No. 18-1573

Zsolt Petko, et al. v. Carelton Courtyard

Lower Court: Texas
Docketed: 2019-06-25
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Relisted (2)
Tags: burden-of-proof civil-procedure civil-rights due-process justice-of-peace justice-of-the-peace legal-action probable-cause property-rights texas-law texas-rules-of-civil-procedure towing towing-law
Latest Conference: 2019-12-13 (distributed 2 times)
Question Presented (from Petition)

Question l:
Does towing a person 's car constitute a legal action
(TOC Sec. 2308.001)?

Question 2:
Does a person subjected to a legal action (i.e. towing)
has the burden of proof to prove innocence or burden
of proof rests with the one who initiated legal action
(i.e. tower)?

Question 3:
Can a justice of the peace overlook factual evidence
that unequivocally proves case in favor of plaintiff
and claim existence of probable cause to justify
ruling in favor of defendant (TRCP Rule 1 in
Appendix N)?

Question 4:
Can a justice of the peace preclude plaintiff from the
opportunity to prepare a response by allowing
defendant to modify testimony and introduce new
evidence at the hearing without notifying plaintiff
ahead of time before the hearing (US Constitution
Amendments V, VIII, and XIV in Appendix N)?

Question 5:
Can a county court judge hold a hearing without
notifying a plaintiff and communicate with defendant
only at the hearing (TRCP Rules 161, 165a, TRAP
52.11)?

Question 6:
Can a county court judge deny the basic right to be
heard in trial and fair and equitable legal process
from plaintiff by disregarding the merits, evidence,
and facts of a case that s/he is in possession of and
allow defendant to call for default judgment and
dismiss a case against defendant at a hearing in the
absence of plaintiff when plaintiff was not informed
about the hearing (US Constitution Amendments V,
VII, VIII, and XIV> ' and Freeman v. Freeman, 327
S.W.2d 428, 431 (1959); Mapco, Inc. v. Forrest, 795
S.W.2d 799 (Tex. 1990); State v. Herrera, 25 S.W.3d
326, 327-28 (Tex. App. -Austin 2000, no pet.);
Smock v. Fischel, 207 S.W2d 891, 892 (Tex. 1948);
Leeper v. Haynsworth, 179 S.W.3d 742, 745 (Tex.
App. - El Paso 2005, no pet.) in Appendix N)?

Question 7:
Is granting a hearing/rehearing discretionary in
circumstances when one of the participants was not
invited to a previously held hearing, where key
decision about a case was made (TRCP Rules 21, 24,
161, TRAP Rules 52.9 and 61 in Appendix N)?

Question 8:
Can a county court judge uphold a default judgment
s/he made based on the absence of plaintiff from a
hearing while said judge recognized plaintiff was not
notified and did not know about the hearing (TRCP
Rule 239; and Smith v. Lippman, 826 S.W.2d 137,
138 (Tex. 1992); Hughes v. Habitat Apartments, 860
S.W.2d 872, 872-873 (Tex. 1993); R.T.A. Int'l v. Cano,
915 S.

Question Presented (AI Summary)

Does towing a person's car constitute a legal action?

Docket Entries

2019-12-16
Rehearing DENIED.
2019-11-26
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/13/2019.
2019-11-01
2019-10-07
Petition DENIED.
2019-08-07
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/1/2019.
2019-04-18
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due July 25, 2019)

Attorneys

Zsolt Petko, et al.
Zsolt Petko — Petitioner