Donald Davis v. Texas Department of Criminal Justice, 11-13-00363-CV

Appellant Donald Davis, incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, filed suit in the 259th District Court of Jones County on August 2, 2011 (amended August 5, 2011) against TDCJ and a mailroom official, Leal.
Davis alleged Leal confiscated his Blackmen magazine, which he had a four-year paid subscription for, claiming it contained “group related material.”
The first amended complaint asserted three causes of action: (1) negligent use/misuse of property and conversion; (2) violation of the rights to use the grievance system (equal protection) under federal and state constitutions; (3) racial discriminatory practices in applying TDCJ Correspondence Rules.
The trial court dismissed the suit without a hearing as frivolous under Chapter 14 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, and Davis’s motion for new trial was overruled by operation of law.
On appeal, Davis argued the trial court abused its discretion by dismissing without a hearing and because the claims had an arguable basis in law; he also challenged the denial/overruling of his motions for new trial and sought a default judgment against Leal.
The appellate court affirmed, holding that all three causes of action had no arguable basis in law, and the trial court did not err in dismissing the suit as frivolous or in not ruling on new trials or a default judgment.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether dismissal without a hearing was an abuse of discretion	Davis contends a hearing was required under §14.003(c)	Court may hold a hearing but not required; only determine frivolousness	No abuse; no required hearing based on the record and §14.003(c)
Whether the claims have an arguable basis in law	Davis asserts some claims have legal basis	Claims lack arguable basis in law	Dismissal upheld; no arguable basis for all three claims
Whether denial of new-trial motions and default-judgment request were proper	Motions for new trial denied; seeks default judgment against Leal	Rule 329b(c) overruling by operation of law; default judgment procedurally improper	Properly overruled/denied; affirmed

Hall v. Treon, 39 S.W.3d 722 (Tex. App.—Beaumont 2001) (hearing not required absent evidence of additional filings)
Thomas v. Wichita Gen. Hosp., 952 S.W.2d 936 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 1997) (hearing not mandatory when no evidence would be presented)
Simmonds v. Harrison, 387 S.W.3d 812 (Tex. App.—Eastland 2012) (abuse of discretion standard in frivolous dismissals)
Downer v. Aquamarine Operators, Inc., 701 S.W.2d 238 (Tex. 1985) (abuse of discretion standard for dismissal decisions)
Fernandez v. T.D.C.J., 341 S.W.3d 6 (Tex. App.—Waco 2010) (Tort Claims Act limitations; no personal injury stated for property misuse)
Jones v. Texas Dep’t of Criminal Justice-Inst. Div., 318 S.W.3d 398 (Tex. App.—Waco 2010) (TA waiver and immunities under Tort Claims Act; impact on conversion claim)
Franka v. Velasquez, 332 S.W.3d 367 (Tex. 2011) (TA immunities; scope of 101.106(f) including official-capacity framing)
Mission Consol. Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Garcia, 253 S.W.3d 653 (Tex. 2008) (interpretation of governmental immunity and related claims)