Second Court of Appeals

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of August 26, 2019.

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.

P.C. v. E.C., No. 02-18-00389-CV (Aug. 26, 2019) (Sudderth, C.J., joined by Bassel and Womack, JJ.).

Held:  The nonparty’s invocation of his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination did not give rise to an adverse inference against Appellee under Texas Rule of Evidence 513.

In re J.C., No. 02-18-00029-CV (Aug. 27, 2019) (Gabriel, J., joined by Sudderth, C.J., and Birdwell, J.).

Held:  Appellant failed to establish that Texas family code section 160.607, which generally provides that a person may not commence a suit to adjudicate parentage after a child’s fourth birthday if the child has a presumed father, implicates a fundamental right or a suspect class under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.  Accordingly, Appellant’s argument that section 160.607 violates the Equal Protection Clause because it must, but cannot, survive strict-scrutiny review fails.