Carruth v. Wix Corporation

409 S.W.2d 938, 1966 Tex. App. LEXIS 2540
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 9, 1966
Docket6847
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 409 S.W.2d 938 (Carruth v. Wix Corporation) 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
Carruth v. Wix Corporation, 409 S.W.2d 938, 1966 Tex. App. LEXIS 2540 (Tex. Ct. App. 1966).

Opinion

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING

STEPHENSON, Justice.

Our opinion delivered September 8, 1966, is withdrawn and the following opinion is substituted therefor.

This is an action on a sworn account for goods sold and delivered. The trial court granted plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment. The parties will be referred to here as they were in the trial court.

Defendant’s first point of error is that the trial court erred in granting the motion for summary judgment because the defendant had denied the account was just and true, and had asserted under oath that he was not justly indebted to plaintiff in any sum of money, and that all legal offsets, payments and credits had not been allowed.

Defendant’s first amended answer contained a general denial, among other pleadings, and contained the following affidavit:

BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, on this day personally appeared A. M. CARRUTH, doing business as A. M. Carruth Distributing Company, defendant in the foregoing-styled Answer and Cross-Action, denies the purported verified account of the plaintiff made against him and filed in this cause, and says the same is within his knowledge, not just or true, and further says that he is not justly indebted to the plaintiff in any sum of money, and that all offsets, payments and credits have not been allowed.
/s/ A. M. Carruth
SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO BEFORE ME, this the 16th day of September, A.D. 1965.
/s/ Leland Lacy
Notary Public in and for Jefferson County, Texas.”

Defendant argues that this answer and affidavit raised issues of fact and summary judgment was not proper. Plaintiff contends that this is a proper case for summary judgment even though defendant filed a sworn denial, relying upon defendant’s failure to deny certain requests for admissions of fact.

Plaintiff’s petition contained this paragraph :

“II.
“That heretofore, to-wit, on the dates shown on the invoices, marked ‘Exhibit A’, attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference, as the Plaintiff’s statement on account, and at the special instance and request of the Defendant, *940 the Plaintiff sold and delivered the goods shown therein, to the Defendant. .Defendant expressly agreed to pay the amount set opposite such items; or, alternatively, the Defendant thereby became bound to pay, upon the delivery of such goods, such amounts as such goods were reasonably worth, and'such goods were reasonably worth the amounts set out on such invoices.”

A typical invoice attached to such petition read as follows:

*941 Defendant filed special exceptions to plaintiff’s petition to the effect in substance that the exhibit “A” attached to such petition did not give a sufficient description as to the goods sold. These exceptions were overruled. Then plaintiff made the requests for admissions of fact which were in series as to each invoice and a typical series was as follows:

“7. That on or about May 6, 1964 the Plaintiff at the request of the Defendant shipped to the Defendant the merchandise shown on invoice number 59896 attached to the Plaintiff’s Original Petition as part of Exhibit “A” thereto.
8. That the items referred to in said invoice number 59896 were received by the Defendant.
9. That the items referred to in said invoice number 59896 were retained by the Defendant.
10. That the purchase price of each item referred to in said invoice number 59896 was agreed upon by Plaintiff and Defendant.
11. That the Defendant received either the original or a copy of said invoice number 59896.
12. That the original invoice number 59896 or the copy of the same received by the Defendant contained the same words and figures as shown on the copy of said invoice number 59896 attached to Plaintiff’s Petition.”

Defendant’s response to 7,8, 9 and 10 was as follows:

“He can neither admit nor deny under oath the truth of such statements because the invoice referred to does not contain a list of any material or items of merchandise.”

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Bluebook (online)
409 S.W.2d 938, 1966 Tex. App. LEXIS 2540, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carruth-v-wix-corporation-texapp-1966.