Ford Motor Co. v. Freeman

168 S.W. 80, 1914 Tex. App. LEXIS 1117
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 30, 1914
DocketNo. 7161.
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 168 S.W. 80 (Ford Motor Co. v. Freeman) 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
Ford Motor Co. v. Freeman, 168 S.W. 80, 1914 Tex. App. LEXIS 1117 (Tex. Ct. App. 1914).

Opinion

TALBOT, J.

In July, 1912, the appellees carried their automobile to appellant’s repair shop to be repaired. The repairs were made, and a charge of $59.29 made therefor. Ap-pellees claimed that this charge was exorbitant, and refused to pay it. Appellant, however, voluntarily gave possession of the automobile to appellees, who removed it from appellant’s shop, and retained possession of it until December, 1912. At this time appellees again carried the automobile to appellant’s place of business for repairs, and, notwithstanding the charges for the last repairs were paid, appellant refused to allow appellees to take the car away, or regain possession of the same, unless they would pay the bill for repairs made in July, 1912. Appellees refused to pay the July bill and sued out a sequestration, which was levied upon the automobile, and thereupon the appellant replevied the same by giving a replevin bond in the terms of the statute. Appellees then gave notice in writing to appellant that the automobile, was used for business purposes, and of the damages which they claimed would accrue to them if the automobile should be held, and also made a legal tender to appellant of the amount which appellees claimed they owed for the July repairs. Appellant refused the tender, whereupon appellees again sued out a writ of sequestration, and appellant again replevied the automobile, and refused to allow appellees to take it, and has ever since continued to hold the automobile over the protest of appellees.

In their amended petition the appellees alleged, among other things, that the appellant forcibly took possession of their automobile, and without probable cause retained the *82 same; that said automobile was in use by appellees in the delivery of dairy products in and about the city of Dallas, and that the delivery of milk by appellees to their customers in said city depended upon the possession of said automobile; that on account of the deprivation of the possession of their said automobile their dairy business had been greatly damaged; that the value of the use of said automobile since December, 1912, and the deterioration in the value of the same, was $850; and that the automobile, at the time the petition was filed, by reason of deterioration in value while in the possession of appellant, was only $150. They prayed judgment for $850, as damages in the use of the automobile and the deterioration of same since December, 1912, and for a return of said automobile, or for said $850, and the further sum of $150, the value of said automobile. On the same day the appellants filed their amended answer, alleging, among other things, that they claimed a lien upon the automobile for the July work to secure the sum of $59.29, and that when the appellees refused to pay the bill the appellants kept possession of the car, and that the car had been ever since, was at the time of the filing of the answer, and on all of the days intervening, subject to the possession and order of the plaintiffs upon the payment of said $59.29.

The case went to trial on December 16, 1913, and the jury rendered a verdict in favor of the appellees for the sum of $365 and the return of the automobile, or in lieu thereof the sum of $150. Judgment was rendered on the verdict in favor of appellees, and appellant appealed.

[1] The court charged the jury on the measure of appellees’ damages as follows:

“But if you find that the defendant did not have a lien upon the said automobile at the time of its seizure, and that such seizure was wrongful, your verdict will be for the plaintiffs for such sum as will reasonably compensate them for the deterioration, if any, on their said automobile, from December, 1912, or date of seizure, to this date, and such further sum as under the evidence you may find to be a reasonable rental of said automobile from date of seizure of said automobile to this date, the total sum to be allowed not to exceed $850, and in addition thereto award the possession of said automobile to plaintiffs, or in lieu of said automobile such additional sum as you find said automobile now to be reasonably worth on the market, not to exceed $150.”

This charge is complained, of and made the basis of appellant’s first assignment of error ; the only proposition urged being that:

“The measure of damages for the conversion of personal property is its reasonable market value at the time it was converted, plus lawful interest from that date until the date of trial.”

The consideration of this assignment is objected to by appellees on the ground that it is not briefed in accordance with the rules. This objection is well taken. A proposition without a sufficient statement cannot, under the rules and laws of this state, be considered; and a statement which fails to show that objection was made to a charge given and complained of by appeal, and particularly one which fails to refer to a bill of exception, where a bill is required to preserve the point, giving the number of the bill or page where it can be found in the record, is insufficient. Ferguson v. Faiu, 164 S. W. 1040; Stephenson v. Luttrell, 160 S. W. 666. In the last case cited it is said:

“No reference is made to a bill of exceptions in the twenty-third assignment of error, nor in the propositions and statement thereunder; and this court assumed, as it had a right to do, that there was no bill of exceptions. It is under no obligation to search through the statement of facts or other parts of the record to find bills of exception.”

[2] As in the cases cited, no reference is made to a bill of exception in the assignment under consideration, nor in the proposition and statement thereunder. The assignment is not, therefore, entitled to consideration. The record must show by bill of exception that objections to the court’s charge were made before it was read to the jury, and the court’s action thereon, and objections not so presented, must be deemed to have been waived. Acts 33d Leg. c. 59; Johnson v. Hoover & Lyons, 165 S. W. 900.

[3, 4] If the objections now urged to the paragraph of the court’s charge under consideration were made in the court below and overruled, and a bill of exception reserved thereto, it does not appear in appellant’s brief in any manner. This being the condition of the brief, we are not required to search the record for a bill of exception, but may assume that none was taken, and the objection waived. The index to the transcript sent to this court shows that appellant, in the course of the trial, reserved 13 bills of exception, numbered from 1 to 13, inclusive, and to ascertain whether either one of these bills relates to the charge here complained of would require this court, beginning with No. 1, to examine each bill until such bill, if among the number, could be found. It is not incumbent upon us to do this. But, however, if we were disposed to consider the assignment, we are not prepared to hold that the court’s charge on the measure of damages is erroneous. On the contrary, the correctness of the charge, as applied to the facts of this case, is sustained, it occurs to us, by the following authorities: Vernon’s Sayles’ Ann. Civ. St. 1914, arts. 7104, 7108; Craddock v. Goodwin. 54 Tex. 578; Moore, McKinney & Co. v. King, 4 Tex. Civ. App. 397, 23 S. W. 484; Haviland v. Parker, 11 Mich. 104.

[5]

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168 S.W. 80, 1914 Tex. App. LEXIS 1117, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ford-motor-co-v-freeman-texapp-1914.