Grimes v. Huntsville State Bank

12 S.W.2d 1087, 1928 Tex. App. LEXIS 1218
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 14, 1928
DocketNo. 9234.
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 12 S.W.2d 1087 (Grimes v. Huntsville State 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
Grimes v. Huntsville State Bank, 12 S.W.2d 1087, 1928 Tex. App. LEXIS 1218 (Tex. Ct. App. 1928).

Opinion

LANE, J.

On and prior to the 26th day of February, 1926, one A. L. Cline was indebted to W. A. Grimes, appellant herein. On the 3d day of December, 1926, W. A. Grimes recovered a judgment for said debt in the district court of Walker county in the sum of $3,766.26, which, together with interest, etc., amounted to the sum of $3,804.56 on the 23d day of February, ■ 1927.

On the day last mentioned, Joe F. Henson, attorney for W. A. Grimes, made affidavit that he was such attorney; that W. A. Grimes had recovered the judgment mentioned; that it was wholly unpaid; that A. L. Clin’e had not, within the knowledge of W. A. Grimes or of himself, property in his possession within the state of Texas subject to execution sufficient to satisfy said judgment; that W. A. Grimes and affiant had reason to believe, and did believe, that the Huntsville State Bank, of which one J. G. Ashford is president and W. C. Jones vice president, is indebted to A. L. Cline; or that said bank has in its hands effects belonging to said dine. He prayed for the issuance of a writ of garnishment against said bank.

On the same day the writ prayed for was issued, commanding the garnishee to “answer upon oath, if anything, it is indebted to the said A. L. Cline,'and was when this writ was served upon it, and what effects, if any, of the said A. L. Cline it has in its possession, and had when this writ was served, and what other persons, if any, within its knowledge, are indebted to the said Cline, or have effects belonging to him in their possession.” On the same day said writ was duly served upon garnishee.

Garnishee answered under oath, saying that it was, at the time of making its answer and at the time said writ of garnishment was served upon it, indebted to A. L. Cline in the sum of $2.01; that it was not at such time, nor at the time of the service of the writ on it, in possession of any effects belonging to A. L. Cline, and that it did not know of any person or persons who were indebted to A. L. Cline or have or had any effects belonging to him in their possession; that it had to employ M. E. Gates, an attorney, to prepare (this) its answer and agreed to pay said attorney the sum of $25, which was a reasonable amount for such service.

W. A. Grimes controverted the answer of the garnishee, saying that he had good reason to believe and did believe that said answer . was untrue, in that on the 26th day of February, 1926, A. L. Cline, his judgment debtor, by an instrument in writing made a sale in bulk of all lumber on his millyard and all that he might thereafter cut, to garnishee, until his indebtedness should be fully paid; that said instrument was duly registered in the “Mortgage Registry” of Walker county, Tex.; that at the time of such sale, and prior thereto, A. L. Cline was indebted in him, W. A. Grimes, which has been reduced to judg *1088 ment, as shown by a copy of same filed, in this cause on the 3d day of December, 1926, and that the said Oline is still indebted to him for the full amount of the judgment; that, at the time of said sale and transfer, and since such time, A. L. Cline was engaged in the manufacture and sale of lumber and had on hand and owned a stock of lumber of approximately 90,000 feet, which he daily exposed for sale in parcels in the regular course of business; that he made sales and deliveries thereof in carload lots and otherwise at the yard and elsewhere. He says that such sale and transfer was in violation of article 4000 and 4001 of our Revised Statutes relating to bulk sales, and was therefore void as an attempt to defraud creditors of said Cline. He further says that, by virtue of such sale and transfer of said stock of lumber in bulk, the garnishee converted the same to its own use and benefit' in violation of said statutes, and therefore such attempted mortgage, sale, and transfer is void as to him and other creditors of Cline; that the value of said lumber is unknown to him, but is known by garnishee; that he believes that such value exceeds the amount of his judgment against Oline; that he is uilable to produce the instrument executed by Oline, as it is not in the files of the county clerk; and that he believes garnishee is in possession of the same, or has knowledge of its whereabouts, and therefore garnishee is given notice to produce the same, etc.

His prayer is for the court to hold the mortgage, sale, and transfer void as to him, for an accounting of such lumber so received by the garnishee from Cline, and for judgment against garnishee for the full amount of his judgment;

Garnishee, in answer to said controverting plea of Grimes, denies generally the allegations of said controverting, answer, except such as are admitted in its answer. It specially denied that Oline was, on or prior to the 26th day of February, 1926, a retailer of lumber, but avers:

That, at and prior to such time, he was a manufacturer of lumber and selling the same at wholesale only from pine logs which had been bought and paid for with funds of garnishee, and that, after the 26th day of February, 1926, garnishee bought all of the pine logs used by Cline in the manufacture of lumber by and through ’Cline as its agent, and that the proceeds of sales of said lumber so' manufactured by Oline was, under the' provisions and terms of the chattel mortgage referred to, to be paid directly to garnishee, and that all shipments of any part of such lumber were to be shipped through garnishee.

“That the mortgage referred to in said controverting answer was to secure a demand note, of even date with said mortgage, which was in writing, and executed by said A. D. Cline, and payable to the garnishee in the sum of Seventeen Hundred Eleven Dollars and fifty cents ($1,711.50), and at the time of the execution of said note it was contemplated by the garnishee and said: A. L. Cline that it would require additional sums of money to carry on the manufacture of lumber and that said mortgage provided and said garnishee agreed to make at its direction further advances to said A. D. Cline.

“That thereafter all of the operation, contracts and sales of said A. D. Cline by virtue of the terms of said chattel mortgage and by virtue of an oral agreement and understanding between garnishee and said A. D. Cline of even date with said mortgage, were done and performed as the agent of the said garnishee.

“That A. L: Cline at said time agreed with the garnishee that he would as their agent undertake to manufacture certain other pine logs and trees, then owned in the name of A. D. Oline but which had been bought and paid, for with the funds of the garnishee, into lumber, as agent of said garnishee and did thereafter conduct said 'business under the direction of the garnishee, and made all sales as the agent of the garnishee and mostly after obtaining the permission of the garnishee and did thereafter conduct said business under the direction of the garnishee, and made all sales as the agent of the garnishee and mostly after obtaining the permission of the garnishee to make sales, and that under the terms of said chattel mortgage and under the terms of said oral agreement, it as aforesaid had been entered into by the parties garnishee and said Oline, the proceeds of said sales were either paid direct to the garnishee or collected by Cline and immediately turned over to the garnishee.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
12 S.W.2d 1087, 1928 Tex. App. LEXIS 1218, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grimes-v-huntsville-state-bank-texapp-1928.