Garonzik v. Green

275 S.W. 184, 1925 Tex. App. LEXIS 687
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 4, 1925
DocketNo. 1253.
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 275 S.W. 184 (Garonzik v. Green) 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
Garonzik v. Green, 275 S.W. 184, 1925 Tex. App. LEXIS 687 (Tex. Ct. App. 1925).

Opinion

O’QUINN, J.

This is a suit by appellant against appellee for commissions alleged, by appellant to be due him, arising out of the sale of certain real estate in the city of Dallas, Tex.

Appellant alleged that in June, 1922, appel-lee listed the property with him for sale, and gave him an exclusive agency to sell said property at the price of $52,500, up to March 1, 1923, appellee to receive of said sum $50,000, and appellant $2,500 as his commission, being 5 per cent, of $50,000, the net sum appellee was to receive from the sale of said property; that appellant interested I-I. D. and Max Michaelson in the purchase of said property, and that they were willing and able to purchase same, but that they desired to postpone the purchase until after the first of the year, 1923; that appellant communicated to appellee the fact that said Michaelsons were prospective purchasers of said property; that somg time about the middle of December, 1922, appellee informed appellant that other real estate agents wanted to sell said property; that he was getting offers- from them, and that he would like to be relieved of the exclusive agency he had given to appellant; that appellant waived his exclusive agency as all purchasers except the Michaelsons, and ■ all real estate agents except as to Sam B. Raitman; that it was then and there agreed that if said *185 Michaelsons purchased said property," appellant was to receive his said commission; that, on to wit, April 10, 1923, Jacob Green, joined by his wife, Freda Green, sold said property to said H. D. and [Vlax Michaelson for $50,-000, but that in order to cheat and defraud appellant out of his commission, ‘the Miehael-sons, Sam Raitman, and Green, appellee, caused a'deed to be made to the said property to S. D. Winter, April 10, 1923, and that on the same date S. D. Winter, joined by his wife, conveyed said property to said H. D. and Max Michaelson for said consideration of $50,000; that the deeds from appellant to S. D. Winter and from Winter and wife to the Michaelsons were fraudulent for the purpose of concealing the true sale from!' appellant to the Michaelsons, and cheat appellant out of his commission; that regardless of whether appellant had an exclusive agency to sell said property, that appellee listed said property with him for sale, so that he, appellant, was the moving and efficient cause of finding and securing the real purchasers, the Michael-sons, of said property, and that, therefore, he is entitled to his commission of $2,500. Appellant pleaded, in the alternative, that on a quantum meruit he was entitled to recover of appellee, for in that appellee caused appellant to give him his time and attention to finding and securing a purchaser for said property, and that he did find such purchaser, to wit the Michaelsons, and that by reason of the premises he, appellant, is entitled to recover of appellee a reasonable sum of money from appellee for his services, and that 5 per cent, of the purchase price is reasonable and customary; and further pleaded that as appellee had maliciously and fraudulently1 entered into a conspiracy to cheat andrdefraud appellant out of his commission, thereby he was entitled to recover of appel-lee exemplary damages in the sum of $1,000.

Appellee answered by general demurrer and general denial.

The case was tried before the court with the aid of a jury, but at the conclusion of the evidence, on motion of defendant appellee, the court instructed the jury tp return a verdict for the defendant, which was done, and judgment accordingly entered. From this judgment appellant brings this appeal.

Appellant’s first assignment of error is:

“The court erred in instructing the jury to return a verdict against the plaintiff and in favor of the defendant, because the pleadings raised the "following issue: Did the defendant, Jacob Green, list the .real estate involved in this lawsuit, with the plaintiff, Will Garon-zik, for $52,500 gross? ”

Appellee objects to us considering this assignment,- for the reason that it appears from the face of the assignment that it complains that the -court erred in instructing the verdict, because the issue stated was raised by the pleadings, but that said assignment did not allege that said issue was also raised 'by the evidence, in the absence of which no error is shown. We think that the objection to the assignment should be sustained. It is elementary that for an issue to be submitted to the jury, it must be raised by both the pleadings and the evidence, for pleading without proof or proof without pleading is of no avail, and cannot be made the basis of a judgment.

Appellant’s proposition under this assignment is a verbatim copy of the assignment, with the addition of the words, “and the evidence,” after the word “pleadings.” We do not believe that this cures the vice in the assignment. If the assignment had contained the added words, it would, in our opinion, still have been too general — -would not have pointed out any specific error, for in order to have determined whether the issue was raised, we would have had to examine the pleadings and the evidence to have ascertained that fact. Besides, the assignment being tqo general, it cannot be aided by the proposition. Chapman v. Reese (Tex. Civ. App.) 268 S. W. 967 (writ refused). Moreover, the proposition contains a ground of error that was not presented to the court below in the motion for new trial. The proposition that the evidence raised the issue has no basis in the assignment, and, therefore, is not germane to the assignment. An enlargement of an assignment of error in this manner is not permissible.

The next nine assignments are to the same purport, that is, they assert that the court erred in directing the verdict, because the pleadings raised certain issues therein named, there being no assertion that the issues were raised by the evidence. The objection to these assignments is sustained.

Appellant’s eleventh assignment is:

“The court erred in instructing a verdict against the plaintiff and in favor of the defendant, because under the pleadings and the undisputed testimony, .the issue was raised as to whether or' not the plaintiff, Will Garonzik, was entitled to recover a commission on the sale of the defendant, Jacob Green’s property. Said matter is fully shown' by plaintiff’s bill of exception- No. 1, here referred to and made a part hereof, as though written herein.”

This assignment is too general, and cannot be considered. It points out no error — does not state wherein the court erred in instructing the verdict,- or wherein the evidence raised the issue. Salliway v. Grand Lodge (Tex. Civ. App.) 164 S. W. 1041 (writ refused) ; Underwood v. Hogg (Tex. Civ. App.) 261 S. W. 556 (writ refused); Boddy v. Potro (Tex. Civ. App.) 260 S. W. 675; Mo. K. & T. R. Co. v. Maxwell, 104 Tex. 632, 143 S. W. 1147. The assignment, instead of stating that which would" disclose the error, if there was error, simply refers to plaintiff’s bill of exception No. 1, without even stating where in the record such'bill of exception,is to be found, and thus attempts to make said bill of exception *186 a part of the assignment. This is not suffix cient. Modern Brotherhood of America v. Chandler (Tex. Civ. App.) 146 S. W. 626 (629); Childress v. Robinson (Tex. Civ. App.) 161 S. W. 78 (writ refused); Anderson & Day v. Darsey (Tex. Civ. App.) 171 S. W. 1089.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
275 S.W. 184, 1925 Tex. App. LEXIS 687, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/garonzik-v-green-texapp-1925.