Harlow v. Swift and Company

491 S.W.2d 472, 1973 Tex. App. LEXIS 2562
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 23, 1973
Docket4539
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 491 S.W.2d 472 (Harlow v. Swift and Company) 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
Harlow v. Swift and Company, 491 S.W.2d 472, 1973 Tex. App. LEXIS 2562 (Tex. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinion

McCLOUD, Chief Justice.

Plaintiff, Dale Harlow, sued defendant, Swift and Company, for damages allegedly suffered because Swift sold and delivered to plaintiff lamb feed which was unfit for the use for which it was intended. The jury answered all liability issues in favor of defendant. Judgment was, however, entered for plaintiff for $5,973.10. This amount was determined by deducting a sum, owed to Swift by Harlow for feed, from an amount owed to Harlow by Swift for the purchase of lambs. Defendant admitted in its answer it owed the $5,973.10. The judgment further provided that all other relief prayed for by plaintiff was denied. Court costs were adjudged against plaintiff, Dale Harlow, and he has appealed. We affirm.

Plaintiff contends that Swift sold and delivered feed which was unreasonably dangerous and unfit to be used as a self-feeding, free-choice, complete lamb starter. He says that after eating the feed, 1,017 lambs died and many others became sick and he was required to expend money for medication and veterinarian bills. Swift argues that its feed was not unfit and any loss suffered by plaintiff was occasioned by misuse of its product by Harlow. Defendant contends it had advised Harlow that certain feeding directions were to be followed, that the directions were not followed, and that plaintiff voluntarily and unreasonably proceeded to encounter a known danger or a danger which plaintiff should have known.

Plaintiff contends first that the judgment should be reversed because of jury misconduct. At the hearing on motion for new trial, juror Jacobs testified that juror Jordan told her, during the trial while the jury was assembled in the jury room, that he had a conversation with a lady in San Saba or San Saba County who told him that Dale Harlow was not entitled to anything because everything he had he had gotten from suing other companies.

Jordan testified that he did have a conversation with juror Jacobs similar to the conversation she related but that such conversation took place after the trial was over and not during the trial. He testified further that the conversation with the lady took place in Mills County, not San Saba, while he was on official social security business, during a trial recess. He testified the statement was made by the wife of a man he had gone to interview; that he was talking to the lady while waiting for her husband; that he didn’t mention he knew anything about who she was talking about; that the lady said something about the trial in Brownwood and that Harlow had sued another company before, but he couldn’t recall exactly how she said it; that evidently Harlow had been successful in a suit with a feed company, or something of this sort, and she was just kind of rambling about it and he changed the sub *475 ject. He testified further that it was a thing of short duration and if she had gone into it and discussed it, he would have had to tell her he was on the jury; that she kind of made a catch-all statement; and, that he thought it would be over quicker if he just ignored it and went on to something else. He stated the essence of what she said was that Harlow had come into some amount of money through lawsuits and that was the money he was not entitled to. Jordan testified he did not report the incident to the trial judge; that in the course of his business he was often chewed out, stomped, discussed, and so forth by everybody in the country, and that he heard an awful lot of hearsay. He also stated that the remarks made by the outsider did not influence him in any way in reaching his verdict. We cannot consider this statement by Jordan because it is not permissible to allow a juror to preserve or destroy his verdict by testifying to the mental processes used in reaching his verdict. Barrington v. Duncan, 140 Tex. 510, 169 S.W.2d 462 (1943).

Each of the remaining jurors testified and none heard the alleged conversation between jurors Jacobs and Jordan or any similar information discussed by any of the jurors at any time.

Plaintiff also argues that statements made by juror Beaird show the juror was biased and prejudiced against Harlow. Vernon Jacobs, husband of the juror Jacobs, testified by deposition that he talked with juror Beaird shortly after the trial ended and Beaird stated to him “A man that’ll do that, I wouldn’t give him nothing if he had it coming.” Juror Beaird testified the first knowledge he had that Harlow had other claims against other feed companies was four to six days after the trial. Further, he testified he did not make the statement testified to by Vernon Jacobs.

A review of the testimony given at the hearing on the motion for new trial shows that it is uncontroverted that during a recess a lady in Mills County stated to juror Jordan that Harlow had gotten a lot of money he was not entitled to by suing some other company. It is, however, highly controverted as to whether Jordan told Jacobs about the conversation during the trial. Jacobs said that her conversation with Jordan took place during the trial, but Jordan said the conversation occurred after the trial. Also, the alleged remark by juror Beaird is controverted. Beaird said he made no such remark to Vernon Jacobs and further that he knew nothing about Harlow’s prior lawsuits until after the trial was over.

The trial court did not file express findings of fact and conclusions of law even though requested by plaintiff. Plaintiff argues that such failure constituted error. We disagree. When confronted with this argument, we think the Court in Warner v. Plummer, 355 S.W.2d 817 (Tex.Civ.App. — Waco 1962, writ ref’d n. r. e.), correctly stated the rule as follows:

“We are asked to reverse because the court failed to file findings of fact and conclusions relating to alleged jury misconduct and communications of counsel in the hearing on their motion for new trial as requested by appellants under Rule 296, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. That Rule applies to a ‘trial by the court.’ In Eichelberger v. Rankin, Tex.Civ.App., 278 S.W.2d 278, writ ref. n. r. e., Justice Norvell wrote that under the Rule ‘a trial judge is not required to file findings and conclusions as to matters raised upon a motion for new trial in a jury case, Connor v. Heard & Heard, Tex.Civ.App., 242 S.W.2d 205.’ See also Viking Construction Co. v. Beaird, Tex. Civ.App., 337 S.W.2d 699, 704. We are urged to overturn the rule. We think it is sound.”

Where the trial court does not file express findings it is presumed on appeal that the trial court found all controverted facts in support of its judgment overruling the motion for new trial and *476 that no misconduct occurred. If the evidence offered at the hearing on the motion for new trial is conflicting as to whether misconduct occurred, the decision of the trial court on the question is binding on appeal. Brawley v. Bowen, 387 S.W.2d 383 (Tex.Sup.1965); In re Estate of Moore, 464 S.W.2d 428 (Tex.Civ.App.— Eastland 1971, writ ref’d n. r. e.).

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Bluebook (online)
491 S.W.2d 472, 1973 Tex. App. LEXIS 2562, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harlow-v-swift-and-company-texapp-1973.