Rhea v. Williams

802 S.W.2d 118, 1991 WL 11683
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 5, 1991
Docket2-89-231-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 802 S.W.2d 118 (Rhea v. Williams) 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
Rhea v. Williams, 802 S.W.2d 118, 1991 WL 11683 (Tex. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinions

OPINION

MEYERS, Justice.

Billie Joe Rhea, individually and on behalf of Arthur F. Rhea, and the estate of Arthur F. Rhea (“Rheas”), sued Garry Lynn Williams and his employer, Reeder Distributors, Inc. (“Williams”). This lawsuit arose after a car driven by Billie Jo Rhea collided with a truck driven by Williams. Arthur Rhea, Billie Rhea’s husband, was a passenger in the Rhea’s car. He was severely injured. The Rheas filed suit against Williams’ employer for damages arising from the collision. At trial, the jury found Billie Rhea was 77% the cause of the wreck and Williams was 23% responsible.

The jury responded positively to two questions of the trial court’s charge. The questions inquired as to whether Billie Rhea was acting as the agent of Arthur Rhea and if the two were engaged in a joint enterprise when the accident occurred. The jury’s affirmative responses to these two questions caused Billie Rhea’s negligence to be imputed to Arthur Rhea and prevented the Rheas from recovering on all claims. The Rheas are appealing the take-nothing judgment rendered against them and raise the four following points of error: (1) that the trial court erred in submitting a jury question regarding agency since no evidence existed to warrant submitting the question; (2) the trial court erred in submitting a jury question concerning joint enterprise because the question was not warranted by the evidence; (3) the trial court abused its discretion when it overruled appellant’s motion for new trial in that the jury’s response to the agency [120]*120question was so against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence as to be manifestly unjust; and (4) it was an abuse of discretion to overrule appellant’s motion for new trial because the jury’s response to the joint enterprise question was so contrary to the great weight and preponderance of the evidence that it was manifestly unjust.

We affirm.

The record shows that sufficient evidence was produced to support the submission of these questions to the jury and the jury’s findings were not contrary to the great weight of this evidence.

On May 23, 1985, the Rheas drove from their home in Mount Pleasant, Texas, to Fort Worth. The car Billie Rhea drove that day was owned by both the Rheas. The primary purpose of the trip appears to have been to deliver some papers to their tax consultant. While they were in Fort Worth, Billie Rhea did some shopping and Arthur Rhea got a haircut. While the Rheas were at the barber shop they learned that a shopping center was being built in an area near the property Arthur Rhea had leased for cattle. The Rheas decided to drive through the area and have a look at it before they went home that day. They were in the vicinity of the shopping center when a truck driven by Williams collided with the Rheas’ car after the car stalled in the middle of an intersection. The Rheas seek recovery for the damages that arose from the collision.

On appeal, the Rheas’ second point of error argues that the trial court erred when it submitted a question to the jury regarding joint enterprise because there was not any evidence to warrant this submission. The Rheas’ fourth point of error asserts that the trial court also erred in overruling the Rheas’ motion for new trial because the jury’s response to the question concerning joint enterprise was so contrary to the great weight and preponderance of the evidence as to be manifestly unjust. These two points are closely related and shall be addressed jointly.

In determining a "no evidence” point, we are to consider only the evidence and inferences which tend to support the finding of the jury and disregard all evidence and inferences to the contrary. See Sherman v. First Nat’l Bank, 760 S.W.2d 240, 241 (Tex.1988) (per curiam); Larson v. Cook Consultants, Inc., 690 S.W.2d 567, 568 (Tex.1985) (per curiam). If there is any evidence of probative force to support the finding of the jury, the point must be overruled and the finding upheld. In re King’s Estate, 150 Tex. 662, 244 S.W.2d 660, 661-62 (1951).

A “no evidence” point of error must and may only be sustained when the record discloses one of the following: (1) a complete absence of evidence of a vital fact; (2) the court is barred by rules of law or evidence from giving weight to the only evidence offered to prove a vital fact; (3) the evidence offered to prove a vital fact is no more than a scintilla of evidence; or (4) the evidence establishes conclusively the opposite of a vital fact. Commonwealth Lloyd’s Ins. Co. v. Thomas, 678 S.W.2d 278, 288 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 1984, writ ref’d n.r.e.); Calvert, “No Evidence” and “Insufficient Evidence” Points of Error, 38 TEXAS L.REV. 361 (1960).

In order to challenge the submission of a jury question on appeal, the challenge must be based upon an argument of legal insufficiency. Garza v. Alviar, 395 S.W.2d 821, 823 (Tex.1965). Such points may only be raised on appeal if proper and specific objections were made at trial. Aero Energy, Inc. v. Circle Drilling Co., 699 S.W.2d 821, 822 (Tex.1985). The record shows that the Rheas properly laid the predicate for appeal on this issue by objecting at trial to the submission of questions from which they now appeal.

Williams requested the jury question regarding joint enterprise which the trial court submitted to the jury. The question read as follows:

Do you find that on the occasion in question, Billie Jo Rhea and Arthur F. Rhea were engaged in a joint enterprise?
A “joint enterprise” exists if the persons concerned have (1) an agreement, either express or implied, with respect to the [121]*121enterprise or endeavor, (2) a common purpose, (3) a common business or pecuniary interest, and (4) an equal right to direct and control the enterprise. Answer “Yes or No.”
Answer: Yes

The Rheas complain that Williams failed to meet his burden of proving the existence of joint enterprise because he failed to offer probative evidence supporting this contention.

Four essential elements must be proven in order to establish the existence of a joint enterprise:

(1) an agreement, express or implied, among the members of the group; (2) a common purpose to be carried out by the group; (3) a community of pecuniary interest in that purpose, among the members; and (4) an equal right to a voice in the direction of the enterprise, which gives an equal right of control.

Shoemaker v. Estate of Whistler, 513 S.W.2d 10, 16-17 (Tex.1974).

Examining the facts of this case for the presence of these four elements, we find that all four were shown to exist. An agreement between the Rheas can be implied from their joint travel throughout the day of the collision. The common purpose carried out by the Rheas was the delivery of tax papers to their tax consultant.

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Rhea v. Williams
802 S.W.2d 118 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1991)

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802 S.W.2d 118, 1991 WL 11683, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rhea-v-williams-texapp-1991.