Gasperson v. Madill National Bank

455 S.W.2d 381, 1970 Tex. App. LEXIS 2545
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 8, 1970
Docket17107
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 455 S.W.2d 381 (Gasperson v. Madill National Bank) 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
Gasperson v. Madill National Bank, 455 S.W.2d 381, 1970 Tex. App. LEXIS 2545 (Tex. Ct. App. 1970).

Opinion

OPINION

BREWSTER, Justice.

This appeal is from a judgment in a non-jury trial. The trial court consolidated for trial three separate cases pending on its docket and ordered the parties to replead. This resulted in the Madill National Bank of Madill, Oklahoma, as plaintiff, suing E. G. Gasperson for $7,791.73 which it claimed was the balance of principal, interest and attorney fees due and owing to such bank on a renewal note that E. G. Gasperson executed, payable to that bank.

E. G. Gasperson and his brother, Adrian Gasperson, and one James E. (Jim) Gasper-son, filed and went to trial on what they designated as an amended answer, cross-action and third party action. Jim Gas-person was designated in this pleading as an intervenor.

The Gaspersons filed a general denial to the bank’s suit. By way of a third party action against Alfred A. Drummond, James A. Drummond and Dorothy Rabón, the Gaspersons alleged: that starting in 1952 and for more than 10 years thereafter, Alfred A. Drummond and E. G. Gasperson were jointly interested in various business transactions and during the latter years of that period E. G. Gasperson’s brother, Adrian, also participated in some of those ventures; starting in 1963 they started trying to settle their various business dealings and accounts but were unable to do so and several lawsuits resulted including the three cases that have been consolidated here as well as a case brought by Alfred A. Drum-mond against Adrian Gasperson in Marion County, Texas; that in July, 1965, E. G. Gasperson and Alfred A. Drummond did reach an oral agreement to compromise all matters involved in the three consolidated cases; and that in making the settlement E. G. was acting for himself and as agent of Adrian and Jim Gasperson; and Alfred A. Drummond was acting as agent for James A. Drummond, Dorothy Rabón and the Madill Bank.

The alleged terms of such settlement agreement were both lengthy and complicated. Among the various promises alleged to be a part of such overall settlement agreement was (1) a promise of Alfred A. Drummond to reconvey to E. G. Gasperson 4 overriding royalty interests in the Taylor, Aspin, Hartsell and G. T. Le-May leases and 20 royalty acres in said G. T. LeMay land, all in Wise County and ½ of which mineral interests E. G. Gasperson promised to in turn convey to Adrian Gas-person; (2) the promise of Alfred A. Drummond to convey to E. G. Gasperson a ½ interest in the surface of the 160 acre G. T. LeMay tract in Wise County, plus a 1/2 interest in all minerals under that tract and under an adjoining 8 acre tract; (3) *385 E. G. Gasperson and Alfred A. Drummond agreed that they would then partition the surface of the 160 acre LeMay tract with Gasperson getting the east half and Drum-mond the west half; (4) A. A. Drummond agreed to convey a ⅛ mineral interest or 25 mineral acres in a 100 acre tract in the Epps D. Payne Survey in Comanche County to E. G. Gasperson; (5) they agree that E. G. Gasperson and A. A. Drummond would sell and convey to James E. (Jim) Gasperson and Pickens tract in Wise County for $6,000.00.

It is apparent that this alleged oral settlement agreement involved a number of different promises to convey various interests in real estate as indicated in the last paragraph.

It was alleged that this settlement agreement was intended as a package settlement and that each of the various matters being compromised were compromised in consideration of the compromise of the other matters that were being settled.

It was alleged that one part of the package settlement agreement was that E. G. and Adrian Gasperson would pay to A. A. Drummond the principal balance and simple interest to August 2, 1965, on two deed of trust notes made by Adrian Gasperson to A. A. Drummond, the pay-off sums being $4,433.65 and $3,175.19, and would also pay to Dorothy Rabón $741.13 and $711.37, being amounts due on two deed of trust notes signed by Adrian Gasperson and owned by Dorothy Rabón. When these payments were made then A. A. Drummond and Miss Rabón were to release their liens on land owned by Adrian Gasperson in Marion County. It was alleged that this was all to be done in settlement of case No. 17,846, A. A. Drummond vs. Adrian Gasperson, pending in Marion County, and that when this was done that suit was to be dismissed with prejudice.

It was alleged that A. A. Drummond and E. G. and Adrian Gasperson all agreed to meet in Jefferson, Texas, on August 3,1965, to conclude the part of the settlement relating to the Marion County suit and to meet in Fort Worth on August 6, 1965, to there sign all documents relating to the closing of the rest of the settlement. The Gaspersons pleaded that they did go to Jefferson on August 3, 1965, and did there pay the sums they had agreed to pay in connection with the Marion County suit, and that A. A. Drummond got the money and then refused to conclude the rest of the settlement agreement.

The Gaspersons pleaded that the Drum-monds, the Bank and Dorothy Rabón having accepted these sums paid by the Gaspersons on the Marion County deal in part performance of the entire settlement agreement and then having refused to carry out the rest of such agreement are now estop-ped from recovering in this case, except in accordance with the settlement agreement.

The Gasperson pleading is lengthy, occupying with its exhibits about 52 pages of the transcript. It is complicated and will be referred to hereafter in this opinion only in instances where it is necessary to do so in order to dispose of this appeal.

Under the court order requiring a re-pleader Alfred A. and James A. Drummond and Dorothy Rabón occupied the position in the case of defendants in the third party action against them brought by the Gasper-sons.

They filed an answer to the third party complaint. Alfred A. and James A. Drum-mond also filed a counterclaim in the case against E. G., Adrian and James E. (Jim) Gasperson, seeking recovery of sums of money they claimed were owed them, actual and exemplary damages, judgment quieting title to land, and injunctive relief.

In addition to the above, some of the parties filed a number of trial amendments containing pleas and alternative pleas all of which added to the complicated nature of the entire matter.

After a trial which took almost 4 weeks, the trial judge signed one judgment on May 22, 1969, and an amended judgment on Au *386 gust 15, 1969. This last judgment was 17 pages long.

This last judgment (the amended one) awarded the Madill National Bank a judgment for $7,791.73 against E. G. Gasperson. The mortgage lien given on certain personalty to secure this note was foreclosed. The judgment awarded a recovery of $12,330.68, plus interest from date of judgment, to Alfred A. Drummond against E. G. Gas-person. This arose out of a transaction where A. A. Drummond borrowed $5,000.00 from each of two banks for the use and benefit of E. G. Gasperson. The decree provided that when Drummond was paid this money that he should execute deeds re-conveying to E. G. Gasperson 4 overriding royalty interests and 20 non-participating royalty acres that had been conveyed to Drummond as security for him borrowing the $10,000.00 for Gasperson. The decree provided that when Drummond was paid this part of the judgment, then the sum in the court registry attributable to this mineral interest was to be the sole property of E. G.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
455 S.W.2d 381, 1970 Tex. App. LEXIS 2545, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gasperson-v-madill-national-bank-texapp-1970.