Marburger v. Ramsey

398 S.W.2d 379, 1965 Tex. App. LEXIS 2407
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 19, 1965
DocketNo. 3989
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 398 S.W.2d 379 (Marburger v. Ramsey) 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
Marburger v. Ramsey, 398 S.W.2d 379, 1965 Tex. App. LEXIS 2407 (Tex. Ct. App. 1965).

Opinion

WALTER, Justice.

Dr. M. T. Ramsey filed suit against M„ E. Marburger on a promissory note dated July 12, 1961, in the amount of $6,682.56. Based on a verdict, judgment was rendered for Ramsey against Marburger. Marbur-ger has appealed and presents fifty-one [380]*380points of error. The parties will be designated as they were in the trial court. The parties had been partners in the ranching business for a number of years prior to this law suit.

Defendant pleaded failure of consideration and that the note was signed and delivered with the understanding that it would have no force or effect until Ramsey rendered a complete accounting of the partnership operations to Marburger; that the note was executed under a mistake of fact relative to payment of $3,000.00; that the note was blank as to the due date and that Ramsey inserted the due date after it was signed. The defendant further pleaded that the parties entered into a partnership cattle venture in 1947, which continued until on or about October 1, 1959 at which time it was dissolved by mutual consent; that in 1950 Ramsey fraudulently induced him to execute and deliver two promissory notes in the amount of approximately $11,000.00, representing to the defendant that the books showed that he was indebted to him in such amount and promising him that if he would execute the notes that he, (Ramsey), would deliver to him records to substantiate such indebtedness; that such representations were false and were made to induce defendant to execute the two notes. The defendant further alleged that in 1952, after making the two original notes that the plaintiff and the defendant verbally agreed that Mar-burger would be entitled to a salary of $200.00 per month from the partnership; that the note sued upon by plaintiff was given in replacement of a note for a like amount dated the 1st day of October, 1959; that such note of October 1, 1959, was given’ by defendant to plaintiff in connection with the dissolution of the partnership and in replacement of the notes of the early 1950’s so that the fraud, invalidity and want of consideration for such original two notes was carried forward into the note sued upon; that in connection with the execution of the note sued upon Ramsey induced defendant to sign the same upon the false and fraudulent representations, then and there made, that the two notes executed in the early 1950’s were still outstanding and unpaid; that payment thereof had not been accomplished by credits due defendant in the partnership operations, that such two original notes were valid debts due by Mar-burger to Ramsey, and that plaintiff thought that with adjustment of all partnership accounts, taking into consideration the assets set aside to the respective parties and all credits due M. E. Marburger, said defendant would still owe plaintiff $6,682.56 on such original two notes, but that if defendant would sign a note in said amount, plaintiff would merely hold it as a memorandum of his estimate of the sum due him upon dissolution of the partnership until he should render defendant a full and complete accounting of all partnership operations and afford them an opportunity to inspect and audit the partnership accounts and records, and until such time as adjustments thereby necessitated had been made said note would have no force or effect; that defendant relied upon all of such representations in signing the note of October 1, 1959.

The special issues submitted to the jury and the jury’s answers thereto are as follows:

“SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 1: Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that plaintiff Ramsey and Defendant Marburger agreed that the notes sued upon would have no force and effect between them until plaintiff Ramsey had rendered a complete accounting of the partnership operations to Marburger? — No.
SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 2: Do you find from the preponderance of the evidence that the plaintiff Ramsey promised defendant Marburger that he (Ramsey) would deliver an accounting to defendant of the operations of Ramsey and Marburger as a partnership? — Yes.
SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 3: Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence [381]*381that defendant Marburger relied upon plaintiff Ramsey’s promise to render an accounting, when he executed the note sued upon? — No.
SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 4: Do you find from the preponderance of the evidence that the promise of plaintiff Ramsey, to render a subsequent accounting was a material inducement to the defendants in signing the notes sued upon? — No.
SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 5: Do you find from the preponderance of the evidence that plaintiff Ramsey has failed to render an accounting of all of the operations of the partnership of Ramsey, Marburger ? — No.
SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 6: Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that the plaintiff Ramsey and defendant Marburger, agreed that the note sued upon would be adjusted in accordance with an accounting of partnership operations to be there after rendered by plaintiff Ramsey? — No.
SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 7: Do you find from the preponderance of the evidence that the plaintiff Ramsey and defendant Marburger agreed that the note dated October, 1,1959 would be adjusted in accordance with an accounting to be thereafter rendered by plaintiff Ramsey? — Yes.
SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 8: Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that at the time of the execution of the note sued upon, both the plaintiff, Ramsey, and defendant, Marburger, were laboring under a mutual mistake of fact as to the correctness of the partnership books and records? — No.
SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 9: Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that the principal amount recited in the note sued upon is incorrect as a statement of the amount owing by the defendant, Marburger, to plaintiff upon dissolution of the partnership because of a failure to reflect a $3000.00 credit for payment on a note by defendant, Marburger? — No.
SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 10: Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that the note sued upon by plaintiff was blank as to the due date, at the time, the defendants signed the same? — No.
SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 11: Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant Ramsey inserted a due date without the consent of defendant after the execution of the note sued upon? — No.”

Horace Condley testified substantially as follows:

I am a Certified Public Accountant. I have been practicing public accounting since about 1922. From 1947 to 1959 I kept the partnership accounting records for the partnership of Dr. M. T. Ramsey and M. E. Marburger. From 1947 to 1959 I consulted with Dr. Ramsey regarding the business of the partnership. I also consulted with Mr. Marburger. I prepared the partnership tax returns. I sent the partners an accounting of the partnership business at the end of each year which was a copy of the partnership tax return. The tax return reflects income and expenses and reflects the business of the partnership during the year in a summary form. Mr. Marburger never requested a report from me that I didn’t give him so far as I can remember. I talked to his accountant on the telephone on occasions and answered specific questions. I prepared the final analysis of the dissolution of the partnership. I mailed Mr. Marburger a copy of it.

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Bluebook (online)
398 S.W.2d 379, 1965 Tex. App. LEXIS 2407, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marburger-v-ramsey-texapp-1965.