First National Bank in Dallas v. Banco Longoria, S. A.

356 S.W.2d 192, 1962 Tex. App. LEXIS 2348
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 21, 1962
Docket13891
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 356 S.W.2d 192 (First National Bank in Dallas v. Banco Longoria, S. A.) 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
First National Bank in Dallas v. Banco Longoria, S. A., 356 S.W.2d 192, 1962 Tex. App. LEXIS 2348 (Tex. Ct. App. 1962).

Opinion

MURRAY, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal by First National Bank in Dallas, hereinafter referred to as Bank, and Lawyers Surety Corporation, from a judgment in a garnishment suit rendered in favor of Banco Longoria, S.A., as plaintiff, against the First National Bank in Dallas as garnishee and Lawyers Surety Corporation as surety on a replevy bond filed by the defendant debtor, Casco Chemical Corporation, in the sum of $11,495.36, together with interest and court costs. The judgment appealed from was entered on January 31, 1961.

Appellants’ first point is:

“This court should reverse the judgment of the trial court and render judgment dismissing the case because the appellee so controverted the first amended answer of the garnishee that the trial court lost jurisdiction to do anything but dismiss the case or order it transferred to Dallas County where the garnishee bank is domiciled.”

Two lawsuits are involved herein. The first, which is hereinafter called the main suit, was filed by Banco Longoria, S.A., against Casco Chemical Corporation in the 111th District Court of Webb County, Texas, and given the number of 20,347. Judgment was rendered in that cause on March 23, 1960, in favor of plaintiff and against defendant in the sum of $10,905.58, together with interest, attorney’s fees and court costs. An appeal was attempted to this Court and the judgment was affirmed on certificate on August 17, 1960, and mandate was issued out of this Court on September 3, 1960. That judgment is now final and is not here questioned in any way.

The other suit, which is ancillary to Cause No. 20,347, is the garnishment proceeding styled Banco Longoria, S.A., v. First National Bank in Dallas, which was begun by plaintiff on application for a writ of garnishment against the Bank, and also filed in the 111th District Court of Webb County, as No. 20,355. The suit was filed on April 11, 1959. A writ of garnishment issued the same day and was served upon the Bank in Dallas on April 13, 1959, commanding it to appear before the District Court in Laredo in Webb County, at 10:00 o’clock A.M. on the Monday next following the expiration of twenty days from the date of service of the writ, which was May 5, 1959; “then and there to answer upon oath what, if anything, you are indebted to the said Casco Chemical Corporation, and were when this writ was served upon you, and what effects, if any, of the said Casco Chemical Corporation you have in your possession, and had when this writ was served, and what other persons, if any, within your knowledge, are indebted to the said Casco Chemical Corporation or have effects belonging to it in their possession.” On the next day, April 14, 1959, Casco Chemical Corporation filed a replevy bond in the principal sum of $16,000.00, signed by itself as principal and Lawyers Surety Corporation as surety, conditioned for the payment of any judgment against the First National Bank in Dallas, garnish ee in the suit. Whereupon, on the same day, the Judge of the 111th District Court of Webb County, Texas, entered an order “that the FIRST NATIONAL BANK IN DALLAS be and it is hereby authorized to release any effects, debts, shares or claims of any kind seized and garnisheed by the Writ of Garnishment issued out of this Court on the 11th day of April, 1959.” Thereafter on the 28th day of April, 1959, the Bank filed its original answer, stating that it had complied with the above order of the court.

Thereafter, on March 23, 1960, judgment was rendered in the main suit as hereinbe- *195 fore stated. On August 31, 1960, the Bank filed its First Amended Original Answer stating that on April 13, 1959, the date upon which the writ of garnishment was served upon it, Garnishee was indebted to Casco Chemical Corporation in the sum of 65 cents in a regular checking account, and the sum of $1,759.09 in a payroll checking account.

On the same day a hearing was had in the garnishment suit, and the court announced it was rendering judgment against Casco Chemical Corporation and Lawyers Surety Corporation for the full amount of the judgment in the main suit, and for nominal damages only, against the Bank. No written judgment was ever signed or entered, and on September 6, 1960, Banco Longoria, S.A., filed a motion to re-open the hearing in order that it might present additional evidence, and also filed an answer to the first amended answer of the Garnishee, which had been filed on the day of the first hearing, August 31, 1960. The motion to re-open the case was set for hearing on September 13, 1960, and was then and there granted. On October 31, 1960, appellee filed a motion praying the court to order Garnishee Bank to file an amended answer setting forth the amount which it was indebted to Casco Chemical Corporation on each day between April 14 and May 4, 1959. When this motion came on for hearing the Garnishee Bank moved the court to transfer the cause to Dallas where the Garnishee Bank resided, under the provisions of Article 4096, Vernon’s Ann.Civ. Stats. On November 21, 1960, the debtor, Casco Chemical Corporation filed a sworn answer styled “Traverse of all of the Answers of Garnishee.” The allegations of such “Traverse” were to the effect that all of the funds on deposit in the Garnishee Bank were advanced on drafts, and hence in the nature of loans upon which it was paying interest, and were not moneys which were subject to garnishment. To this “Traverse” the appellee filed a motion to strike. Casco Chemical Corporation then filed a motion to transfer the cause to Dallas County, upon the provisions of Art. 4096, supra. On January 4, 1961, at the time of the trial, appellee filed a second motion to strike such “Traverse” and it was granted. At the trial, the court rendered judgment for the full amount of ap-pellee’s claim against Casco Chemical Corporation and Lawyers Surety Corporation as surety on the replevy bond, together with interest and court costs, as above stated. It is from this judgment that this appeal is taken by First National Bank in Dallas and Lawyers Surety Corporation.

It is the contention of appellants that all of the maneuvering that took place in this garnishment proceeding amounted to a traverse of the Bank’s answer and therefore, under the provisions of Art. 4096, supra, the 111th District Court of Webb County was without jurisdiction to do other than dismiss the cause or transfer it to the District Court of Dallas County, the residence of the Garnishee Bank. We do not agree.

There seems to be no decided case that is exactly the same as this one. Let us first consider what was the effect of the filing of the replevy bond. Undoubtedly, it had the effect to authorize the Bank to release any funds subject to being reached by the writ of garnishment, especially since the court so ordered. But it did not have the effect of relieving the Garnishee Bank from filing an answer replying to the questions which the writ of garnishment asked. The replevy bond, in a way, took the place of the Bank and relieved it from liability, but it was necessary for the court to know what funds were in the hands of the Bank belonging to Casco Chemical Corporation, so that it could render judgment in such amount. It was the duty of the Bank to report all of the funds that it had on hand belonging to Casco Chemical Corporation at the time the writ of garnishment was served, and also those coming into its hands up until the day it was to answer, which was May 4, 1959. It is quite clear that a writ of garnishment does *196

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Bluebook (online)
356 S.W.2d 192, 1962 Tex. App. LEXIS 2348, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/first-national-bank-in-dallas-v-banco-longoria-s-a-texapp-1962.