Buttrill v. Occidental Life Ins. Co.

45 S.W.2d 636, 1931 Tex. App. LEXIS 1853
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 5, 1931
DocketNo. 10856
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 45 S.W.2d 636 (Buttrill v. Occidental Life Ins. Co.) 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
Buttrill v. Occidental Life Ins. Co., 45 S.W.2d 636, 1931 Tex. App. LEXIS 1853 (Tex. Ct. App. 1931).

Opinion

VAUGHAN, J.

The parties to this appeal will be designated as follows: Plaintiff in error A. B. Butt-rill, as Buttrill, plaintiffs in error A. T. Sheppler, Wesley B. Young, L. O. Turner, and Sam L. Sanders, as surety defendants, and defendant in error, Occidental Life Insurance Company, a private corporation, as plaintiff.

Plaintiff instituted this suit in the court below against Buttrill and surety defendants, alleging that said Buttrill executed, on April 7, 1925, two separate bonds payable to plaintiff as follows: One for $1,000 and one for $1,500, and that said Sheppler and Young became sureties and signed as such said $1,-500 bond, and that said Turner and Sanders became sureties and signed as such said $1,000 bond, which bonds secured the payment of certain indebtedness which Buttrill, after the date of said bonds, might become obligated to pay plaintiff; that after the execution of said bonds Buttrill became indebted to plaintiff in a large sum of money, evidenced by his written obligations and promises to pay as follows:

“One dated December 8, 1925, promising to pay Occidental Life Insurance Company the sum of $146.50, upon which said defendant paid and received credits in the total sum of $21.13; another obligation dated December 10, 1925, signed by A. B. Buttrill, promising to pay the plaintiff the sum of $30.00; another obligation signed by said defendant, promising to pay to F. B. Marshall for the use and benefit of the plaintiff, dated March 26, 1926, for the sum of $65.60; another obligation dated April 5, 1926 for $9.16, signed by the defendant A. B. Buttrill; and a promissory note signed by A. B. Buttrill, dated August 29, 1925, promising to pay to the order of F. B. Marshall, Stage Agent for plaintiff, and for the use and benefit of plaintiff, the sum of $1,137.00, with interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum from date, and providing for ten per cent attorneys fee if placed in the hands of attorneys for collection. By said written obligations the defendant A. B. Buttrill became and is now indebted to the plaintiff for the several sums stated, with interest on each of the first four items at the rate of six per cent from the date of each obligation, and on the promissory note last mentioned, interest at the rate of ten per cent from its date, with ten per cent attorneys fee.
“By signing the bonds aforesaid, each of the other defendants bound and obligated themselves to pay the indebtedness listed above, all of which grew out of the dealings of the defendant A. B. Buttrill with the plaintiff as its agent, and by said bond the other defendants became obligated to pay said sums with ten per cent of said, amount as an attorneys fee upon the default of the said A. B. Buttrill in paying same.
“The said A. B. Buttrill has defaulted in the payment of said obligations, and though demand has frequently been made on him for such payment he has failed and refused * * *.”

For a proper understanding of the questions presented by this appeal for determination, it is necessary to state quite at length the proceedings had leading up to and including the judgment appealed from.

On October 1, 1929, judgment by default was rendered and entered against Buttrill with respect to the recovery of the several sums of money sued for. The surety defendants, prior to that date, had filed an answer consisting of a general demurrer and general denial. On October 11, 1929, this, cause, having been placed on the assignment of cases for trial for that date, was called for trial. Said surety defendants failing to appear, final judgment was rendered against said Buttrill and surety defendants; the judgment by default against Buttrill being brought forward therein in favor of plain+iff for the amount sued for, being the aggregate sum, principal and interest due on the above-described five notes. On October 12, 1929, by agreement of the parties, not including Buttrill, the following order was. entered, viz.: “By agreement of the parties, the judgment rendered October 11, 1929, be set aside as to the defendants, Sheppler, Young, Turner and Sanders, without prejudice to the defendants on account of the judgment against A. B. Butt-rill, and upon agreement of both parties, to waive the jury.” On October 21, 1929, Butt-rill filed a motion for a new trial, and on November 9, 1929, he filed what is termed a “supplementary motion” to the one filed October 21, 1929. On October 9, 1929, Buttrill filed his original answer, consisting of a general demurrer, general denial, plea of payments, and the four years’ statute of limitation. On November 9, 1929, the court overruled Buttrill’s original and supplemental motions for a new trial.

On November 13, 1929, surety defendants filed their first amended original answer, consisting of general denial statute of limitation of two and four years, that the execution of the bonds. sued upon was obtained by and through fraud practiced upon them by plaintiff, and special pleas alleging facts to the effect that the notes sued upon were executed only on consideration of debts that existed prior to the execution of the bonds sued upon and not for any sum or sums of money that accrued thereafter “out of the dealings of the defendant A. B. Buttrill with the plaintiff or its agents.”

On November 14, 1929, Buttrill applied for and obtained an order placing this cause upon [638]*638the jury docket; the fee of $5, being paid by attorneys representing surety defendants.

On November 26, 1929, plaintiff filed its motion to have entered nunc pro tunc as of date October 11, 1929, a final judgment in its favor against Buttrill and surety defendants, of which motion the following is material to be considered in disposing of this appeal, viz.:

“On October 12, 1929, counsel for plaintiff was called to the 14th District Court room, and found there Judge Chas. E. Clint, one of the counsel for said defendants, and said counsel for defendants without filing a motion for new trial, requested counsel for plaintiff to agree that the judgment rendered on October 11, 1929, might be set aside as to the defendants Sheppler, Young, Turner and Sanders, and after some considerable discussion counsel for plaintiff agreed that the judgment of October 11th might be set aside, if counsel for defendants would agree to waive a jury and grant a speedy trial in the case, and counsel for defendants agreed to file an answer for his clients within a week from October 12th¡ and to waive a jury and try the case when it was next set on the non-jury assignment about five weeks from October 12th, and thereupon a stipulation and agreement was entered into by and between counsel for plaintiff and counsel for said defendants, and was entered upon the trial docket of said Court as follows: ‘By agreement of the parties the judgment rendered October 11, 1929 be set aside as to the defendants Sheppler, Young, Turner and Sanders without prejudice to the defen.se of said defendants on áccount of the judgment against A. B. Buttrill, and upon' agreement of both parties waive a jury.’ * ■* *
“Plaintiff says that it entered into the stip-uldtion of October 12th only upon the condition that the parties waive a jury and try the case at an early date and avoid the indefinite delay that might be caused by placing the case on the jury docket, and this was a condition of the agreement made on October 12th for setting aside the judgment entered on October 11th, and plaintiff charges that the defendants Sheppler, Young, Turner and Sanders, and their counsel have violated said agreement by representing A. B.

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Bluebook (online)
45 S.W.2d 636, 1931 Tex. App. LEXIS 1853, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/buttrill-v-occidental-life-ins-co-texapp-1931.