Rains v. Thomason & Champion

135 So. 92, 17 La. App. 120, 1931 La. App. LEXIS 717
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided June 11, 1931·No. No. 3457·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinion

TALIAFERRO, J.

Plaintiff instituted this suit against the commercial partnership of Thomason & Champion, composed of M. C. Thomason and Y. E. Champion, alleged to be nonresidents of the state of Louisiana, to recover $606, with interest, the price of 33 head of cattle, and to enforce the vendor’s lien and privilege thereon. Writs of sequestration and attachment were prayed for and issued under which the sheriff of Sabine parish seized 33 cattle claimed to be those for which the $606 was due. There was personal. service on both members of the defendant firm while in Sabine parish.

M. C. Thomason, through counsel, appeared and filed application to bond the sequestration and attachment, alleging that the cattle seized thereunder belonged to him. He furnished bond for the amount fixed by the court, and the cattle were released to him. Under reservations, he filed exception of nonjoinder of parties, alleging that the minor son of George Rains, deceased, should be a party plaintiff, and also filed motions to dissolve the writs of sequestration and attachment on the grounds that there was no proper bond for either writ in that the bonds given were not verified as required by law, and [121] further that the allegations made to secure issuance of said writs were untrue.

The exception of nonjoinder was overruled, while the motions to dissolve were referred to the merits of the case.

Defendant Thomason, reserving his rights under exceptions and motions by him filed," answered. He denies that he is due plaintiff any amount, and avers his business relationship with his codefendant, Y. E. Champion, to be: “That said Champion was to buy and deliver cattle to your defendant, who agreed to pay for same and sell same and divide the ' profits equally.”

He denies that the 33 head of cattle in question were purchased by Champion from Rains, and therefore the check on his bank at Center, Texas, for $606, asserted price thereof, was not paid. He avers that said Champion and George Rains were pasturing cattle and working together, and lacked 73 head of cattle delivering the number he paid for. He admits that he is a nonresident of Louisiana. By a supplemental answer this defendant sets forth that he paid for all cattle he purchased from plaintiff and her deceased husband, in fact, by error, overpaid them $100, for which amount, in reconvention, he prays for judgment.

Defendant Champion did not appear or file answer. Default was entered against him.

After the issues were thus joined, plaintiff filed an amended petition praying for issuance of an alias writ of attachment on grounds of nonresidence of Thomason, and for garnishment process, alleging that J. B. Vandegaer, resident of Sabine parish, had property in his possession belonging to, or was indebted unto, the defendants, or some of them. Usual order by the court issued on this petition and interrogatories propounded to and served on the garnishee. The garnishee answered the interrogatories, under oath, and thereafter plaintiff moved to traverse these answers and sued out a rule against him to show cause why the answers should not be set aside as evasive and, in effect, untrue. This rule does not appear to have been tried. Defendant Thomason moved to dissolve the alias writ of attachment on ground that allegations therefor are untrue and insufficiency of bond.

The principal issue in this case is one of fact. It is: Were the cattle sequestered part of the herd of 173 which Champion, acting for the partnership, agreed to purchase from George Rains on or about August 11, 1927? If this question be answered in the affirmative, then plaintiff had the undoubted right to have them seized under vendor’s lien and privilege to secure the purchase price unpaid, evidenced by a dishonored check. The lower court gave judgment for plaintiff. Defendant Thomason appealed.

We have carefully read the record in the case, and are convinced the judge of the lower court correctly resolved the facts. The summary of the facts of the case contained in the lower court’s judgment is adopted by us. It is as follows:

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Rains v. Thomason & Champion, 135 So. 92, 17 La. App. 120, 1931 La. App. LEXIS 717 (La. Ct. App. 1931).

135 So. 92 (Rains v. Thomason & Champion) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Sun Finance Co., Inc. v. Jackson
525 So. 2d 532 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1988)
Champagne v. Champagne
399 So. 2d 718 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1981)
In Re Trahan
283 F. Supp. 620 (W.D. Louisiana, 1968)
Succession of Foster
122 So. 2d 96 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1960)
Hero v. City of Gretna
93 So. 2d 319 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1957)
Melde Tile Roofing Co. v. Compact Homes, Inc.
92 So. 2d 735 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1957)
Blanchard v. Arkansas Louisiana Gas Co.
51 So. 2d 850 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1951)