Hubert Spradling, D/b/a Sprad’s Boat Town, Petitioner v. N. D. Williams, Jr., Respondent

Summary

The Texas Supreme Court affirmed the lower courts' judgments, holding that the trial court's instruction that listed deceptive practices under §17.46(b) are automatically unlawful was correct, that the instruction defining deceptive acts by their capacity to deceive an ignorant, unthinking, or credulous person was proper, and that the error concerning unlisted acts was harmless. Justice Steakley dissented, arguing the error was reversible, while Chief Justice Greenhill concurred, noting constitutional doubts about penal damages for unlisted acts.