Fourteenth Court of Appeals: References to Racial, Gender Bias Mandate New Trial 

In a breach of contract case where comments before the jury implied certain parties were racist, sexist or even akin to Nazi Joseph Goebbels, a new trial must take place, the Fourteenth Court of Appeals determined Tuesday. 

A Harris County jury that heard six weeks of testimony in 2023 determined Mid Main Properties was entitled to $32.5 million in damages, which Judge Rabeea Sultan Collier reduced to about $9.6 million in an April 2024 final judgment (not including conditional appellate fees and post-judgment interest). But comments made in front of the jury, both during trial and in closing arguments, mean there must be a do-over, a three-justice panel decided.