Pan American Life Insurance Co. v. Youngblood

I respectfully dissent.

The majority opinion does not rule on the question of the admissibility of the entire death certificate — including the statement of the cause of death, but, instead holds that if it was improper to exclude the cause of death statement on the certificate it was harmless error. Article 4477, Rule 54a, Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann., provides that when a death certificate is properly certified “it shall be prima facie evidence in all courts and places of the facts therein stated.” The death certificate in this case was properly certified by the Bureau of Vital Statistics, and was…