Alsabrook v. Bishop

295 S.W. 646, 1927 Tex. App. LEXIS 417
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 22, 1927
DocketNo. 252.
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 295 S.W. 646 (Alsabrook v. Bishop) 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
Alsabrook v. Bishop, 295 S.W. 646, 1927 Tex. App. LEXIS 417 (Tex. Ct. App. 1927).

Opinion

*647 LESLIE, J.

This is a suit by M. O. Alsa-brook, guardian of Emma Bishop, against Mrs. Iris Bishop, executrix of the estate of S. W. Bishop, deceased, who, it was alleged, during his lifetime voluntarily assumed control and management of the estate of the said Emma Bishop, a non compos mentis, and that at his death, July 3, 1922, he was holding in trust for and for the use and benefit of the said Emma Bishop, the sum of $6,519.31; that since the death' of S. W. Bishop there has been paid over to the plaintiff as guardian aforesaid the sum of $495.35, and that after allowing a credit of that amount upon the funds so held by the said S. W. Bishop at his death there remained a balance of $6,023.96, which • the defendant, Mrs. Iris Bishop, executrix, has been holding in trust for and for the use and benefit of the said Emma Bishop. The allegation of the plaintiff’s petition is: “That said sum is now held in trust by said executrix for the use and benefit of said Emma Bishop, a lunatic.”

The trial was before a jury, and at the conclusion of the testimony the court instructed the jury to return a verdict in favor of the defendant. An appeal has been perfected to this court.

Appellant’s motion for a new trial and the assignment of error based upon the proposition of newly discovered evidence urge error on the part of the trial court in denying him a new trial which would thereby afford him an opportunity to make one J. G. Bishop, who was an attorney representing defendant in the trial, a defendant, and thereby enable him to explore the facts concerning his (J. G. Bishop’s) connection with the ward’s estate. The right to do so is claimed because the appellant says:

“It lias just come to the attention of the plaintiff since the trial of this' cause: That the defendant, Mrs. Iris Bishop, as executrix of the will of S. W. Bishou. has not actually received the estate of S. W. Bishop, has not received the estate of Emma Bishop, except in a figurative way, and has not received the estate of Mrs. M. 0. Bishop, except in a figurative way. That in truth and in fact, one J. G. Bishop, an attorney of Gorman, Tex., and son of S. W. Bishop, has taken over all of said estates. * * * ” That Mrs. Iris Bishop was under his domination, and that he,, “the said J. G. Bishop, has taken over all of said estates, including the estate of Emma Bishop, largely in the name of his father, and, instead of acting in the manner in which his father acted and preserving the estates, he has appropriated the same and converted the same.”

It is further alleged that the relation of J. G. Bishop to such matters was not discerned until this trial and that the facts as alleged, “though not yet completely developed,” present a ease where a new trial should be granted and the plaintiff afforded an opportunity to make said Bishop a party defendant and investigate his probable liability for the misappropriation of funds for which the executrix is sued herein.

It is not believed that said motion from which the above excerpts are taken, present a proposition of newly discovered evidence in contemplation of law. J. G. Bishop was not a party to the original suit, and therefore evidence which might tend to show that in some manner he became liable for any portion of the estate of Emma Bishop wodld not be newly discovered evidence upon an issue existing and originally raised under the pleadings upon which this cause went to trial. A new trial will not be granted for new evidence on an issue not originally raised, nor where the appellant does not show that he could not have discovered it before the trial by the exercise of due diligence. In each respect the appellant failed to discharge the burden upon him and thereby make it the duty of this court to hold as a matter of law that the trial court abused its discretion in refusing a new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence. American National Bank v. Garland (Tex. Civ. App.) 220 S. W. 397; Id. (Tex. Com. App.) 235 S. W. 563; Walker v. Garland (Tex. Civ. App.) 220 S. W. 399; Id. (Tex. Com. App.) 235 S. W. 1078; Schaff v. Sanders (Tex. Civ. App.) 257 S. W. 677; Id. (Tex. Com. App.) 269 S. W. 1034. The assignment is overruled.

The assignment to the action of the court in overruling appellant’s general demurrer to the defendant’s (appellee’s) second amended original answer is overruled. That answer contained a general demurrer and a general denial. The court’s action was correct. Murphy v. Smith, 38 Tex. Civ. App. 50, 84 S. W. 678; Ellis v. Vernon Ice Co., 4 Tex. Civ. App. 66, 23 S. W. 856.

The various assignments addressed to the action of the trial court in overruling numerous special exceptions are overruled. There is no judgment or order of the court showing such ruling by the court, and, in the absence of such, the action of the court cannot be reviewed. Rule 53, District Courts: Cohen et ux. v. Hill (Tex. Civ. App.) 286 S. W. 661; Wichita Falls, Ranger & Fort Worth Ry. Co. v. Mendoza (Tex. Civ. App.) 240 S. W. 570.

The assignment complaining of the action of the court in permitting the witness, L. M. Bishop, to answer or account for why he said a certain $1,000.00 (forfeit) was divided into eight shares is overruled. The bill of exception indicates the witness was not permitted to answer that he received • $125, his proportionate part, but the statement of facts, agreed to by the litigants and approved by the court, indicates that the witness, either at that time or later in the trial, testified as is indicated in the bill he would have testified. Where there is a conflict between the bill of exception and a statement of facts, as in this case, the latter controls. Where *648 the statement of facts shows that the appellant had the benefit of the testimony shown by the bill of exception to have been excluded, the ruling complained of in the bill will not be revised. Sears v. Sears, 45 Tex. 557; McMichael v. Trueheart, 48 Tex. 216; Encyclopedic Digest Texas Reports (Michie) vol. 1, p. 690.

The assignment complaining of the action o'f the trial court relative to certain testimony proffered through the witness W. 0. Fields is overruled. An examination of the record shows that his testimony in the respect complained of was admitted upon the trial, or at least the statement of facts agreed to by the litigants and approved by the court so indicates. Authorities under preceding paragraph.

A further reason why this would not be an error on the part of the court in respect to Field’s testimony is found in the record to the effect that the witness stated that he did not know what money S. W. Bishop received, that he was not there when it happened, or words to that effect.

Other assignments complaining of the action of the trial court in admitting in evidence certain checks signed by Mrs. M. O. Bishop are overruled. The witness Fields had testified that Mrs. M. O. Bishop was trustee for the ward, Emma Bishop, during a period of time, and appellant was attempting to show that during said time S. W. Bishop managed the ward’s affairs and appropriated the funds of Mrs. M. O. Bishop and Emma Bishop, both of whom were alleged feeble of mind or incapable of giving checks on their respective accounts. To rebut this theory as to Mrs. M. O. Bishop, the evidence was admissible.

Other assignments assailing the action of the trial court in the admission in evidence of certain checks and a bank statement are overruled.

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Bluebook (online)
295 S.W. 646, 1927 Tex. App. LEXIS 417, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alsabrook-v-bishop-texapp-1927.