Dorman v. Cook

262 S.W.2d 744, 1953 Tex. App. LEXIS 2083
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 12, 1953
Docket4940
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 262 S.W.2d 744 (Dorman v. Cook) 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
Dorman v. Cook, 262 S.W.2d 744, 1953 Tex. App. LEXIS 2083 (Tex. Ct. App. 1953).

Opinion

R. L. MURRAY, Chief Justice.

The appellee Cook sued the appellant Dorman in the County Court of Orange County for damages to appellee’s automobile arising out of a collision with a calf of the appellant on Highway 87 in Orange County. The case was tried to the court without a jury and the court rendered judgment for the appellee against the appellant in the sum of $350. The appellant has perfected his appeal by filing a transcript only. No statement of facts was filed.

The appellant filed what he denominated a supplemental transcript, but on motion of the appellee this instrument was stricken for the reason that the contents thereof had never been filed in the papers of this case and were not introduced in evidence. The appellant also included in the transcript what appeared to be “findings of fact and conclusions of law” but this instrument was stricken on motion of the appellee, since they were not the real findings of fact and conclusions of law. The instrument was never signed by the trial judge but the trial judge signed and filed another instrument which is properly in the transcript as findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Omitting the formal parts thereof, plaintiff’s original petition was as follows:

“On March 25,1952 the plaintiff was driving his automobile south on Highway 87 about one-half mile south of the junction of Highway 90 and Highway 87; the plaintiff was driving his automobile in a safe manner as an ordinarily prudent man would do in the same or similar circumstances; suddenly without any warning three calves ran across the highway directly in front of the car; the automobile struck one of the three calves, doing considerable damage to the plaintiff’s automobile.
“At the point of the accident there was a stock law in force at the time of the accident, and this stock law prohibits allowing cattle to roam at large on public highways as well as private property.
“The calf hit by the plaintiff’s automobile belonged to the defendant.
“On the occasion of the accident the defendant was guilty of negligence per se in allowing the calf which was hit by the plaintiff to roam at large in violation of the stock law; this, act of negligence was the proximate cause of the collision and resulting damage to the plaintiff’s automobile.
“Plaintiff would show the reasonable cash market value of his automobile in Orange County, Texas, immediately prior to' said collision was Eighteen Hundred ($1800.00) Dollars; and the reasonable cash market value thereof immediately after said colli *746 sion in Orange County, Texas, and before any repairs were made was the sum of •Fourteen Hundred Fifty ($1450.00) Dollars that as a proximate result of the negligence of the said defendant the cash market value of plaintiff’s s.aid automobile in Orange County, Texas, was reduced in the total amount of Three Hundred Fifty ($350.00) Dollars, all to the plaintiff’s damage in said sum.”

The pleading of the defendant below was a general denial and nothing else. No exceptions were filed to the petition of the plaintiff below.

The trial court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law are as follows:

“Findings of Fact
“1. George F. Cook, plaintiff, and Dur-wood Dorman, defendant, are both residents of Orange County, Texas.
“2. On March 26, 1952 George F. Cook was driving his automobile south on Highway 87 in Orange County, Texas about one half a mile south of the junction of Highway 90 and Highway 87, Orange’ County, Texas, which junction is known as the Circle which is at the end of MacArthur Drive.
“3. George F. Cook was driving his automobile in a safe manner as an ordinarily prudent man would do in the same or similar circumstances.
“4. Suddenly without any warning, a calf owned by the defendant, Durwood Dor-man, ran across the highway directly in front of the automobile and the plaintiff's, George F. Cook’s, automobile struck this calf.
“5. Durwood Dorman’s calf being loose on the right-of-way of Highway 87, Orange County, Texas, and darting in front of George F. Cook’s automobile was the proximate cause of the accident.
“6. Durwood Dorman’s calf was loose, unattended and roaming at large.
“7. The accident did damage to George F. Cook’s automobile and the accident happened on the right-of-way of Highway 87 between the circle, being the junctions of Highway 87 and Highway 90, and the O. & N. W. Railroad track right-of-way in Orange County, Texas.
“8. As a result of the damage done to George F. Cook’s automobile and received in the accident, the automobile’s market value was three hundred fifty dollars less after the accident than if was prior to the accident.”
“Conclusions of Law.
“1. On March 26, 1952 there existed a valid law in full force and effect prohibiting the owners of cattle from allowing their cattle from roaming at large and loose at the place where George F. Cook’s automobile struck the calf owned by Durwood Dor-man.
“2. Durwood Dorman was negligent as a matter of law in failing to prohibit his calf to roam loose and at large.”

Since no statement of facts is before us the appeal must be determine4 upon the pleadings of the parties, the judgment of the court and the findings of fact and conclusions of law as found by the court in support of its judgment.

The appellant’s two Points of Error are as follows: (1) The judgment of the trial court is in error in that it is based upon the premise that the appellant was guilty of negligence per se; (2) the judgment of the trial court is in error in that it is based upon the premise that the appellee has violated a statute.

Under his first point the appellant makes the clever argument that the suit was brought for a violation of Articles 1369 and 1370 of the Penal Code, Vernon’s Ann.P.C., which articles apply to any county or subdivision of any county in which the stock law has been adopted; that the pleadings of the appellee must be construed to charge the appellant with violation of one or both of such articles and not a violation of Article 1370a; that the trial court’s findings do not show a violation of either of such articles. He says in his brief that there is nothing in the findings of fact or pleadings *747 or any where in the record to show that the highway in question had been fenced on both sides as is contemplated by Article 1370a of the Penal Code, Vernon’s Ann. P.C., and he further argues that if the ap-pellee’s case has any merit it must be because of said Articles 1369 and 1370.

Article 1370a of the Penal Code, Vernon’s Ann.P.C., reads in part as follows:

“Section 1.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Tobin Landscape & Construction Co. v. Bramlett
708 S.W.2d 553 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1986)
Harshberger v. Reliable-Aire, Inc.
619 S.W.2d 478 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1981)
Eagle Trucking Co. v. Texas Bitulithic Co.
590 S.W.2d 200 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1979)
Gomez v. Gomez
577 S.W.2d 327 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1979)
Beck v. Sheppard
566 S.W.2d 569 (Texas Supreme Court, 1978)
Sheppard v. Beck
557 S.W.2d 578 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1977)
Hanna v. Wright
504 S.W.2d 779 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1974)
Searle-Taylor MacHinery Co. v. Executive Car Leasing Co. of Houston
477 S.W.2d 696 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1972)
Weddle v. Hudgins
470 S.W.2d 218 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1971)
Ramey v. Richardson
397 S.W.2d 288 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1965)
Phillips v. American General Insurance Company
376 S.W.2d 808 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1964)
Restelle v. Williford
364 S.W.2d 444 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1963)
Hinkle v. Siltamaki
361 P.2d 37 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1961)
MORAN UTILITIES COMPANY v. McHaney
325 S.W.2d 712 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1959)
Davis v. Massey
324 S.W.2d 242 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1959)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
262 S.W.2d 744, 1953 Tex. App. LEXIS 2083, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dorman-v-cook-texapp-1953.