McMurtry v. Addington

354 S.W.2d 655, 1962 Tex. App. LEXIS 2233
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 29, 1962
DocketNo. 7096
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 354 S.W.2d 655 (McMurtry v. Addington) 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
McMurtry v. Addington, 354 S.W.2d 655, 1962 Tex. App. LEXIS 2233 (Tex. Ct. App. 1962).

Opinion

NORTHCUTT, Justice.

This is a suit in which appellee seeks to recover $5,000.00 paid by him to appellant at the time he agreed to purchase 235 head of cows from appellant.

Appellant listed with J. I. Wynn, a commission man of Amarillo, 235 head of cows for sale at $260.00 per head. Appellee had previously advised Tom Pugh that he was interested in buying some good young cows. Pugh learned of the Wynn listing and submitted these cows to appellee. Ap-pellee being interested, they went to appellant’s ranch in Dallam County to inspect the cattle and were there shown by appellant’s ranch employee, Carl Daniels, all the cattle, except a few head, located on appellant’s ¡ranch. The cattle on the ranch at the time of showing included the 235 cows listed with Wynn, and some calves, 66 yearling heifers, some bulls, 27 head of registered cows, with some calves, and some registered heifers. Daniels showed all of the cattle on the ranch, except a few head, nothing being said to him or by him as to the cattle to be sold or purchased.

After having inspected the cattle appel-lee and Pugh met appellant in Amarillo and appellee purchased the 235 head of cows at $260.00 per head for delivery October 10, and made a payment of $5,000.00.

A few days prior to the time for delivery appellee instructed appellant not to mix the 27 head of registered cows and their calves with the other cows and was advised by appellant that the 27 head were not part of the 235 head sold to him. This was confirmed by Wynn, who informed Pugh that no registered cows were listed with him and he had never put iip to him any registered cows for sale. On the day of delivery appellant offered to deliver the 235 head of cows and their calves which he insisted were the cattle purchased by appellee, but appellee, without examining such cattle, refused to accept them, insisting that the 27 cows and their calves were part of the 235 cows he had purchased, and demanded that the $5,000.00 be returned to him. This being refused, he filed this suit.

The case was tried to a jury and the court overruled appellant’s motion for an instructed verdict and after the jury had returned their verdict, entered judgment for appellee. Motion for new trial was overruled. From that judgment appellant perfected this appeal.

Before discussing the points of error, we will first discuss the grounds relied upon by the appellee to recover herein. Appellant contends that appellee relied upon only two grounds, being fraud in inducement of the making of the contract, and mutual mistake. Appellee contends he relied upon three grounds, being fraud in inducement of making of the contract, mutual mistake, and breach of the contract on the part of the appellant. Since both of the parties stated the case involved fraud and mutual mistake we will first consider the question as to the breach of contract.

Appellee pleaded that when he went to appellant’s ranch to see the cattle Carl Daniels, a cowboy working on the ranch for the appellant, showed the cattle to ap-pellee and represented to him that the 27 head of registered cattle he was shown were a part of the cattle to be purchased. Then the appellee pleaded: “Such representation upon the part of the defendant through his agent were not true, as hereinafter set forth, said 27 head of registered animals did not go with the sale of the cattle to the plaintiff. Such .representation then and there constituted fraud upon the part of the defendant to induce the plaintiff to purchase said cattle. Plaintiff would not have purchased said cattle but for said representations.”

Since appellee pleaded Daniels showed the cattle to him and represented the 27 head of registered animals did go with the sale but that said representation on Daniels’ part were not true and such 27 head of registered animals did not go with the sale to the appellee it is acknowledging the [657]*657registered cattle were never actually sold to the appellee. Appellant listed for sale 235 head of cattle but never listed for sale any registered cattle. Appellee went to the ranch to inspect the cattle listed for sale and didn’t go to buy or look at any registered cattle. Although appellee pleaded Daniels represented the 27 head went in the sale, he testified Daniels did not tell him the 27 head went with the deal.

General admission in trial pleadings must be regarded as judicial admission in that case, rather than ordinary admission, and require no proof of the admitted fact and authorize introduction of no evidence contrary thereto. Canales v. Bank of California, Tex.Civ.App., 316 S.W.2d 314, writ refused N.R.E. and the cases there cited; Taylor v. Catalon, 140 Tex. 38, 166 S.W.2d 102, by the Supreme Court. As shown by appellee’s pleadings and evidence the 27 head of cattle did not go with the sale, consequently there was never any sale entered into as to the 27 head of cattle. The appellant, on direct examination by appellee’s attorney, was asked if he told appellee there in the hotel that the 27 head of registered cattle did not go with the sale. The appellant’s answer was: “No. There was only one thing that was said about the cows. I said, ‘Pugh, how do you like those cows, those registered cows?’ And he said they were a nice bunch of cows, and I said, ‘the cows you are buying are better cows.’ ‘Well’, he said, ‘Daniels told us that.’ ” In this same connection the appellee testified in looking at the cows that they saw 130 head in one pasture, that they were good ones and they were better than the ones he (Daniels) called the thoroughbred cattle, registered cattle.

Further concerning the breach of contract, we must look to the appellee’s pleadings. We are unable to see where ap-pellee ever pleaded a contract between ap-pellee and appellant whereby the appellant ever agreed to sell the 27 head of registered cattle and the appellee agreed to buy them, and that appellee breached the contract by failing to deliver the 27 head. Instead of so pleading the appellee pleads the 27 head did not go with the sale, but because of the representation made by Daniels that the animals appellee inspected were the animals to be purchased by the appellee were not true and constituted fraud upon the part of the defendant to induce him to purchase said cattle, and but for said false representations appellee would not have purchased said cattle. It is stated in Jennings v. Texas Farm Mortg. Co., 124 Tex. 593, 80 S.W.2d 931, by the Commission of Appeals, and opinion adopted by the Supreme Court as follows: “The plaintiff must recover in the right in which he sues and upon the facts stated in his pleadings as the basis of that right, and cannot recover on a right different from that asserted, it matters not what the prayer may be.”

But should we be mistaken as to ap-pellee not pleading a contract and a breach thereof, there is not any evidence in this record to sustain the submission of the court’s special issue No. 4 as to a breach of the contract to deliver the cattle he .had listed nor the answer of the jury thereto. Appellee shows by his own testimony that he would not take any cattle unless he received the 27 head and on the date of delivery he would not even go out to see if appellant was ready to deliver the cattle he listed for sale and did not go to receive the cattle and consequently could not and did not know whether appellant was ready, able and willing to deliver such cattle. Special Issue No.

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Bluebook (online)
354 S.W.2d 655, 1962 Tex. App. LEXIS 2233, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcmurtry-v-addington-texapp-1962.