Hill v. Belnoski

42 S.W.2d 856
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 29, 1931
DocketNo. 2132
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 42 S.W.2d 856 (Hill v. Belnoski) 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
Hill v. Belnoski, 42 S.W.2d 856 (Tex. Ct. App. 1931).

Opinions

WALKER, J.

In the court below appellee was plaintiff and appellant defendant. Since appellant’s first fourteen propositions challenge the sufficiency of appellee’s petition to state a cause of action, we quote as follows from the petition:

“Plaintiff represents to the court that during the year, 1928, the defendant herein and your petitioner were engaged in buying and selling at different times land and timber and especially about the months of March, April and May of that year; that the defendant, Warfield 1-Iill, came to Willis during the month of March, 1928, or about said time and told this plaintiff if he knew where there was any land and timber that they would handle the same and the plaintiff replied to the defendant that he would get him timber and lands that were for sale provided he would finance the deals, to which defendant agreed. This agreement was reached and the defendant agreed to furnish the money and the plaintiff would locate and purchase the timber or land and the profits were to be divided equally between them; that plaintiff explained at that time to this defendant that he had in mind three tracts of timber and land that he could purchase, The Rice Spiller,, the Dr. Curtis timber and the 171 acres of land and timber in the De La Garza survey and it was then the defendant drew up the memorandum contract which stated in substance that when the land and timber was located and sold, as provided for in the contract, that all profits should be divided between plaintiff and defendant in an equal proportion. This contract was reduced to writing and delivered to plaintiff but the same has been mislaid and cannot be produced at this time. That in pursuance of said contract and agreement, made between plaintiff and defendant, whereby it was agreed, one with the other, that the said Belnoski would locate the land and timber and the defendant, Warfield Hill, would finance the deal and divide the profits equally, which contract was mutual and the terms of which were agreed upon by both parties; the plaintiff located and had located the 171 acres of land and timber described herein and plaintiff and defendant went upon said land to locate the corners and look at the. timber before a deal was closed; sought purchasers before defendant went to Cleveland to close a deal for them before the same was closed and asked plaintiff to go with him, [857]*857when plaintiff replied in substance that he, defendant, could close the transaction without his assistance and to go to Cleveland and buy the land and timber and they would resell it, divide the profits, to which defendant agreed. That under and by virtue of the terms of the contract between plaintiff and defendant the plaintiff is entitled to one-half the net profits of the timber sold to the J. S. Hunt Lumber Company and one-half of said land.
“III. The first two tracts mentioned herein were sold by plaintiff and defendant and the profits divided equally; that all of said land was situated in Montgomery County; that the contract herein referred to was made and entered into at Willis, Montgomery County, Texas; that the defendant misrepresented to plaintiff when he stated to him and provided for in the contract that he would divide equally the land and timber or the profits arising therefrom as to the 171 acres hereinafter described as he secretly and without knowledge on the.part of this plaintiff and with the intent to defraud him, left Montgomery County and went to Cleveland, in Liberty County, and there closed the deal for this land and timber and took the title to the same in his own name and thereafter sold the timber from said land for the sum of One Thousand ($1,000.00) Dollars to the J. S. Hunt Lumber Company without paying this plaintiff any part of the profits or giving him any portion of the land, or deeding him any portion of the same, consisting of the 171 acres described herein.
'TV. That this defendant acquired said land, consisting of 171 acres, from the Estate of Edwin Hobby for a consideration of Six Hundred Fifty & 00/100 ($650.00) Dollars as recited in the Deed which is duly, of record in the Deed Records of Montgomery County, Texas, in Book 120, page 102, which he bought in Oct. 1928 and which land is described as follows. (Here follows a description of the land in controversy.)
“V. That the said defendant practiced a fraud upon plaintiff and violated and breached his contract when the same was entered into as herein stated, in that he failed to do what he agreed to do and fraudulently obtained title to this in his own name without disclosing to this plaintiff the purchase of said land and timber, as herein set out.
“VI. That this plaintiff under and by virtue of all the facts in this ease and the agreement made and entered'into herein is the owner of an undivided one-half interest in said 171 acres of land and the timber sold therefrom; that during the year 1928, the exact time being unknown to plaintiff, as stated herein, the pine timber from said 171 acres of land was sold to the J. S. Hunt Lumber Company for the consideration of One Thousand ($1,-000.00) Dollars.”

Appellant answered by general and special exceptions, general denial, and specially as follows:

“Further answering herein this defendant would respectfully show to the Court that on or about February A. D. 1928, the exact date being to him unknown, he did ask plaintiff if he knew of any timber that could be bought, or that a man could buy. That if plaintiff did know of the location of any timber that could be purchased, and that this defendant thought was good, he could get it financed; that if plaintiff discovered any such tract of timber and communicated that fact to defendant and arranged for the purchase of said tract of timber, that defendant, in the event he was of the opinion that 'said timber was worth the price demanded, would make the advances necessary for its purchase, and would divide with him the profits resulting from said purchase.
“Defendant says that at no time was the tract of land set out in plaintiff’s said first amended original petition mentioned by and between plaintiff and defendant in any way or manner, either verbal or in writing. That this defendant knew of said tract of land, and that it was for sale long prior to his conversation with plaintiff, and that plaintiff never at any time mentioned said tract of land to defendant, or had any contract with defendant with reference thereto.”

The issues submitted by appellee’s petition were found by the jury in his favor, and the judgment entered gave due effect to the jury’s verdict, by awarding appellee judgment against appellant for $150 and for an undivided one-half interest in the land described in the petition.

Opinion.

Appellant has no assignments against the answers of the jury, to the questions submitted, but on oral argument asserted that the court failed to submit his defensive issues. However, he has no proposition directing our attention to any specific issue raised by- his pleadings and testimony, not covered by the court’s charge.

His general demurrer and special exceptions to the plaintiff’s petition are brought forward by the following propositions:

(1, 6,10, and 11) The petition did not identify the subject-matter of the controversy and did not state the time of its performance. (2) Since appellee pleaded an executory contract, it was necessary to allege due performance of its material conditions.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Klein v. Sibley
203 S.W.2d 239 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1947)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
42 S.W.2d 856, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hill-v-belnoski-texapp-1931.