Holstead v. Parker

238 S.W. 287, 1922 Tex. App. LEXIS 411
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 3, 1922
DocketNo. 714.
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 238 S.W. 287 (Holstead v. Parker) 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
Holstead v. Parker, 238 S.W. 287, 1922 Tex. App. LEXIS 411 (Tex. Ct. App. 1922).

Opinions

This was a suit by appellants, as plaintiffs, against appellees, as defendants, for the title and possession of a motorboat. Appellants seized the boat under writ of sequestration, but it was surrendered to appellees by the sheriff under their replevy bond. The trial was to the court without a jury, and judgment was rendered for appellees. The trial court fixed the value of *Page 288 the boat at the time it was replevied at the sum of $1,000, and the reasonable rental value of the boat at $6 per day. We make the following statement from the record:

The following agreement was offered in evidence:

"It is agreed in this suit that Thomas S. Plunkett was the owner of the boat sued for on and prior to May 31, 1920; that on April 30, 1918, Weaver Son obtained in the district court of Orange county, Tex., against Thomas S. Plunkett a judgment which by payment had been reduced to the sum, principal and interest, of $252.13, and that there was in said cause incurred the sum of $341.85, costs, and on May 21, 1920, order of sale issued in said cause, under which the boat in question was advertised for sale by the sheriff of Orange county, Tex., to satisfy said judgment and costs, the sale to be made June 1, 1920; that the judgment and order of sale and advertisement above referred to were all valid and regular, and the total amount for which said boat was being sold was the sum of $593.98 (the judgment, interest, and court costs), and the further costs and charges accruing under order of sale."

We give in full the testimony of Ed Weaver:

"My name is Ed Weaver. I am a member of the firm of Weaver Son. I am a member of the firm that had a judgment against Thomas S. Plunkett with an attachment lien on a motorboat known as the Thos. S. Plunkett, Jr., herein sued on. I had done some work on that boat and had attached it for the work. We sued Thomas S. Plunkett and obtained judgment against him, and had this boat advertised for sale by the sheriff. I was in charge of the Weaver Son's work, and was looking after that. That boat was advertised for sale, the sale to be made on June 1, 1920, I believe. Before the sale was made, quite a number of parties came and looked at the boat, and asked me what kind of shape it was in. Several different persons did that. I don't remember whether Mr. Lutcher Brown talked to me about it or not; I think probably he did. I don't think Mr. Holstead ever talked to me about it. As to whether or not I remember the circumstances of the sale of the boat that was made by the sheriff, will say I know it was sold. I was not present at that sale. Before that sale was made and before the day of the sale, I received a telegram from Mr. Plunkett, the owner of the boat. I haven't that telegram. I don't know whether I have it at the yard or not; I am not sure, but I think maybe I have. That telegram from Mr. Plunkett in effect notified me that Mr. Plunkett had sold the boat to the plaintiffs, and that, upon their payment to me of the price, $720, I would retain out of it the amount of my judgment and costs and remit him the balance, and deliver the boat to them. I think that about covers the substance of the telegram. I suppose that telegram was sent to me by Mr. Plunkett. It was signed by him. I received it. After receiving that telegram, I was given a check for the $720, and I accepted that check in good faith. I told Lutcher I didn't know anything about what was to be done with the sale of the boat; I would take it to Mr. Bruce, who was representing us. I made no complaint about the check. I took the check just as readily as I would have the money. There was no question about Lutcher's check. As to whether or not I took the check in line with the telegram that had been received from Mr. Plunkett, will say I would have taken the check anyway, whether I had gotten the telegram or not. Lutcher brought the check to me to pay for the boat, and I just took the check and gave it to Mr. Bruce. Mr. Bruce was representing me as an attorney. I had gotten the telegram from Mr. Plunkett before he brought me the check. With a lawyer representing me, I took it to the lawyer to settle it. After having received this telegram from Mr. Plunkett that he had sold the boat to the plaintiffs and for me to deliver it to them upon their giving me this sum of $720 in money, they brought this check down which was accepted by me, and I turned the check over to Mr. Bruce, who was my attorney representing me, telling him the facts — just what had been done. As to whether or not I told him at that time what was necessary to be done to carry out that agreement, will say I think that covers what I told him. As to whether or not I made him acquainted with the fact that the judgment was settled by this check, will say I gave it to him to do what was right about it; I didn't know whether it was settled or not. I had nothing further to do than to turn it over to my attorney to do what was right. He was collecting the bill. It was out of my hands. As to whether or not I turned the check over to him in carrying out the statement in the telegram from Mr. Plunkett, will say that was the substance of it. That is all I did. I never paid any further attention to it from that time on. I don't know whether there was anything further to be done by me or by the plaintiffs or by Mr. Plunkett or not. I didn't think there was anything further to be done by me. I didn't know what was to be done by anybody else. In a way, I had my money; in other words, it was secure, I reckon. The check was satisfactory to me. It was just the same as the money. I had possession of money enough to cover it. I had my money in the check that had been given to me by Mir. Brown. That was the day before the sale.

"I did not make delivery of this boat to Mr. Lutcher Brown when he gave me that check. When he gave me the check, I told him I couldn't say anything about it; I would take the check and take it to you as my attorney. When he tendered me the check, as near as I can remember, we were over here where the filling station is now, on the corner. He was sitting in his car and I was in mine. He met me on the street. It wasn't at my place of business. That was about a mile and a half away from where the boat was. As to how I was holding that boat, will say the sheriff had possession of the boat, but had me to take care of it for him. I had been taking care of it for the sheriff ever since this judgment. If the judgment was in April, 1918, then I had had it a little over two years I did not know how much the sheriff's charge for taking care of the property was going to be at the time he tendered the check to me. I said he gave me the check the day before the sale, I can't remember what time of day it was. I *Page 289 think it was somewhere around noon or maybe afternoon. It was two or three hours, I think, after he tendered the check to me that I brought the check to you as my attorney. When he gave me the check, I did not go with him down to where the boat was and give him possession of the boat. I did not send him to get possession of the boat. I did not tell him he could get possession of the boat. As to whether or not it is a fact that I told him I would take that check to you and see what should be done about it, will say that is what it all amounted to. All the conversation we had was I told him I would take the check to you and do what was right about it. I did not know at that time that $720 would cover the amount of the judgment, costs, and care of the property. I couldn't say whether I told him or not that the boat was to be sold next day at sheriff's sale. He knew it anyway. He knew it was to be sold. The boat was sold the next day at sheriff's sale, and I received from the sheriff the amount of my judgment. I suppose that telegram was from Mr. Plunkett. It was signed by him.

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Related

Parker v. Holstead
255 S.W. 724 (Texas Commission of Appeals, 1923)

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Bluebook (online)
238 S.W. 287, 1922 Tex. App. LEXIS 411, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/holstead-v-parker-texapp-1922.