Clement v. Emmons

170 S.W.2d 610, 1943 Tex. App. LEXIS 287
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 8, 1943
DocketNo. 2507
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 170 S.W.2d 610 (Clement v. Emmons) 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
Clement v. Emmons, 170 S.W.2d 610, 1943 Tex. App. LEXIS 287 (Tex. Ct. App. 1943).

Opinion

TIREY, Justice.

Richard Emmons brought this suit against J. M. Clement and Lynn Elkins to recover damages which he claimed to have suffered by reason of having been falsely imprisoned at the instance of J. M. Clement. On the verdict of the jury the court granted plaintiff’s motion for judgment and awarded to him a recovery of $650, jointly and severally against the defendants Clement and Elkins. Defendant Clement seasonably filed motion for judgment non ob-stante veredicto, which motion was overruled, and this action of the court is 'assailed as error. (Elkins perfected his appeal and adopted the points raised by Clement.)

The point raised requires a comprehen-. sive statement. Plaintiff alleged substantially that he was falsely and unlawfully arrested and imprisoned by Lynn Elkin's (no warrant having been issued) and that Elkins, in making such arrest, was acting in the scope of his employment as agent of Clement and at Clement’s request and under his direction. The jury found substantially (1) that Elkins was acting as Clement’s agent and under his instructions when he arrested plaintiff and took him to jail and was not acting solely as deputy constable, nor solely upon the advice of Bauerle, Assistant District Attorney; (2) that Elkins, prior to the time he arrested plaintiff, fully informed Bauerle of the information “he had relative to whether Richard Emmons was by himself or in connection with G. R. Smith stealing personal property from Clement Grain Company”; (3) that Elkins acted upon the advice of Bauerle when he arrested plaintiff and filed the complaint against him; and (4) that Elkins did not sign a complaint against plaintiff at the time plaintiff was taken before Bauerle, nor did Bauerle file a complaint with the justice of the peace, nor was there a warrant of arrest issued for plaintiff.

There was testimony to the effect that defendant Clement was conducting a wholesale and retail grain business under the name of Clement Grain Company. In April, 1936, he had information which caused him to believe that parties unknown to him were stealing grain from his place of -business. After consulting with the sheriff of McLennan County he employed defendant Elkins, a Deputy Constable, to investigate the matter and agreed to pay him a stipulated sum per day for services rendered. Elkins watched the store for five or six nights and reported to Bauerle that G. R. Smith, the night clerk, was implicated in the stealing of the grain, and at the suggestion of Bauerle, Elkins brought Smith to the District Attorney’s office, where Smith made a confession, stating in substance that he and plaintiff and Estes Goulding had been stealing grain from the Clement Grain Company for several months, and that the total amount stolen was worth several thousand dollars. Bau-erle then advised Elkins to arrest plaintiff and Goulding and Bauerle went with El-kins to the Clement Grain Company for the purpose of arresting them. Elkins arrested plaintiff and took him to the District Attorney’s office. Shortly after Elkins arrested Emmons, Goulding was arrested by two city policemen and brought to the District Attorney’s office. After plaintiff and Goulding were questioned by Bauerle and Elkins in the presence of Smith and Clement, Bauerle prepared a complaint against Emmons and Goulding which charged them with the offense of theft over $50, which complaint was signed by Elkins on the advice of Bauerle, and Elkins, acting on the advice of Bauerle, placed both Em-[612]*612mans and Goulding in jail, without a warrant having been issued for their arrest. They remained in jail about forty hours and were then released on bond. The Grand Jury failed to indict plaintiff, Gould-ing, or Smith.

Plaintiff testified, in substance, that he was asleep immediately prior to his arrest :

“Q. What is the first thing you heard anybody say that woke you up ? A. Well, this Elkins opened the door, I guess. He jerked me out on the fender and woke me up and I got up' — he jerked me up down on the fender and I didn’t know what it was. I thought somebody was robbing me and I pushed him back and he said T am the law. You are under arrest,’ and he started searching me, and so after he told me he was the law I didn’t do anything about it and Mr. Clement said, “All right, we have got the damn thief now,’ and he said, ‘You are under arrest,’ and so I said ‘What for?’ and he said, ‘We will tell you when we get over to the courthouse.’

“Q. Well, did anybody say anything about taking you to jail? A. Over at Mr. Clement’s ?

“Q. When Elkins, you say, pulled you out of the truck. A. Mr. Clement told him to carry me to jail”.

that while in the office of the District Attorney, Mr. Clement was present and that Elkins related to him what Smith had said about stealing grain from the Clement Grain Company.

“A. Well, he said that Mr. Smith had told him that I told him I would give him a suit of clothes; then he said afterwards that I told him I would kill him, I would put a gun on him ever time I come over there; I think he said ninety times I had robbed him, I had put a gun on him and made him give me ninety loads of feed on my truck”.

that he refused to make a statement that he had stolen anything from the Clement Grain Company; and that thereafter he was taken to jail; that Elkins did not take him before a justice of the peace, county judge, or any magistrate before taking him to jail, and he denied all the statements that Smith had made about the theft.

Plaintiff offered in evidence the cross-examination of the defendant Elkins on a former trial, which testimony was to the effect that he arrested plaintiff without complaint having been filed and warrant having been issued, and that he placed him in jail on suspicion; “Q. The only information that you ever had that Emmons hadn’t paid for every pound of grain that he got, you got from this man Smith, didn’t you? A. No, sir, I got it from Mr-. Clement”-; that he didn’t see Clement at the jail, but he did see him at the District Attorney’s office; “ * * * I called him myself.” Elkins testified by deposition as to his employment with the Clement Grain Company, in part, as follows: “Mr. J. M. Clement told me that he believed someone was stealing grain from Clement Grain Company; that he had no idea who it was but would like for me to try and find out; I told him I would see what I could do; our conversations constituted the only agreement between us * * * I was not at the time personally acquainted with Richard Emmons; and first met Emmons the night he was taken into custody”; that he was not acquainted with G. R. Smith and first met Smith on the same night that Emmons was arrested; “ * * * I was present and G. R. Smith told Assistant County Attorney R. J. Bauerle that he (Smith), Richard- Emmons and Estes Goulding were engaged in a combination to steal grain from the Clement Grain Company; I don’t recall the exact words of the conversation but Smith said some months before this he wanted to quit stealing grain from this company, and Emmons threatened to kill him if he did; so Smith continued with Emmons and Goulding in stealing this grain; .and Smith estimated they had gotten away with four or five thousand dollars worth in the last seven or eight months; * * * after G. R. Smith had made the statement to Assistant County Attorney R. J. Bauerle about stealing grain from Clement Grain Company, then Mr. Bauerle stated that in his opinion, from the statements made by G. R. Smith, that Richard Emmons should be arrested for the theft of this grain. * * * After the statements by G. R. Smith and the conversation with Mr. Bauerle, I went with Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
170 S.W.2d 610, 1943 Tex. App. LEXIS 287, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clement-v-emmons-texapp-1943.