In re Bonnie Elizabeth Parker
Dallas Court of Appeals, No.
05-24-00809-CV (August 27, 2025)
Chief
Justice Koch (Opinion, linked here), and Justices
Goldstein and Garcia
In memory and in lore, Bonnie Parker
and Clyde Barrow are inseparable. In fact, however, Bonnie was interred at
Crown Hill Memorial Park, while Clyde rests in a Western Heights Cemetery plot
several miles away. Invoking Texas Health & Safety Code § 711.004, Bonnie’s
niece sought to reunite the two by having Bonnie’s remains removed from Crown
Heights and reinterred next to Clyde at Western Heights. But § 711.004(a)
allows for disinterment only “with the written consent of the cemetery
organization operating the cemetery,” and Crown Hill refused. Subsection 711.004(c),
however, provides nevertheless that, when the consents required by subsection 711.004(a)
cannot be obtained, remains “may be removed by permission of a county court of
the county in which the cemetery is located.” So, off to county court went
Bonnie’s niece, where she obtained a permanent injunction ordering Crown Hill
to enter into arrangements for Bonnie’s disinterment within 10 days after the
judgment.
Crown Hill appealed. When the trial court refused to stay its judgment
pending appeal, Crown Hill sought emergency relief in the Dallas Court of
Appeals, and that Court obliged.
Treating Crown Hill’s filing as a motion for review under TRAP 24.4, the appeals court held that when a judgment is for something other than money or an interest in property, the trial court ordinarily “must set the amount and type of security that the judgment debtor must post” and allow the appellant to supersede, per TRAP 24.2(a)(3). Here, the Court said, the “appeal will become moot if Crown Hill is not permitted to suspend enforcement of the judgment.” By contrast, allowing Bonnie’s remains to remain at Crown Hill where they have been since 1945 “perfectly preserves the status quo and the parties’ rights pending appeal.” So, the Court reversed the trial court’s order denying a stay, set the amount of Crown Hill’s bond at $0, and suspended enforcement of the trial court’s judgment pending disposition of the appeal—leaving Bonnie and Clyde apart, at least for a little while longer.
