State of Texas, Petitioner v. Lynn D. Durham and Clarence Scharbauer, Trustees Under the Will of Fred Turner…

Summary

The Texas Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals' grant of summary judgment for the trustees, holding that the surface owner remains an agent owing fiduciary duties under the Relinquishment Act and that the prior 1934 judgment does not bar the State's fraud claim, thus remanding for further proceedings. The Court found that summary judgment was improper because credibility and possible sham‑lease issues must be decided at trial. Two dissenting justices argued that res judicata bars the claim and that the agency terminated, so they would have affirmed the judgment.