Jimmy Lynn Horrocks and Beatriz Horrocks v. Texas Department Transportation

Per Curiam We consider whether an appellate court may properly render judgment on the basis of a no evidence complaint raised solely by a motion for new trial. Police officer Jimmy Horrocks sustained permanently disabling injuries when his motorcycle struck a truck leaf spring lying on the shoulder of Interstate 20 in Grand Prairie, Texas. Horrocks and his wife Beatriz sued, alleging the State negligently failed to remove or warn of a hazardous roadway condition. Following trial, a jury determined that the spring was a ""special defect"" under the Texas Tort Claims Act, that the State knew or should have known of the defect, and that the State's negligence proximately caused the accident. The trial court rendered judgment on the verdict.