Corcanges v. Childress

280 S.W. 892
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 23, 1926
DocketNo. 11370.
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 280 S.W. 892 (Corcanges v. Childress) 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
Corcanges v. Childress, 280 S.W. 892 (Tex. Ct. App. 1926).

Opinion

CONNER, C. J.

This suit was instituted by the appellee, J. W. Childress, in the district court of Parker county, Tex., for an in *893 junction against the appellant George P. Cor-canges and the sheriff of Parker county to prevent the collection of a judgment obtained by the appellant Corcanges against J. W. Childress on the 10th day of May, 1918, for the sum of $273.85, with interest at 10 per cent, from that date. In so far as necessary to state, the undisputed facts show that on said 10th day of May, 1918, the appellant Corcanges in the district court of Parker county obtained the judgment referred to on two vendor’s lien notes executed by J. W. Childress, payable to Corcanges, executed in December, 1915, in part payment of property purchased by Childress from Corcanges. In that suit J. W. Childress appeared and answered, and, among other things, pleaded to the effect that the two vendor’s lien notes .had been secured by means of fraud and misrepresentation made to him by Corcanges when he (Corcanges) sold the property to Childress for which the two vendor’s lien notes had been executed. No other defense to the notes was presented. Childress’ plea of fraud and misrepresentation was not sustained, and Corcanges secured judgment in the said sum of $273.35, and it is undisputed that said judgment is final.

Appellee’s petition for injunction under consideration exhibits the facts above stated and, among other things, avers that the execution he desires to restrain was not levied until the 12th day of March, 1923; that at the date of said judgment and said levy ap-pellee was in possession of property subject to execution, but that none had been issued; and that hence the judgment was dormant. Appellee further specially pleaded that—

“After the rendition of the judgment of May 10, 1918, in favor of defendant herein (Geo. P. Corcanges) against plaintiff for the sum of $273.35 that plaintiff paid, settled and fully discharged said debt, but that said Geo. P. Cor-canges, the owner thereof, has failed and now refuses to release or have entry of payment and satisfaction' entered on the records of the said district court of said county, but is now, as hereinbefore stated, seeking to sell plaintiff’s said real estate, that defendant may receive payment twice for one and the same debt.”

The prayer was for the issuance of a temporary injunction restraining, the appellant Corcanges from further offering for sale the land that had been levied upon and for a perpetual injunction and cancellation of the -judgment. The temporary writ was granted. The court, on final hearing, after overruling appellant’s exceptions and demurrers, denied a motion to dissolve the writ, and rendered judgment in favor of appellee, granting the relief prayed for by him, and restrained the appellant Corcanges and the sheriff of Parker county from further attempting to enforce the alias execution that had been levied upon the real property described in plaintiff’s petition, and further decreed that no other effort should be made to enforce the collection of said judgment rendered in favor of Corcanges on the 10th day of May, 1918. From the decree so entered, Cor-canges has duly prosecuted this appeal.

It is apparent, we think, from the trial court’s conclusions of fact and'law, that his judgment is based upon the theory that the appellee Childress was in equity entitled to an offset against the Corcanges judgment in an amount sufficient to discharge the same, and that an agreement on the part of Cor-canges, to which Childress testified, to cancel and discharge the judgment in settlement of the offset, should be enforced. The undisputed facts relating to the defense suggested in the theory imputed to the trial court are substantially as follows: The notes constituting the foundation of appellant’s judgment on May 10, 1918, were executed in December, 1915. The appellee Childress testified to the effect that prior to the judgment of May 10, 1918, Corcanges was endeavoring to effect an exchange of property with one Ward and employed him (Childress) to assist in making the exchange which was made. Relating to this, we quote the following from the statement of facts: •

“Q. Did you make the Albert Ward deal in which to receive commission from Mr*. Cor-canges? A. I made the deal this way: That Mr. Corcanges was about to be sued by Mrs. Short, I believe, on that property, and George wanted to get shut of that suit, and George said to me, ‘If you will carry the deal with Albert Ward, whereby I will get the money to pay that off, I will give you what your indebtedness amounts to.’ If it didn’t amount to 200 or 100, whatever it was; whatever those notes are. Those notes were then in existence.”

On a preceding effort by appellee to enjoin the judgment under consideration, it was held by the Court of Civil Appeals at San Antonio, on an appeal by appellant from an order 'of the district court perpetuating an injunction theretofore issued; that the claim, offset, or accord and satisfaction, presented in the foregoing evidence of appellee which we have quoted, was merged in the judgment of May 10, 1918, and hence would not support an injunction against the judgment. See Oorcanges v. Childress, 264 S. W. 175. This judgment of the San Antonio court has in no wise been disturbed, and appellant on the trial below pleaded the decision as conclusive of the issue in this proceeding. That court in finally disposing of the case had this, among other things, to say:

“If it is true, as appellant contends, that ap-pellee agreed in 1916 to cancel the notes he held against appellant, and that the latter’s debt to the former was by said agreement satisfied and discharged, then this fact constituted a complete defense to an action to enforce the payment of those notes, and when appellee filed his action thereon in 1918 it was appellant’s privilege and duty to set up that defense in that suit. He did not do so, however, but sought *894 therein to defeat the payment of the notes on the sole ground that they were obtained from him by appellee’s fraud.. Having thus neglected to set up this defense in a suit at law, in which it was available to him, appellee could not aft-erwards apply to a court of equity for an injunction, and in such proceeding assert that defense. Freeman, Judg. (4th Ed.) §§ 272, 435, 501, 502, 506; 17 Cyc. 1183; Crawford v. Wingfield, 25 Tex. 414; Thompson v. Lester, 14 S. W. 20, 75 Tex. 521; Gathings v. Robertson (No. 7165) 264 S. W. 173, decided by this court on May 22, 1924.
“'The rule is tersely stated in section 272, Freeman: ‘A judgment of a court possessing competent jurisdiction is final, not only in reference to the matters actually or formally litigated, but as to all other matters which the parties might have litigated and had decided in the cause. A party cannot try his action in parts. The judgment is conclusive, not only of the matters contested, but as to every other thing within the knowledge of the complainant which might have been set up as a ground for relief in the first suit.’
“For this reason, as well as because the matter relied on by app'ellant was clearly barred by limitation, the court below erred in rendering judgment for appellee.”

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Bluebook (online)
280 S.W. 892, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/corcanges-v-childress-texapp-1926.