Legal Memorandum: Sufficiency of the Evidence in TX

Issue: IN TEXAS, WHAT IS SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT A FINDING OF INTERFERENCE WITH ENJOYMENT OF AN EASEMENT?

The court reviews a challenge to the legal sufficiency of the evidence to support a finding of fact by the party without the burden of proof under a “no-evidence” standard.  TA s "Wichita County v. Hart, 989 S.W.2d 2, 6 (Tex. App.—F" c 1 l "Wichita County v. Hart, 989 S.W.2d 2 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth), review denied (1999)"Wichita County v. Hart, 989 S.W.2d 2, 6 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth), review denied (1999).  A challenge to the legal sufficiency of the evidence is an argument that the evidence in support of the finding is so weak or that the contrary evidence is so strong that the court should set aside the finding and order a new trial.  Id. at 7.  This Court has stressed that

[i]n determining a “no-evidence point, [the appellate court must] consider all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the party in whose favor the judgment has been rendered, and to indulge every reasonable inference from the evidence in that party’s favor.  If there is more than a scintilla of such evidence to support the finding, the claim is insufficient as a matter of law, and any challenges go merely to the weight to be accorded the evidence.

Id. at 6-7 (citations omitted).  The appellate court considers only the evidence that supports the jury’s finding; it ignores or disregards contrary evidence.  TA s "Leitch v. Hornsby, 935 S.W.2d 114, 118 (Tex. 1996)" c 1 l "Leitch v. Hornsby, 935 S.W.2d 114 (Tex. […]