Hoot v. Quality Ready-Mix Company

438 S.W.2d 421, 1969 Tex. App. LEXIS 1982
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 13, 1969
Docket356
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 438 S.W.2d 421 (Hoot v. Quality Ready-Mix 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
Hoot v. Quality Ready-Mix Company, 438 S.W.2d 421, 1969 Tex. App. LEXIS 1982 (Tex. Ct. App. 1969).

Opinion

OPINION

SHARPE, Justice.

This appeal is from a judgment rendered after non-jury trial that appellee, Quality Ready-Mix Company, Inc., recover from appellants, John A. Hoot and T. L. Hoot d/b/a H. & H. Construction Company, the sum of $12,104.75, with interest at the rate of 6%- per annum from January 1, 1966, and the amount of $2,100.00 as attorneys’ fees. The trial court filed findings of fact and conclusions of law, and refused to make other findings and conclusions requested by appellants.

The suit was filed by appellee based upon a sworn account for goods, wares and merchandise, consisting principally of sand and gravel aggregates allegedly sold and delivered to appellants. The balance claimed by appellee was $12,104.75, resulting from alleged sales of $32,511.23 less credits of $20,406.48. An itemized account of appellee’s claim was attached to appel-lee’s original and amended petition. Appellants filed a verified answer in which they asserted that the account relied upon by appellee was incorrect, not just and true, and was excessive to the extent of $3,344.68. Appellants conceded that the charges made by appellee per cubic yard of sand and gravel actually delivered to them were correct but alleged that the quantity delivered was less than that claimed by appellee. The prices for numbers 1 and 2 gravel aggregate was $3.50 per cubic yard and for sand was $3.85 per cubic yard.

The findings of fact and conclusions of law made by the trial court are as follows:

“FINDINGS OF FACT
“NO. 1. Between the first day of May, 1965, and the 9th day of September, 1965, plaintiff delivered to defendants sand and gravel in the aggregate amount of $32,448.35.
*423 NO. 2. During the above period, plaintiff delivered to defendants ready-mix concrete and earth fill in the aggregate amount of $62.88.
NO. 3. All of the foregoing items were delivered by plaintiff at the special instance and request of defendants.
NO. 4. All of such items were reasonably worth the amounts charged therefor.
NO. 5. Defendants purchased 1,300 yards of sand from Capitol Aggregates; and plaintiff agreed to give to defendants credit of $1.00 per yard for each yard of sand so purchased from Capitol Aggregates.
NO. 6. During the course of the dealings between plaintiff and defendants, defendants became entitled to and were given credit for the following:
(a) Sand and gravel returned $2,549.05
(b) Credit on sand, in accord with finding No. 5, above 1,300.00
(c) Credit by payments on account 16,557.43
for a total credit of $20,406.48
and being all of the offsets and credits to which said account is entitled.
NO. 7. On the date of the filing of this suit and on the date of judgment there was due and unpaid on said account and owing to plaintiff by defendants a balance of $12,104.75.
NO. 8. Plaintiff gave defendants notice of such unpaid balance and made demand for the payment of the same more than thirty days before the filing of this suit.
NO. 9. The sum of $2,100.00 is a reasonable amount for plaintiff’s attorney’s fees.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
NO. 1. Defendants became legally obligated to pay to plaintiff the balance of the total account, that is, $12,104.75 on demand.
NO. 2. Defendants did not make a legally sufficient tender of the amount due on such account.
NO. 3. Plaintiff’s claim is one for which plaintiff may recover attorney’s fees under the provisions of Article 2226, V.A.T.S.”

Appellants assert thirteen points of error. Appellants’ principal contention is that appellee did not deliver the quantity of sand and gravel aggregates as claimed in its petition and as found by the trial court; that there is no evidence to support the findings of the trial court as to quantity and amount owed (points 1, 3, 5, 13), or that such findings are against the overwhelming weight and preponderance of the evidence so as to be clearly wrong (points 2, 4 & 13); and that the trial court erred in refusing to make appellants’ requested findings numbers 8, 9, and 10 to the effect that appellants owed appellee only the sum of $8502.57 (point 10). Appellants’ remaining points relate to the questions of tender by them (point 6), attorneys’ fees allowed to appellee (points 7 and 8), interest (point 9), testimony of appellee’s witness Holmes (point 11), and failure to grant appellants’ motion for judgment at the conclusion of appellee’s main case (point 12).

We will first consider appellants’ primary contention that appellee did not deliver the quantity of aggregate, sand and gravel for which it was allowed a recovery. In view of appellants’ claim that the evidence is factually as well as legally insufficient to support the findings of the trial court, we have read and considered all of the evidence in the case.

The controversy herein arose out of transactions occurring during the spring *424 and summer of 1965 when appellants were subcontractors for the paving of a runway at Laughlin Air Force Base at Del Rio, Texas. FOWCO Construction Company was the general contractor on the job which was under the supervision of the U.S. Corps of Engineers. The sand and gravel aggregates were principally supplied to appellants by appellee. Some sand was furnished by Capitol Aggregates, another company.

On the trial of the case six witnesses testified and a number of exhibits were admitted into evidence. Appellee-plaintiff called the following witnesses: John A. Hoot, one of the appellants (as an adverse witness) ; H. E. Eaglebarger, Jr., manager of appellee’s plant at Del Rio, Texas; and Charles Holmes, an engineer, president of Holmes-Skeller Engineers of Fredericks-burg, Texas. Appellants-defendants called the following witnesses: John A. Hoot; Jack E. Collier, a certified public accountant of Corpus Christi, Texas; William B. Ogletree, a self-employed consulting engineer of Corpus Christi, Texas; and Mack D. Ham, also of Corpus Christi, Texas, who worked as a job superintendent for FOWCO Construction Company on the Laughlin Air Force Base project for which the materials here involved were furnished.

John A. Hoot, one of appellants, testified first when called as an adverse witness by appellee, and later as a witness called by appellants. When called as an adverse witness, he testified in substance as follows: He ordered the materials used on the Laughlin Air Force Base project from appellee. He stated that he had not used the amount of material which appellee claimed to have sold and delivered; that he wanted to pay for the gravel on the basis of what was weighed through the batching machine at the job-site. Hoot further said that he had no complaint about any particular entry of appellee’s account but his only complaint was that “overall” he did not get the amount of material claimed.

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Bluebook (online)
438 S.W.2d 421, 1969 Tex. App. LEXIS 1982, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hoot-v-quality-ready-mix-company-texapp-1969.