Second Court of Appeals

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of December 14, 2015.

NOTE: Summaries are prepared by the court's staff attorneys and law clerks for public information only and reflect his or her interpretation alone of the facts and legal issues. The summaries are not part of the court's opinion in the case and should not be cited to, quoted, or relied upon as the opinion of the court.

Links to full text of opinions (PDF version) can be accessed by clicking the cause number.

In re S.T., No. 02-15-00203-CV (Dec. 17, 2015) (Sudderth, J., joined by Gardner, J.; Dauphinot, J., dissents without opinion).

Held:  The doctrine of invited error estops a party from challenging the trial court's ruling on appeal if he or she deliberately, clearly, and unequivocally requested the action that the trial court took.  However, even assuming that the invited error doctrine would preclude a party who sought relief in the alternative from complaining on appeal when the trial court wholly accepts one of the alternatives, that party must still have unequivocally taken a position in the trial court that is clearly adverse to its position on appeal.  Here, Appellant equivocated at almost every turn, making it difficult—if not impossible—for the trial court to have been guided at all by his expressed desires.  Because his requests for alternative relief were unclear, his position at trial is not clearly adverse to his position on appeal, and the trial court did not grant him any relief on the only request for which he remained steadfast, Appellant's position on appeal is not barred by the invited error doctrine.