THIRTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS
IN CORPUS CHRISTI & EDINBURG
Unlike other intermediate courts in Texas, the Thirteenth Court of Appeals has two seats: Corpus Christi (Nueces County Courthouse) and Edinburg (Hidalgo County Courthouse). Oral arguments alternate between the two locations.
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| New Chief Justice Dori Contreras (official photo and bio) |
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| Latest appointment to 13th COA |
7/24/2019. Governor Greg Abbott announces appointment of Jaime Tijerina to the Thirteenth Court of Appeals for a term set to expire on December 31, 2020, or until his successor shall be duly elected. Tijerina replaces Rudolfo Delgado, to whom he lost in the 2018 election, in which he was the Republican candidate. Delgado was recently convicted of bribery and obstruction, following a six-day trial in federal court. See Lorenzo Zazueta Castro, Ex-judge convicted of bribery resigns from appellate court. THE BROWNVILLE HERALD, July 23, 2019.
As presiding judge of the 93rd District Court in Hidalgo County, Rodolfo “Rudy” Delgado conspired with an attorney from January 2008 to November 2016 to accept bribes in exchange for favorable judicial consideration on criminal cases pending in his courtroom. As part of an investigation conducted by the FBI, Delgado also accepted bribes on three separate occasions in exchange for agreeing to release three of the attorney’s clients on bond in cases pending before his court. After Delgado learned of the FBI’s investigation, he also attempted to obstruct justice by contacting the attorney and providing a false story about the payments. Sentencing has been set for Sept. 25, 2019. SOURCE: U.S. Dept of Justice Press Release Number 19-758 (July 11, 2019)
Prior to his elevation to the appellate level, Jaime Tijerina served as judge of the 464th Judicial District Court. He formerly served as judge of the 93rd Judicial District Court and is a former deputy city attorney for the City of Mission, and was the elected Kenedy County Attorney for 12 years. He also served as the judge of the 92nd Judicial District Court.
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| Rodolfo "Rudy" Delgado not on COA Letterhead (though elected, he was promptly suspended and did not perform appellate duties) |
MEMBERSHIP OF THIRTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS AS OF JANUARY 2019
Chief Justice: Dori Contreras
Gina M Benavides
Nora L. Longoria
Leticia Hinojosa
Rodolfo "Rudy" Delgado
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| Newly elected Justice Rudy Delgado, replacing Nelda V. Rodriguez (Place 4) |
Vacancy filled January 28, 2019. Governor Greg Abbott appoints Greg Perkes to the Thirteenth Court of Appeals for a term set to expire on December 31, 2020, or until his successor shall be duly elected and qualified. Greg Perkes of Corpus Christi previously served as a justice on the Thirteenth Court of Appeals from 2011-2016. He is board certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
Other news items: Fifth Circuit rules for former Chief Justice Rogelio Valdez in spat over staff attorney hiring. Bruce M. Anderson v. Rogelio Valdez, No. 17-41243 (5th Cir. Jan 14, 2019).
Local News: First female chief justice of 13th Court of Appeals reflects on career change. THE MONITOR. Jan 8, 2019
2018 ELECTION RESULTS
As a result of the November elections, this court of appeals has a female Chief Justice for the first time in its history, starting January 1, 2019. All current members have Hispanic surnames.
Election of new Chief Justice: Sitting Associate Justice Dori Contreras (D) won the contest for chief justice with 53.56% of the vote, defeating Republican candidate Ernie Aliseda.
Place 4: Rudolfo "Rudy" Delgado defeated Republican candidate Jaime Tijerina with 50.36% of the vote.
Place 5: Incumbent Democrat Gina Benavides won reelection with 53.04% against Republican challenger Clarissa Silva
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| Final tally: Results in Associate Justices races in 2018 |
CLERK OF COURT: DORIAN E. RAMIREZ - CONTACTING THE COURT
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| Go to -> Official 13th Court of Appeals of Texas website |
Place 1: Chief Justice Rogelio Valdez
Place 4: Justice Nelda V. Rodriguez
Place 6: Justice Dori Contreras
Place 5: Justice Gina M. Benavides
Place 2: Justice Nora Longoria
Place 3: Justice Leticia Hinojosa
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| 13th COA Letterhead as of December 2018 |
In 2018 this court also heard cases transferred from the Third Court of Appeals in Austin for docket-equalization purposes. See TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. § 73.001. In a transfer case, the receiving court applies the precedent of the sending court to the extent it differs. See TEX. R. APP. P. 41.3.
NOTEWORTHY DECISIONS
Personal injury claim arising from malfunctioning door at medical center deemed a health care liability claim requiring expert report: Valley Regional Medical Center v. Maria Guadalupe Camacho, No. 13-14-00004-CV (Tex. App. - Corpus Christi, April 9, 2015)(Memo op with dissent by Justice Gina Benavides).
DISSENT BY JUSTICE BENAVIDES
.JPG "Dissent by Justice Benavides in Valley Regional Medical Center v. Maria Guadalupe Camacho, No. 13-14-00004-CV (Tex. App. - Corpus Christi, April 9, 2015)")
2015 NEWS INVOLVING JUSTICES OF THE 13TH COURT OF APPEALS
On March 13, 2015 the State Commission on Judicial Conduct issued a public admonition against Justice Nora Longoria in connection with her well-publicized July 2014 drunk-driving arrest, and her effort to escape arrest and prosecution by invoking her status as a judge. Though failing to pass the field sobriety test, she was not drunk enough to appreciate that the arrest could be “ruining her life and career” and provided the arresting officer with an estimate of the number of beers she had consumed (5). The judicial badge did not impress the arresting officer unduly, but the DWI charge was later dismissed anyhow, which created further controversy. The police officer’s dash cam video recording ended up on the internet.
The Judicial Conduct Commission's Finding of Fact No 11 recites the following:
The McAllen Police Department provided a copy of the dash cam video recording to the Commission, which revealed, among other things, that Justice Longoria (a) repeatedly identified herself as a judge and offered to show her judicial badge to the officers without being asked for that information; (b) repeatedly pleaded with the officer not to arrest her, to issue her a warning, and to let her go home; and (c) stated that the officer was “ruining her life and career.”
2014 JUDICIAL RACES
Democratic Incumbent Dori Contreras Garza (Place 6) narrowly held on to her seat in the 2014 general elections as Republican candidates took all state-wide offices and won most appellate court races. Justice Contreras Garza defeated Republican opponent Doug Norman with 50.85% of the vote. She garnered 130,724 votes, while Norman received 126,332, -- a difference of less than 4,500 votes.
In statewide comparison, the Thirteenth Court of Appeal has the highest percentage of petitions for review accepted by the Texas Supreme Court of Texas, presumably because of divergence in "judicial philosophy", which is correlated with political, demographic, and geographic cleavages.
MEMBERSHIP AS OF SEPTEMBER 1, 2014 WITH YEAR OF TERM EXPIRATION
Rogelio Valdez 2018
Nelda V. Rodriguez 2018
Dori Contreras Garza 2014 (narrowly re-elected in 2014 for another six-year term)
Gina M. Benavides 2018
Gregory T. Perkes 2016
Nora L. Longoria 2018
Visiting Justice in FY 2014: Justice Don Wittig
OPINION STATS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2014 - BY AUTHORING JUSTICE
COUNTIES FROM WHICH APPEALS GO TO THIS APPELLATE COURT
Aransas Goliad Kleberg Refugio Bee Gonzales Lavaca San Patricio Calhoun Hidalgo Live Oak Victoria Cameron Jackson Matagorda Wharton De Witt Kenedy Nueces Willacy
Link to Court's website: http://www.txcourts.gov/13thcoa.aspx
PARTICULARITIES OF THIS COURT
Honorifics-inflation: On this appellate court's docket sheet, the listed attorneys are Hon-s too, not just the judges and justices. All lawyers get the Hon. prefix. Pro se parties to not.
The Thirteenth Court utilizes Westlaw exclusively. The Court prefers that attorneys provide Westlaw citations when citing cases that are not published in the Southwestern Reporters. Comment: Where does that leave those without a subscription to the commercial service? Why not require hyperlinks to issued opinions, which are available on-line on the Texas Judiciary's websites?
PHOTOS OF NUECES COUNTY COURTHOUSE
CORPUS CHRISTI NOTABLE SIGHTS
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| FRIENDSHIP MONUMENT |
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| SELENA MEMORIAL ON CORPUS CHRISTI SHORELINE |
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| La Flor |
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| Corpus Christi Urban Shoreline |
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| Corpus Christi Shoreline - Battleship in the distance |
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| Corpus Christi Skyline at dusk |
Last revised, corrected, or updated: 11/12//2019
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