# Casso v. Brand

> Texas Supreme Court · May 10, 1989 · 32 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 366

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9681217

## Case

- **Full name:** Ramiro CASSO, M.D., Petitioner, v. Othal E. BRAND, Respondent
- **Court:** Texas Supreme Court
- **Decided:** May 10, 1989
- **Citations:** 32 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 366; 776 S.W.2d 551; 16 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 1929; 1989 Tex. LEXIS 39; 1989 WL 47717
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Dissent by Ray
- **Judges:** Spears, Cook, Hightower, Doggett, Gonzalez, Mauzy, Phillips, Ray, Hecht
- **Cited by:** 805 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9681217

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- stating that the court was “reluctant to afford greater constitutional protection to members of the print and broadcast media than to ordinary citizens” and therefore holding that when a public figure sues a private individual, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant made …
- stating that a summary judgment may be granted on the basis of uncontroverted testimonial evidence of an interested witness if that evidence “is clear, positive and direct, otherwise credible and free from contradictions and inconsistencies, and could have been readily controv…
- noting that constitutional implications in defamation claims do not alter our summary judgment standards

## Opinion text

RAY, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. The majority today ignores stare decisis and needlessly overrules the court’s recent decisions in Bessent and Beaumont Enterprise. Bessent v. Times-Herald Printing Co., 709 S.W.2d 635 (Tex.1986); Beaumont Enter *567 prise & Journal v. Smith, 687 S.W.2d 729 (Tex.1985). While stare decisis should remain a flexible doctrine, I see no compelling reason to overturn established Texas summary judgment law.
Even if the majority feels it must overrule Bessent and Beaumont Enterprise, the very least it could do would be to remand for a new trial in the interest of justice pursuant to rule 180 of the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. Mayor Brand justifiably relied on our opinions in Bessent and Beaumont Enterprise. He should not be punished for failing to divine the court’s future development of the law.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9681217. Public record. Not legal advice.