Ronald Whittington and Mary Whittington v. Jay Green and Connie Green

Citation: Not availableDocket: 07-15-00102-CV

Court: Texas Supreme Court; January 26, 2017; Texas; State Supreme Court

Original Court Document: View Document

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The Court of Appeals for the Seventh District of Texas at Amarillo denied the Motion for Rehearing filed by Jay and Connie Green, who are the appellees in the case against Ronald and Mary Whittington, the appellants. The Green's motion sought to withdraw the court's prior opinion, reverse its earlier ruling, and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Greens presented three main arguments: 

1. They claimed that the court failed to consider multiple uncontested findings of fact related to Whittington's failure to maintain a trench that was supposed to prevent excess water from flowing onto their property. They referenced specific findings of fact that they argued were not effectively contested by Whittington.

2. They argued that the court erred by not remanding the case to the trial court to determine the intent of the parties regarding the term "excess water." The court stated that it had sufficient records to make a judgment without further proceedings since the term was interpreted in a strict legal sense.

3. They contended that Whittington should not recover attorney's fees for what they described as a redundant declaratory judgment claim. The court clarified that the Greens misinterpreted a prior case, asserting that Whittington's claim did not fall under the limitations described in that case as it pertained to interpreting the obligations of the parties under a settlement agreement.

The court confirmed that it had properly addressed the issues in its prior opinion and thus denied the Greens' Motion for Rehearing. Justice Patrick A. Pirtle authored the order.