Sadeghian v. Shaw

Khosrow Sadeghian brought suit against Willie Shaw alleging nonpayment of a debt arising from a contract for the sale of real estate. The county court, in its final order, purported to rescind a previously granted motion for new trial and a motion to transfer venue and to render a final take-nothing judgment against all parties. Although Sadeghian raises several issues for appellate review, the dispositive challenge contends that the county court lacked jurisdiction to render the judgment because the court’s plenary power had expired when the judgment was rendered. For the reasons that follow, we vacate the county court’s judgment.

In May of 1999, Sadeghian filed his original petition in small claims court in Denton County, alleging that Shaw had failed to pay a debt in the amount of $4,400.00. Shaw filed a motion to transfer venue, and the court transferred the case to a justice court in Fannin County. Shaw also filed a counterclaim for $5,643.07 in damages, plus additional damages under the Texas Business and Commerce Code and the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and for attorney’s fees. Sadeghian failed to appear at the scheduled trial on May 30, 2000, and the justice court rendered a default judgment against Sadeghian in favor of Shaw for $5,000.00 in damages and $5,000.00 in attorney’s fees. On June 7, 2000, Sadeghian filed an appeal bond seeking to appeal to the county court of Fannin County. The justice court approved the bond and waived the bond amount. Shaw then filed a motion in the county court to dismiss Sadeghian’s appeal on the ground that the county court was without jurisdiction because Sadeghian’s appeal bond did not satisfy Texas Rules of Civil Procedure requirements as to the amount of the bond. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 143a. Shaw succeeded on his motion and, in October of 2000, the county court dismissed the appeal. After this, Sadeghian filed a motion in the county court for a new trial, or in the alternative, to reinstate the case so that he could properly file his appeal. The county court granted Sadeghian’s request for a new trial in December of 2000. Sadeghian then filed a corrected appeal bond for $20,000.00. On March 1, 2001, the county court dismissed the case, ordering that all parties take nothing, and one day later the court reinstated the same case to the docket, finding that it had been dismissed by accident. This was followed, in the middle of May, by Shaw’s plea to the jurisdiction and motion to transfer to the district court of Fannin County, on the grounds that the district court had exclusive jurisdiction of the matter. The county court granted the motion to transfer on June 6, 2001. Despite this transfer, on September 7, 2001, the same county court filed an order in which it stated that it had reconsidered its previous orders and had now decided the following: the order dated October 20, 2000, which dismissed Sadeghian’s original appeal, was affirmed; the order dated March 1, 2001, which dismissed the case with all parties taking nothing was affirmed; the order dated March 1, 2001, which reinstated the case was vacated; the order dated June 6, 2001, which transferred the case to the district court was vacated; and, in summation, Sadeghian’s appeal was dismissed with prejudice. It appears that at this point, the county court’s intention was for all parties to take nothing. In late October of 2001, Sadeghian unsuccessfully moved for a new trial.