City of San Antonio v. McKenzie Const. Co.

138 S.W.2d 568, 1940 Tex. App. LEXIS 140
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 6, 1940
DocketNo. 9510.
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 138 S.W.2d 568 (City of San Antonio v. McKenzie Const. 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
City of San Antonio v. McKenzie Const. Co., 138 S.W.2d 568, 1940 Tex. App. LEXIS 140 (Tex. Ct. App. 1940).

Opinions

MURRAY, Justice.

This suit was brought by McKenzie Construction Company, a corporation engaged in the construction business, against the City of San Antonio and its Mayor and Commissioners, on a contract for the construction of a flood detention dam across Olmos Creek.

There have been two trials of this case in the trial court. The first trial ended in a judgment for the City of San Antonio, its mayor and other officers, against the McKenzie Construction Company, based upon an instructed verdict by the court. McKenzie Construction Company prosecuted an appeal from that judgment to this Court. This Court reversed the judgment and remanded the cause. McKenzie Construction Company v. City of San Antonio et al., Tex.Civ.App., 50 S.W.2d 349, writ of error refused.

The second trial resulted in a judgment for McKenzie Construction Company against the City of San Antonio et al. in the sum of $82,157.08, with interest at the rate of eight per cent per annum from February 24, 1927, until paid. The judgment also authorized the issuance of a mandamus. The City of San Antonio and its officers prosecuted an appeal from that judgment, and this Court, sustaining the points presented by Division III of appellants’ brief, reversed the judgment of the trial court and rendered judgment that ap-pellee, McKenzie Construction Company, take nothing. City of San Antonio et al. v. McKenzie Construction Company, Tex.Civ.App., 88 S.W.2d 622. A writ of error was granted by the Supreme Court, and upon a hearing in that Court the points raised by Division III of appellants’ brief were overruled and our judgment reversed and the cause remanded to this Court for con[570]*570sideration of other assignments of error presented in appellants’ brief. McKenzie Construction Company v. City of San Antonio, 131 Tex. 474, 115 S.W.2d 617.

We will not here make a full statement of the nature of the suit, but, in the interest of brevity, refer to the above mentioned opinions for such statement.

We now come to a consideration of the other points presented by appellants’ brief, not contained in Division III.

The first division of appellants’ brief relates' to alleged jury misconduct. The testimony taken upon appellants’ motion for a new trial conclusively shows that the verdict of the jury was rendered under the following circumstances:

Shortly after the trial began one of the jurors wrote the following letter to B. D. Tarlton, Esquire, of counsel for the City of San Antonio, to-wit:

“Corpus Christi, Tex.
' “11/15/33.
“Mr. B. D. Tarlton,
“903 Nixon Bidg.,
“Corpus Christi, Tex.
“Dear Sir:
“I wanted to talk to you several times but as a juror on this McKenzie case I did not do it, to keep away any reflection that it could cause.
“I know that you are an honest and straight man not only as a lawyer but also as a friend.
“This case is drawing towards the end and when it ends I will be in need for a steady work for winter, as the work with the Navigation District, where I was working, has slacked so now that it would be hard to malee a living there during winter.
“Any one who wants to get a job now a days- must have a pull. And if I can get you to pull for 'me I feel safe, that there would be something turn up for me. I can do the work myself and I can see to that the other man does his work. I am used to work and I can read, write and figure that I can do the lighter class of work; as, I held once a second grade teachers certificate.
“The .Southern Alkalie Company may employ me at your recommendation or some other concern, either here or some other place, where I could send my boy to Catholic school.
“Will see you when this case is over.
“Respectfully yours
“J. J. Slavik.”

This letter was shown by Tarlton to the trial judge and at his suggestion to opposing counsel. Neither side then and . there asked for a mistrial and thereby condoned or waived the matter.

At a later date, according to the testimony of Slavik, one Shorty Powell made the following statement to him:

“The Reporter (Reading) ‘What did he tell you,’ — meaning Shorty Powell.
“A. Well, the first time he told me that he said he was working on the dam himself, Shorty Powell did. He said that Colonel Crecelius, that is the substance of it, didn’t amount to much, because he was an army officer, and all he cares for is his drinks and good times, and he mentioned vile language about himself, about the Colonel, and he said all that he was trying to do was trying to work against the working man, to take the bread away from the working man, — that was about the substance of what he told me.
“Q. Did he tell you, — state whether or not he told you anything about McKenzie, whether or not he was right in the case?' A. Well, I think he did. /,
“Q. Now. Mr. Slavik, did you go,— what did he call Colonel Crecelius, if you remember? A. Why—
“Q. It is all right, if you remember, what did he say about him? A. Well, he, every time, instead of calling him by name, he called him a son-of-a-bitch.
“Q. Mr. Powell did? A. Yes sir.”
On another occasion, according to juror Slavik’s testimony, Willie Manak had the following conversation with him, to-wit:
“Q. What did he tell you? * * * A. While I was talking to Mr. Manak about things not concerning this case at all, Mr. Cech, Frank Cech, took him away from me and told him, and when Mr. Man-ak'came back to me, he told me that Mr. Cech told him to tell me, he said, ‘That man you was talking to was a member of the jury of the McKenzie case?’ and Mr. • Manak told me that he told him that I was. He said, ‘Tell him that it wouldn’t be fair to beat McKenzie out of his money, that the City of San Antonio beat McKenzie out of money, it wouldn’t be fair.’ ”

Slavik told of the following second conversation with Shorty Powell, to-wit:

“Q. What was the occasion of that conversation and what did he say to you at that time and you to him? A. Well, I [571]*571•went down to the grocery store to buy my provisions, and he just happened to be there, and he waited for me until I got out and told me that he knew all about how these contracts were let and a certain other company was to get the contract for building this dam that would have paid to the political bunch at San Antonio, — I ■don’t know what he meant by that, but when Mr. Tobin found out what would have happened, he wouldn’t let this Company have the contract, and gave it to Mc-JCenzie.”

The above conversations occurred after :Slavik was selected as a juror and before the verdict was returned.

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Bluebook (online)
138 S.W.2d 568, 1940 Tex. App. LEXIS 140, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-san-antonio-v-mckenzie-const-co-texapp-1940.