Independent Life Ins. Co. of America v. Eden

99 S.W.2d 315
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 13, 1936
DocketNo. 13449
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 99 S.W.2d 315 (Independent Life Ins. Co. of America v. Eden) 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
Independent Life Ins. Co. of America v. Eden, 99 S.W.2d 315 (Tex. Ct. App. 1936).

Opinion

BROWN, Justice.

This cause was submitted on September 7, 1936, and on September 11 thereafter, the appellant filed its motion for certiorari to correct the record by correcting the statement of facts. Appellee objects to the granting of such motion and his obj ections are well taken.

There are several reasons why the motion cannot be granted by us at this time. Rule 22, promulgated by the Supreme Court of Texas for our guidance, provides in substance that a cause is properly prepared 'for submission only when a transcript of the record exhibits a cause prepared for appeal in accordance with the rules prescribed for the government of the trial court and filed in the court under the rules. This rule specifically states: “All parties will be expected, before submission, to see that the transcript of the record is properly prepared, and the mere failure to observe omissions or inaccuracies therein will not be admitted, after submission, as a reason for correcting the record or obtaining a rehearing.”

It will be observed that the appellant, who asked for the record and into whose hands the record was delivered practically one year before the cause was submitted in the Court of Civil Appeals, and who was responsible for its correctness, is the party’here asking-that same be corrected after the cause has been submitted. Gulf, C. & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Sullivan (Tex.Civ.App.) 178 S.W. 615.

Furthermore, this is a motion not having as its purpose a correction of the trial court clerk’s transcript of the record, but is one in which it is sought to correct the statement of facts, which has been prepared by the official court reporter for the trial court and approved, as is required by law, by the trial judge. We are without authority to grant such a motion even had it been timely filed, unless it be made to appear in the motion that an application has been made to the trial court to correct the statement of facts and is granted in due season. Only under such circumstances are we permitted by writ of certiorari to bring up such a corrected record. Compton v. Jennings Lumber Co. (Tex.Civ.App.) 266 S.W. 569.

For the reasons stated, the motion is overruled.

On the Merits.

Appellee, Eden, sued appellant, insurance company, in the district court of Grayson county for disability benefits alleged to have accrued to him under a certain health insurance policy issued to him by appellant.

The cause was tried to a jury and submitted on special issues which were answered favorably to appellee. Judgment was rendered for appellee. No objections were made to the court’s charge. Motion for a new trial having been overruled, the cause was appealed to the Court of Civil Appeals at Dallas and was, by the Supreme court, transferred to this Court of Civil Appeals.

Appellee objects to the consideration by the court of appellant’s assignments of error, propositions, statement, and argument, such objections being: “Appellant, in its brief of this case, has grouped its nine propositions relating to different unrelated matters in violation of the rules of briefing”; “appellant, in its brief of the case, has failed to insert a statement and argument after each proposition, or proper groups of propositions, in violation of the rules of briefing”; “the appellant, in its brief of this case, has failed to set out propositions in support of certain assignments of error, which is in violation of the rules of briefing.”

The objections are, in effect, to a consideration of appellant’s brief because it does not purport to comply substantially with the rules for briefing cases and violates such rules.

We hold that the objections are well taken.

Appellant’s brief contains nine “propositions” ; they are all grouped and followed by one short “statement.”

The first proposition asserts that there are certain 'provisions in the policy of insurance sued on and certain allegations in the plaintiff’s petition, and that there is no evidence tending to prove that apoplexy or paralysis, from which appel-lee suffered, resulted from a disease, the cause of which originated more than thirty days after the date of the policy. The briefer says the proposition “relates to 1st, 3rd and 6th assignments of error.”

The first assignment of error complains of the trial court’s failure to give an instructed verdict for appellant; the third [317]*317complains of the trial court’s refusal to give appellant’s requested charge No. 2, which was a general charge to the effect that unless the jury believes from a preponderance of the testimony that plaintiff is suffering from a disability resulting from disease, the cause of which originated more than thirty days after the date of the policy, the jury will return a verdict for the defendant; the sixth complains of the refusal of the trial court to enter judgment for the defendant on its motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.

It is plain to be seen that these are wholly unrelated matters. No single proposition could be framed so as to support the three.

The second proposition asserts that the policy of insurance contains certain provisions, and the plaintiff’s petition certain allegations, and continues with a quotation from an authority announcing that the burden of proof is always on the plaintiff to establish facts necessary to his recovery, and then asserts that “the burden was upon plaintiff in this case to establish and prove that plaintiff’s disabilities, if any, were brought about by disease, the cause of which originated more than 30 days after the date of the policy declared on.” This language is followed by assertions that “no testimony was introduced by plaintiff relating to when the disease originated, which caused the disabilities, if any, suffered by him”; and further that the record discloses that a Dr. 'Long had been plaintiff’s physician for many years, and that Dr. Long testified as a witness and was cross-examined by plaintiff’s attorney, “but there is nothing in the record showing that plaintiff proved or attempted to prove by his family physician what his condition was prior to August 2, 1932, the date of the policy sued on.” The briefer says, “This proposition is based upon the 4th, Sth and 9th assignments of error.”

The fourth assignment of error- complains that the trial court erred in refusing to “read to the jury defendant’s requested charge No. 3, reading as follows.” The charge is a general one instructing the jury that the burden of proof is on the plaintiff to show by a preponderance of the testimony that he is suffering from disability resulting from a disease, the cause of which originated more than thirty days after the date of the policy sued on, and unless the jury so finds, “you will return a verdict for the defendant.”

The fifth complains because the trial court refused to give appellant’s requested charge No. 4, which asked the jury to find whether or not the plaintiff was suffering from the disease known as high blood pressure before the date of the policy.

The ninth complains of the refusal of the court to give appellant’s requested charge No. 3, noted above.

Two of the assignments are related (fourth and ninth) but the fifth is wholly unrelated to these.

No single proposition can be drawn that will be germane to the three assignments of error cited.

We do not care to prolong this opinion by further discussing the several propositions and assignments of error found in the brief.

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125 S.W.2d 1095 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1939)

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99 S.W.2d 315, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/independent-life-ins-co-of-america-v-eden-texapp-1936.