Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. v. Walker

445 S.W.2d 610, 1969 Tex. App. LEXIS 2099
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 29, 1969
DocketNo. 17373
StatusPublished

This text of 445 S.W.2d 610 (Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. v. Walker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. v. Walker, 445 S.W.2d 610, 1969 Tex. App. LEXIS 2099 (Tex. Ct. App. 1969).

Opinion

CLAUDE WILLIAMS, Justice.

This is an original proceeding in which The Aetna Casualty and Surety Company, Relator, asks us to issue a writ of mandamus to compel the Honorable Dee Brown Walker, District Judge of the 162nd Judicial District Court, to enter judgment on the verdict of the jury in Cause No. 68-4616-1, Darrell W. Johnston vs. The Aetna Casualty and Surety Company, and to set aside his order therein of June 12, 1969, declaring a mistrial for the sole reason that the jury’s answers to special issues are in fatal conflict.

Our jurisdiction to issue such a writ of mandamus directed to the district court is derived from Art. 1824, Vernon’s Ann. Civ.St. of Texas, as amended Acts of 1929, 41st Legislature, Chapter 33, Section 1. [611]*611Courts of Civil Appeals have concurrent jurisdiction with the Supreme Court to issue such writs to compel a judge of the district or county court to proceed to trial and judgment in a cause. Dallas Railway & Terminal Co. v. Watkins, 126 Tex. 116, 86 S.W.2d 1081 (1935); Johnson v. Court of Civil Appeals, 162 Tex. 613, 350 S.W.2d 330 (1961); and Shamrock Fuel & Oil Sales Co. v. Tunks, 416 S.W.2d 779 (Tex.Sup.1967).

The case in the district court in which the order of mistrial was entered was one in which Darrell W. Johnston sought to recover workmen’s compensation benefits from an injury sustained by him in the course of his employment with Elliott Electric Company in Dallas County. The jury found that Johnston had sustained the injury which had resulted in total incapacity for a period of thirteen weeks. In response to Special Issues Nos. 10 and 11 the jury found that Johnston sustained permanent partial incapacity to work as a result of his injury. In answer to Issue No. 13 the jury found that Johnston had an average weekly wage-earning capacity during his period of permanent partial disability of $96 per week. During the trial of the case it was stipulated by counsel for both parties that Johnston had an average weekly wage of $90 as of the date of the alleged injury. In connection with the issues relating to “partial incapacity” the trial court submitted the following definition:

‘“PARTIAL INCAPACITY’ as that term is used in this charge, means that a person is suffering from a disability to the extent that he is only able to perform a part of the usual tasks of a workingman, or is only able to perform labor of a less remunerative class than he did before the alleged injury.”

Based upon this verdict, returned and received in the court without objection, Judge Walker sustained Johnston’s motion for mistrial upon the sole reason that the jury’s answers to the special issues were in fatal conflict.

Relator contends that since the verdict and the stipulation, in the light of the court’s definition of “partial incapacity”, may be reconciled there is no irreconcilable conflict. If the Relator be correct, it follows that it was the ministerial duty of the trial judge to enter judgment on the verdict. Our Supreme Court has consistently held that trial courts are vested with no discretionary power to set aside jury answers which are responsive to proper issues presented by the pleadings and submitted to the jury by the court. Gulf, C. & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Canty, 115 Tex. 537, 285 S.W. 296 (1926), and Cortimeglia v. Davis, 116 Tex. 412, 292 S.W. 875 (1927).

Respondents contend that a clear conflict exists in the jury verdict because “partial incapacity” was defined by the court to mean “a depression or reduction in his earning capacity”, and therefore in view of such definition, the jury findings of permanent partial incapacity were necessarily findings that Johnston had suffered a diminished ability to earn as much as he had earned prior to his injury.

The controlling question thus presented and which must be decided is: Do the jury findings present an irreconcilable conflict?

On May 24, 1961 our Supreme Court rendered decisions in two separate cases involving very similar situations as here presented. In Employers Reinsurance Corporation v. Holland, 162 Tex. 394, 347 S.W.2d 605 (1961) the court was asked to grant its writ of mandamus compelling a district judge to set aside an order declaring a mistrial in a workmen’s compensation case and render judgment based upon the verdict of the jury. In that case the jury had found that the injured employee had sustained partial incapacity and that during the period of such partial incapacity his average weekly wage earning capacity was $100. It had been stipulated by the parties that the workingman’s average weekly wage at the time of his injury was $100. In connection with the issue of partial incapacity such term [612]*612had been defined by the trial court in the following manner:

“It shall mean where an employee by reason of injuries sustained in the course of his employment is only able to perform part of the usual task of a workman, but nevertheless, is able to procure and retain employment reasonably suitable to his physical condition and ability to work or is only able to perform labor of a less remunerative class than he performed prior to his injuries, whereby he suffers a depression or reduction in his earning capacity.”

The court, divided five to four, held that in the light of the definition of the term “partial incapacity” the jury verdict could not be reconciled and therefore the order of mistrial was proper. The writ of mandamus was denied.

Simultaneously, the Supreme Court decided the case of Indemnity Ins. Co. of North America v. Craik, 162 Tex. 260, 346 S.W.2d 830 (1961), involving almost identical facts. In that case the jury found that the employee had sustained an injury which resulted in partial disability and found that his average weekly wage-earning capacity during his disability was $86.80. The parties had stipulated that the average weekly wages of the workingman before his injury was $86.80. The trial court found that the issues were in fatal conflict and entered an order of mistrial based upon such ground.

In the Craik case the term “partial disability” was defined in the following manner:

“By the term ‘partial disability’ is meant disability less than total where an employee, by reason of injuries sustained in the course of his employment, is only able to perform part of the usual tasks of a workman, but, nevertheless, he is able to procure and retain employment reasonably suitable to his physical condition and ability to work, or he is only able to perform labor of a less remunerative class than he performed prior to his injury whereby he suffers a depreciation or deduction in his earning capacity.”

The court, in a unanimous opinion, found that the jury verdict could be reasonably reconciled and therefore no fatal or irreconcilable conflict in the jury’s answer existed. Accordingly, the Supreme Court directed its mandamus to issue instructing the trial court to set aside its order of mistrial and proceed to enter judgment based upon the jury’s verdict. In so doing the Supreme Court took cognizance of its opinion in

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Related

Indemnity Insurance Co. of North America v. Craik
346 S.W.2d 830 (Texas Supreme Court, 1961)
Johnson v. Court of Civil Appeals
350 S.W.2d 330 (Texas Supreme Court, 1961)
Employers Reinsurance Corporation v. Holland
347 S.W.2d 605 (Texas Supreme Court, 1961)
Shamrock Fuel & Oil Sales Co. v. Tunks
416 S.W.2d 779 (Texas Supreme Court, 1967)
Dallas Railway & Terminal Co. v. Watkins
86 S.W.2d 1081 (Texas Supreme Court, 1935)
Cortimeglia v. Davis
292 S.W. 875 (Texas Supreme Court, 1927)
Ford Butane Eq. Co. v. Carpenter
216 S.W.2d 558 (Texas Supreme Court, 1949)
Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. Canty
285 S.W. 296 (Texas Supreme Court, 1926)

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Bluebook (online)
445 S.W.2d 610, 1969 Tex. App. LEXIS 2099, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aetna-casualty-surety-co-v-walker-texapp-1969.