St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co. v. Confer

In St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co. v. Confer, 956 S.W.2d 825 (Tex. App.--San Antonio 1997, writ denied), the court of appeals considered the exact issue we consider here -- whether testimony from a Commission hearing is admissible in a judicial review action. See Confer, 956 S.W.2d at 830-31. In Confer, the trial court excluded the Commission testimony because the party proffering the testimony did not show that the witness was unavailable to testify at trial. The court of appeals held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the evidence. See Confer, 956 S.W.2d at 831. Section 410.306(b) requires testimony in the Commission record to comply with the Texas Rules of Evidence to be admissible in trial. See Confer, 956 S.W.2d at 831. Section 410.306(b)'s plain language does not limit the Texas Rules of Evidence's application to relevancy, authentication, and hearsay within hearsay concerns. See TEX. LAB. CODE 410.306(b). It contemplates that all of the Texas Rules of Evidence apply to facts and evidence contained in the Commission record when offered at trial. See TEX. LAB. CODE 410.306(b).