James X (H. Bankehead) v. Angelina Zertuche Guajardo--Appeal from 81st Judicial District Court of Karnes County

MEMORANDUM OPINION
No. 04-02-00386-CV
James X (H. Bankehead),
Appellant
v.
Angelina Zertuche GUAJARDO,
Appellee

From the 218th Judicial District Court, Karnes County, Texas

Trial Court No. 01-06-00094-CVK
Honorable Ron Carr, Judge Presiding

PER CURIAM

Sitting: Alma L. L pez, Chief Justice

Catherine Stone, Justice

Paul W. Green, Justice

Delivered and Filed: February 5, 2003

AFFIRMED

Appellant James X (H. Bankehead), a prison inmate, appeals the trial court's order dismissing his negligence suit filed under the Texas Tort Claims Act. The trial court dismissed appellant's suit as frivolous pursuant to Chapter 14 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code ("the Code"). We affirm the trial court's order of dismissal.

Prison inmates who file suits in Texas state courts pro se and who seek to proceed in forma pauperis must comply with numerous procedural requirements set forth in Chapter 14 of the Code. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. 14.002; 14.004; 14.005; 14.006 (Vernon 2002). A failure to fulfill those procedural requirements will result in dismissal of an inmate's action. See Bell v. Texas Dep't of Criminal Justice-Inst. Div., 962 S.W.2d 156, 158 (Tex. App.-- Houston [14th Dist.] 1998, pet. denied) (holding that in absence of adequate affidavits, trial court is entitled to assume suit is substantially similar to previous suits and thus frivolous); see also Hicks v. Brysch, 989 F. Supp. 797, 823-24 (W.D. Tex. 1997) (holding court clerk need not file inmate's civil suit when inmate failed to file affidavits required by statute). We review a trial court's dismissal of an action pursuant to Chapter 14 under an abuse of discretion standard. Hickman v. Adams, 35 S.W.3d 120, 123 (Tex. App.-- Houston [14th] 2000, no pet.). A trial court abuses its discretion if it acts without reference to any guiding rules or principles. Id.

Because appellant brought the underlying lawsuit pro se and filed a request to proceed in forma pauperis, he was required to fulfill the various procedural requirements set forth in Chapter 14 of the Code. Claiming appellant failed to fulfill these procedural requirements, the defendant, prison employee Angelina Guajardo, filed a motion to dismiss in which she noted that appellant failed to file an affidavit of previous filings as required by Tex. Civ. Prac. & rem. Code Ann. 14.004 (Vernon 2002). This failure alone is adequate grounds for the trial court to dismiss appellant's suit. See White v. State, 37 S.W.3d 562, 563-64 (Tex. App.--Beaumont 2001, no pet.).

A trial court has broad discretion under Chapter 14 to dismiss an inmate's suit if it deems the suit frivolous. Hickman, 35 S.W.3d at 123. In the instant case, the trial court could determine from appellant's petition alone that his claim is frivolous. Appellant claims prison guards and inmates "racially took plaintiff's" property - property that ranges from prayer beads to pornographic books and photographs. Based on appellant's allegations alone, the trial court was within his discretion in concluding that appellant's suit is frivolous. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. 14.003(b) (Vernon 2002).

The order of the trial court is affirmed.

PER CURIAM

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