.130(a)(3), (b); absent evidence of his financial resources, the presumption in Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 154.068 that he earned minimum wage for a 40-hour workweek applied, and $800 per month was much more than 20 percent of his presumed net resources. JUDGMENT OF CHILD SUPPORT REVERSED BY COURT OF APPEALS IN AGREEMENT WITH APPEAL WRITTEN & ARGUED BY ERL.

Phillips v. Schneider, No. 03-10-00505-CV, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 9271 (App. – Austin July 26, 2013) – [As Trial and Appellate Attorney] – Owner and neighbor obtained their properties by a partition of a large tract of land. The appellate court held that the trial court properly denied the owner’s claim for an implied easement by necessity because nothing in the partition deed, in the facts surrounding the partition, or in the conduct of the family members at the time of or since the partition suggested that a route across the neighbor’s tract arose out of necessity at the time of the deed. ERL WON CASE FOR CLIENT AT TRIAL AND PREVAILED ON APPEAL.

Williams v. Mai, 471 S.W.3d 16 (Tex. App. – Houston [1st Dist.] 2015) – [As Appellate Attorney] – In a partition action, the trial court violated appellant’s due process rights when it partitioned real property without a hearing and without the commissioners’ report in contravention of Tex. R. Civ. P. 769, 771; Because the commissioners’ report was not filed in the trial court, appellant was unable to object to the commissioners’ report and have a trial of the issues as permitted by Tex. R. Civ. P. 771. ERL PREVAILED ON APPEAL FOR CLIENT AND OPINION ESTABLISHED TEXAS PRECEDENT REGARDING DUE PROCESS IN CIVIL REAL ESTATE PARTITION CASES.

Williams v. Mai, No. 01-11-00611-CV, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 10513 (App. – Houston [1st Dist.] Dec. 20, 2012) – [As Appellate Attorney] – The trial court, as the fact finder, may award damages within the range of evidence presented at trial, if there is a rational basis for that award. The trial court may assign value to property that is within range of evidence presented at trial when determining the just and right division of community property.

Rushing v. State, No. 13-11-00028-CR, 2012 Tex. App. LEXIS 2245 (App. – Corpus Christi Mar. 22, 2012) – [As Appellate Attorney] – Defendant admitted to police that he threw a dog off of the bridge. He entered a no contest plea to cruelty to a nonlivestock animal by unreasonable abandonment. Because the offense was a misdemeanor, the trial court was not required to admonish defendant of the consequences of his plea under Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 27.14 (Supp. 2011). The invited error doctrine prevented defendant from complaining on appeal that the trial court erred by allowing him to plead no contest in a jury trial to determine his guilt or innocence.