Gilbert v. Lobley

214 S.W.2d 646, 1948 Tex. App. LEXIS 1503
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 15, 1948
DocketNo. 14972.
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 214 S.W.2d 646 (Gilbert v. Lobley) 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
Gilbert v. Lobley, 214 S.W.2d 646, 1948 Tex. App. LEXIS 1503 (Tex. Ct. App. 1948).

Opinion

SPEER, Justice.

This is an appeal from a proceeding had under a motion for new trial in a suit in which defendants were cited by publication, under the provisions of Rule 329, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.

By petition filed August 2, 1945, bearing docket No. 10484, styled Grady T. Chupp et al. vs. F. I. Bellows et al. in the District Court of Montague County, Texas, plaintiffs procured and had served, citation by publication as against all defendants.

The record before us does not contain the petition in the original suit but with a view to shortening the record counsel for all parties stipulated the nature and result of said original suit.

This stipulation discloses that a large number of defendants were cited by publication. In the view we take of this appeal we think it unnecessary to name all of those so cited, but for clarity as to what we shall later say, the defendants may be divided into two groups, namely, the Lob-ley heirs and the Gilbert heirs. The original action was to recover against all defendants an undivided one-half interest in the mineral estate in the F. I. Bellows Survey in Montague ■ County, Texas, consisting of 572½ acres of land.

Hon. Geo. M. Hopkins was by the court on September 17, 1945 appointed as an attorney to represent the defendants so cited by publication and as guardian ad litem.for any of such defendants who were minors or under disability. That attorney filed an answer for all defendants and a cross action in .behalf of those defendants whom we shall call the Gilbert heirs against their co-defendants, whom we shall designate as the Lobley heirs, and against the plaintiffs in that suit, in which it was asserted that the Gilbert heirs owned all of the mineral rights involved to the exclusion of plaintiffs and the Lobley heirs. The cross defendants were cited by publication in the Gilbert heirs’ cross action.

Thereafter the court appointed Hon. E. D. Eakman attorney for the cross defendants (the Lobley heirs) and guardian ad litem for any of such defendants who may be minors or under other disability.

Judgment in the original case and cross action therein was entered on December 31, 1945, decreeing that the original plaintiffs and the Lobley heirs had no interest in the one-half mineral rights sued for, and awarded the whole of the one-half mineral estate to the Gilbert heirs (under and by virtue of their cross action). The estate, was divided into fractional parts between the Gilbert heirs.

Within two years after the date of the judgment in the original suit, the Lobley heirs filed what they properly termed their motion for new trial supported by affidavit, under said Rule 329, T.R.C.P. They asserted an interest in the mineral estate involved in the suit previously referred to, that neither of them was present or participated in the original action, nor were they represented therein by counsel of their *648 own selection. Further allegations of good cause were made, the details of which we shall not set out.

No formal process or citation was issued or served on the Gilbert heirs in this proceeding. A copy of the Lobley heirs’ mo- . tiori for new trial was sent by U. S. registered mail by the attorney who hied the motion to Hon. Geo.' M. Hopkins in another county, who, as above stated, had been appointed by the court in the original case as attorney and guardian ad litem. Mr. Hopkins thereafter timely hied an amicus curiae in the case showing that he was not a proper party upon whom service of citation or other process could be had in such circumstances. Later the trial court heard and overruled the amicus curiae suggestion and entered an order to that effect; Mr. Hopkins excepted to the order. Still insisting that the Gilbert heirs had not been-properly cited to appear and' answer the motion filed by the Lobley heirs and subject to such objections and the suggestion of amicus curiae, Mr. Hopkins answered the motion and trial was thereafter had to the court without a jury.

On February 25, 1948 the court entered his judgment on the motion for a new trial by the Lobley heirs, in which judgment it is recited: “and the above named defendants (the Gilbert heirs) having been given notice of the filing of said motion by service of a copy of the same upon the Hon. Geo. M: Hopkins, their attorney at law and in fact and he having filed answer herein, consisting of exceptions and general denial, the court overruled all of said exceptions and the matter proceeded to trial.” The last mentioned judgment reformed the previous judgment entered on December 31, 1945 and awarded to each of the five Lobley heirs an undivided %ooth interest in the mineral estate in controversy. (The record is somewhat obscure as to whether this interest so awarded is in the whole of the mineral estate in the Bellows Survey or the undivided one-half interest originally in controversy. This is not especially important for a determination of this appeal.) The same judgment awarded to the Gilbert heirs designated fractional interests respectively but less by that part awarded to the Lobley heirs than that awarded to the Gilbert heirs in the original judgment.

Omitting some incidents and procedural matters involved, but discussed latex in this opinion under the Lobley heirs’ motion to dismiss appeal, the Gilbert heirs appealed from the judgment entered in this proceeding.

We note that the motion for new trial by the Lobley heirs in fact bore the original docket number of 10484, styled Grady Chupp et al. v. F. I. Bellows et al., but for some reason the transcript was improvidently endorsed “Joe Gilbert et al. v. J. E. Lobley et al.” and the style of the case last named was thus placed on our docket. This does not change the situation before us since the substance of the motion for new trial and not the endorsement or docket style thereof must determine its nature. Harkness v. McQueen, Tex.Civ.App., 207 S.W.2d 676.

In the interest of brevity and clarity, we shall refer to those whom we have mentioned as the Gilbert heirs as appellants and to those referred to as the Lobley heirs as appellees, and to distinguish this action from the motion for new trial by appellants we will embrace the original motion for new trial in quotation marks when we have occasion to refer to it.

At the outset of this discussion we are met with a motion by appellees to dismiss this appeal, first, because the bond is not in accordance with Rule 354, T.R.C.P., and second, because the bond in this appeal was not filed in time to confer jurisdiction on this court under Rule 356, T.R.C.P.

We overrule both grounds urged in the motion. This action involved a judgment for a recovery of an interest in land. Rule 364, T.R.C.P. provides in sections (c) and (e) that if the judgment is for the recovery of land and an appeal is taken, the trial court shall fix the amount of the supersedeas bond. In this case the court fixed the amount of bond at $100.00. The appellants filed their bond for that amount, conditioned and in the form provided by form No. 910, Stayton’s Amended Forms (1948 Ed.). '

*649 The second ground in the motion presents a very interesting if not unique theory. Appellees contend that the bond, was not filed within thirty days after rendition of the judgment.

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214 S.W.2d 646, 1948 Tex. App. LEXIS 1503, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gilbert-v-lobley-texapp-1948.