10-0970 Nicholas Traxler v. Entergy Gulf States Inc. from Orange County and the Ninth District Court of Appeals, Beaumont For petitioner: Jane S. Leger, Beaumont For respondent: Jacqueline M. Stroh, San Antonio The issues in this case involving an electrocution are (1) whether "transmission line" defined by the Texas Utility Code (and requiring a certain height above a roadway) applies to the power line above the road in this case and (2) whether a utility has a duty to agree on safety precautions for lines across a roadway. In this case Traxler sued Entergy, a power-distribution company, for negligence and negligence per se after a distribution line strung across a roadway burned him. Traxler, an employee of a house-moving company, was riding atop a house to assure obstacles were cleared as the house proceeded along a road. He alleges the power line he contacted was two feet lower than the Utility Code requires for a transmission line. He also contends Entergy failed to agree with the moving company about safety procedures as he argues the state Health and Safety Code requires. A jury awarded Traxler more than $1 million. The court of appeals reversed, holding in part that the power line that burned Traxler was not a transmission line covered by the Utility Code's height requirement. The appeals court also held that state law did not impose a duty on Entergy to assure safety procedures. This advisory serves only as an abbreviated guide to oral argument. Summaries are prepared by the Court's staff attorney for public information and reflect his judgment alone on facts and legal issues and in no way represent the Court's opinion about case merits. Texas Supreme Court advisory Contact: Osler McCarthy, Staff Attorney for Public Information (512) 463.1441 or email: osler.mccarthy@courts.state.tx.us

The issues in this libel case are (1) whether the Texas Citizens' Participation Act, intended to halt harassment suits targeting free expression, requires the plaintiff's claim to be dismissed and, if Toledo established the elements for her libel suit to get past the law's first hurdle, (2) whether KMBT sufficiently established protection under the fair-report privilege to warrant dismissal on that basis. Toledo, a Port Arthur pediatrician, sued KBMT, a Beaumont television station, for defaming her when it reported on a Texas Medical Board disciplinary action against her. In essence, she alleged the station went beyond the medical board's press release - stating that she was disciplined in part for inappropriate sexual conduct with a patient - by adding to its reports that she was a pediatrician. She claims that damaged her reputation because it suggested the medical board acted because she sexually abused a child. In the final of four broadcasts about the board's action, KBMT added that the patient was an adult (her 60-year-old boyfriend). The trial court denied the station's dismissal motion and the appeals court affirmed.

The issue in this case is whether the trial court should have dismissed the plaintiffs' claims against an investor in a petrochemical manufacturing company under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 91a.