McConkey v. McConkey

187 S.W. 1100, 1916 Tex. App. LEXIS 848
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 27, 1916
DocketNo. 8360. [fn*]
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 187 S.W. 1100 (McConkey v. McConkey) 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
McConkey v. McConkey, 187 S.W. 1100, 1916 Tex. App. LEXIS 848 (Tex. Ct. App. 1916).

Opinion

CONNER, C. J.

This suit was instituted by the appellee, Mrs. Clara L. McConkey, in the district court of Johnson county, to set aside a decree of divorce entered in the same court at a previous time in favor of appellant, C. E. McConkey. In outline the case seems simple enough, but it has taken a transcript of some 479 pages to present a copy of the proceedings on the trial below, and the transcript, with its accompanying statement of facts, consisting of some 118 pages furnishes the foundation of a brief in behalf of appellant of 172 pages of closely printed matter urging 114 assignments of error, to which appellee replies in a brief of 122 pages. It is therefore evident that the record before us is voluminous, and that the assignments of error can only be disposed of in a general way, if we confine ourselves, as we think should be done, to an opinion of reasonable length. In the attempt to do this, we think the following statement of the case from appellee’s brief, which we adopt, will be of service:

“In 1897 appellant and appellee were married, and continuously after said date lived together until some time in the year 1910; the exact date and cause of their separation being one of the contested issues in the case. As a result of this marriage there were born to them five children, four of whom were living at the date of the trial, .three being girls and the youngest a boy, and all minors.
“On June 28, 1913, the appellant filed in the district court of Johnson county, Tex., a suit for divorce against appellee, who was then residing in Bell county, the petition alleging that in May, 1910, the appellee without provocation, justification, or excuse had abandoned appellant, and refused to live with him. This petition was filed by W. Featherstone, a member of the Cleburne bar. Shortly afterwards service was obtained upon the appellee in said cause, and in July, 1913, a few days later, ap-pellee employed Ramsey & Odell, a firm composed of W. F. Ramsey, Jr., and W. M. Odell, members of the bar of Johnson county, Tex., to defend her in said cause. On July 24th said attorneys, as counsel for appellee, filed an answer in said cause, denying the allegations in appellant’s petition, and presenting a plea for alimony pending trial, attoi-ney’s fees, etc. The case was returnable to the October term, 1913, of said court, and on October 17th of that year an amended answer was filed in said cause by the appellee denying in detail the allegations in plaintiff’s petition, and alleging at length the facts constituting appellee’s defense and renewing the prayer for alimony, attorney’s fees and costs. On October 10th appellee filed an application for security for cost, which was granted on said date by an order duly entered in the minutes 'of said court. During the October term, 1913, interrogatories were propounded in the case by counsel for appellee, and service waived by counsel for appellant. The case was set for trial on several dates during the October term, but was not tried during that term, the reason for its postponement and continuance being a contested issue in the case, but the jury found that it was passed from time to time by agreement between W. M. Odell and W. B. Featherstone. On the call of the docket at the January term, 1914, on the first day of that court, counsel for appellee requested a jury in the case, and, as shown by appellee’s testimony, and found by the jury, it was agreed J by W. M. Odell, one of the attorneys for ap- *1102 pellee, and W. B. Featherstone, attorney for appellant, that the jury fee might be paid at any time before the case was tried.
"Thereafter, by agreement between Odell and Featherstone, according to the testimony of the former, the case was set for trial for the week beginning February 9th, one of the weeks for which civil jury cases were assigned for trial at said term of said court, and on January 27th ap-pellee’s counsel wrote to her at Temple advising her of the setting of the case for that date, and requesting her to remit the jury fee. A few days later, according to testimony offered by appellee, Odell and Featherstone had a conversation in which it was agreed that on account of the fact that there were a number of other cases on the docket ahead of this case, and in order that appellant' might not have to lay off his run as railway fireman, and that appellee would not have to come to Cleburne unnecessarily, this case should not bo called for trial before Wednesday of the week beginning February 9th, or February 11th, and on February 6th appel-lee’s counsel advised her to that effect. On Monday, February 9th, the first day of the week for which the case had been set by this agreement, when the time caine for court to be called, it was announced to the members of the bar that Judge Lockett, the regular judge of said court, was seriously ill and would not be able to hold court that day, and probably not during the week. After the members of the bar conferred with each other and the clerk of the court, the jury for that week was discharged, and no cases of any character were taken up for trial that week. On Monday, February 16th, which was the last civil jury week of the term, Judge Lock-ett’s illness continued, he being seriously ill at that time, his illness in fact continuing for several months, and ho was not present at any other time during the January term of said court. By reason of this fact the jury for the week beginning February 16th was discharged, and no cases were taken up for trial during that week at all. Under the custom of said court, as shown by appellee’s testimony without contradiction, the first week of court was set aside for the trial of nonjury cases, and the next week and certain weeks following that were assigned to the trial of civil jury cases, and the balance of the term was assigned to the trial of the criminal docket. At the term in question the week beginning February 16th was the last civil jury week, and the week beginning Febraary 23d was the beginning of the weeks set apart for the criminal docket. It was also shown that for many years it had been the custom of that court that no civil cases would be called for trial or tried during the weeks set apart for the trial of criminal cases except by agreement of counsel with the approval of the court, or by a special order of the court after notice to the parties to the suit or their attorneys. On Friday, February 20th, before the criminal docket was to be called on Monday, February 23d, the bar of Johnson county was called together in the courtroom, and Col. J. F. Henry was elected as special district judge to preside in the absence of Judge Lockett. After the election of Col. Henry as special judge, and during the week beginning February 23d, Mr. Featherstone requested him to take up and try a divorce case for him; the conversation between them, as testified to by Col. Henry, being quoted so far as material to this statement. According to this testimony, Mr. Featherstone stated to him that he had a little divorce case that he wanted him to try. ‘He said his client was a railroad man, and it was not convenient for him to be here except late in the afternoon somewhere about 5 or 6 o’clock; I think he mentioned the time. I think I told him I would hear the case the next day and to get his client here, perhaps that evening. I don’t recollect; but anyhow I agreed to hear the case at 5 or 6 o’clock in the evening, in order to suit the convenience of his client. Now, the next day, or whatever day I told him I would hear the case, I am not sure now, I met him about the foot of the steps there.

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Bluebook (online)
187 S.W. 1100, 1916 Tex. App. LEXIS 848, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcconkey-v-mcconkey-texapp-1916.