Darrell Craig White v. University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), TDCJ, Managed Health Care Division--Appeal from 81st Judicial District Court of Karnes County

MEMORANDUM OPINION
No. 04-02-00778-CV
Darrell Craig WHITE,
Appellant
v.
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MEDICAL BRANCH,
Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Managed Health Care Division,
Appellees
From the 81st Judicial District Court, Karnes County, Texas
Trial Court No. 02-02-00029-CVK
Honorable Ron Carr, Judge Presiding

Opinion by: Alma L. L pez, Chief Justice

Sitting: Alma L. L pez, Chief Justice

Karen Angelini, Justice

Phylis J. Speedlin, Justice

Delivered and Filed: May 7, 2003

AFFIRMED

Darrell Craig White ("White") appeals an order dismissing as frivolous his complaint against the University of Texas Medical Branch, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and Managed Health Care Division ("UTMB"). We affirm the trial court's judgment.

We review a dismissal with prejudice of an inmate's claim pursuant to Chapter 14 under an abuse of discretion standard. Hickman v. Adams, 35 S.W.3d 120, 123 (Tex. App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2000, no pet.). A trial court abuses its discretion if it dismisses a claim without regard to guidelines, principles, or rules. Id. In this case, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing White's claim, because the claim failed to meet the following requirements of Chapter 14.

1. White's affidavit of previous filings listed three previous cases he had filed. The Attorney General's records contained three additional cases that White had not listed. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. 14.004(a)(1) (Vernon 2002) (requiring every pro se suit by claimant to be listed). In addition, White's affidavit failed to give sufficient operative facts on the relief sought in the prior cases and the basis of his claims to enable the trial court to determine if the claims asserted in the underlying lawsuit arose from the same operative facts. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. 14.004(a)(2)(A) (Vernon 2002); Obadele v. Johnson, 60 S.W.3d 345, 348 (Tex. App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 2001, no pet.).

2. White did not exhaust the administrative remedies available to him before filing suit. Tex. Civ. Prac.& Rem. Code Ann. 14.005 (Vernon 2002) (requiring exhaustion of administrative remedies). Although White claimed that many of his administrative complaints had been lost or were unanswered, he made no attempt to list his grievances and the dates on which they were filed. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. 14.005(a)(1) (Vernon 2002). Finally, for those administrative complaints that were answered, White did not attach a copy of the written decision. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. 14.005(a)(2) (Vernon 2002).

The trial court's judgment is affirmed.

Alma L. L pez, Chief Justice