Lone Star Gas Co. v. Parish

369 S.W.2d 713, 1963 Tex. App. LEXIS 2189
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided June 26, 1963·No. No. 11120·Published

Opinion

PHILLIPS, Justice.

This is an original proceeding filed herein by our leave in which -relator seeks to invoke our jurisdiction under Art. 1824, Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statutes, to require respondent, Honorable O. L. Parish, Judge of the District Court of Tom Green County, 119th Judicial District, to render judgment on the verdict of the jury. The following is taken from relator’s petition for writ of mandamus:

“IV. The trial pleadings were Plaintiffs’ first amended original petition and Defendant’s first amended original answer. Plaintiffs alleged that they are the owners of Eubanks Furniture, a store in San Angelo; that Defendant while engaged in maintenance work near the store, had placed flare pots around the area where the work was going on; and that, through Defendant’s negligence, smoke and soot from the flare pots drifted into Plaintiffs’ store and damaged their stock. Defendant’s pleading included a general denial and allegations of contributory negligence and unavoidable accident.
“V. The case went to trial on March "18; 1963, and, on the afternoon of March 19, 1963, after both sides had presented evidence and the arguments of counsel had been made, nine special issues were submitted to the jury.
[714]*714These special issues may be summarized as follows:
No. 1 — Whether, on the occasion in question, Defendant’s employees had operated flare pots that emitted black, greasy soot.
No. 2 — Whether such operation, if any, was negligence.
No. 3 — Whether such negligence was a proximate cause of the damage.
No. 4 — The damage issue.
No. 5 — Whether Plaintiff was negligent in leaving his front door open while the flares were burning.
No. 6 — Whether such negligence, if any, was a proximate cause of the damage.
No. 7 — The unavoidable accident issue.
No. 8 — Whether Plaintiff could have mitigated his damages.
No. 9 — By what amount of money Plaintiff could have mitigated his damages.
“VI. The jury deliberated until approximately S :45 P.M., and then adjourned for dinner. It returned at approximately 7:00 P.M., and at approximately 9:30 P.M., it sent the following note to Judge Parish:
“‘Jury agrees on #1 As Yes
Jury splits on #2 — 9 No — 3 Yes votes
#4 — Not voted
Jury agrees on #5 as No
Jury agrees on #7 “It was an unavoidable accident”
Jury splits on #8 — 11 Yes — 1 No #9 — Not voted
Rooker, Foreman’
Judge Parish showed this note to counsel for Plaintiffs and counsel for Defendant, and then called the jury into open court. With both counsel for Plaintiffs and counsel for Defendant present, Judge Parish inquired of the jurors whether they could reach a verdict, and the foreman answered that the jury could not answer all the special issues unanimously, but that they had answered some of the issues and had written those answers in the appropriate places on the charge. After asking counsel for Plaintiffs and counsel for Defendant whether they wished the jury to be interrogated further, and receiving no request for further interrogation, Judge Parish thereupon read aloud the answers made by the jury to the special issues, indicating, where no answer had been made, that there was no answer. The answered issues were as follows:
No. 1 (Whether Defendant operated flare pots that emitted black, greasy soot) : ‘Yes.’
No. 5 (Whether Plaintiff was negligent in failing to close the door): ‘No.’
No. 7 (Unavoidable accident): ‘It was the result of an unavoidable accident.’
The other issues were not answered.
“After Judge Parish read the verdict as aforesaid, he inquired of counsel for Plaintiffs and counsel for Defendant whether they wished any other question to be directed to the jury. Both counsel answered that they did not. Thereupon, Judge Parish announced that he would receive the verdict. No objection to receipt of the verdict was then made by anyone. No motion was made that the jury be required to deliberate further. The jury was thereupon discharged. The foreman having signed the verdict, it was filed at 10:00 o’clock P.M. March 19, 1963.
“VII. On March 20, 1963, Defendant filed its motion for judgment on the [715]*715verdict, and Plaintiffs filed their motion for venire facias de novo. On April 3, 1963, Judge Parish granted Plaintiffs’ motion for the sole reason that the verdict was incomplete and would not support a judgment, the written order containing the following:
“ ‘And it further appearing to the Court that the verdict of the jury is incomplete, (such verdict being incorporated herein by reference,) and that no judgment should be entered thereupon.
“ ‘IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED by the Court that the motion of Defendant, Lone Star Gas Company, for judgment on the verdict be, and same is hereby overruled; that the motion of Plaintiffs, Milton S. Eubanks and Florene Eubanks d/b/a Eubanks Furniture, for venire facias de novo, he and the same is hereby sustained; that a mistrial be and it is hereby declared, and that this cause shall stand on the docket for trial at such date as may be determined by the court.’ ”

Relator contends that, under the circumstances of this case, Judge Parish’s reason for granting the mistrial was incorrect in that plaintiffs in the trial waived their right to secure any additional answers to the special issues and that the verdict contains all of the findings necessary to support a judgment for relator. Relator further contends that Judge Parish had and has the ministerial duty to enter judgment on the verdict for relator that plaintiffs respondents take nothing. That since Judge Parish’s order granting the mistrial is not ap-pealable, Defendant is without remedy to obtain its judgment other than by this petition for writ of mandamus.

Rule 300, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, provides, in part, that “[wjhere a special verdict is rendered * * * the court shall render judgment thereon unless set aside or a new trial is granted * *

If the verdict has been properly set aside by the Trial Court under this Rule, then there is no verdict upon which judgment should be or can be rendered.

In a sworn answer to relator’s petition,, Judge Parish states:

“HI. It is agreed that the Trial Court granted Plaintiffs’ motion for a mistrial, but it is specially denied that the sole reason for such action was that the jury verdict was incomplete.
“IV.

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Lone Star Gas Co. v. Parish, 369 S.W.2d 713, 1963 Tex. App. LEXIS 2189 (Tex. Ct. App. 1963).

369 S.W.2d 713 (Lone Star Gas Co. v. Parish) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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