HOUSTON — A wrongful death suit against a trucking company has been revived by the 14th Court of Appeals.
The lawsuit was brought on behalf of Mohammed Ghanbarikaleh, who was struck by a tractor trailer as he attempted to cross eight lanes of traffic on Highway 610 on foot. He died two days later as a result of his injuries.
The wrongful death litigation names Rigoberto Leon Rodriguez and Alain Leon Rodriguez as defendants. Ghanbarikaleh was struck by a vehicle driven by Rigoberto and owned by Alain Rodriguez Trucking.
Court records show the trial court granted the defendants’ traditional motion for summary judgment, dismissing the plaintiffs’ claims on grounds there was no dispute as to a material fact that Ghanbairkaleh committed suicide.
In their appeals brief, the plaintiffs assert that they were not given sufficient time to conduct discovery to be able to respond to the allegations in the summary judgment motion, and that they presented evidence that Ghanbarikaleh did not commit suicide.
The plaintiffs' brief states that the defendants’ brief contains no statement of facts, “which ordinarily might be viewed as a mere inadvertent failure to follow the briefing rules.”
“However, it is also consistent with their desire to avoid focusing on the unfortunate cause of Mohammed Ghanbarikaleh’s death,” the brief states. “As confirmed by the police report, his death happened when Ghanbarikaleh entered an eight-lane freeway on foot and stepped in front of a truck driven by Rigoberto Rodriguez. The death certificate describes the manner of death as ‘[s]uicide.’
“Nevertheless, Ghanbarikaleh’s parents (the Kalehs) sued Rodriguez and the truck’s operator for negligence.”
The plaintiffs argued that the defendants did not present the affirmative defense of suicide in their answer and only raised it for the first time in their motion for summary judgment.
Though under Texas Law suicide is an affirmative defense to a wrongful death claim, The 14th Court on Sept. 15 found that the defendants’ failed to plead the affirmative defense of suicide.
“Because we conclude that appellees failed to plead the affirmative defense of suicide, appellants objected to this failure in their summary judgment response, and the record affirmatively indicates that the trial court considered appellants’ late-filed response, we reverse and remand,” the opinion states.
Appeals case No. 14-25-00618-CV
