Rhoades v. Pointer

243 S.W. 583, 1922 Tex. App. LEXIS 1145
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 19, 1922
DocketNo. 798.
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 243 S.W. 583 (Rhoades v. Pointer) 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
Rhoades v. Pointer, 243 S.W. 583, 1922 Tex. App. LEXIS 1145 (Tex. Ct. App. 1922).

Opinion

O’QUINN, J.

This suit grew out of a farm rent contract between appellant and appel-lee. The rental contract was that appellant was to furnish the land, teams, tools, etc., and appellee was to work the crop, and it was to be divided equally between them. Appellant was also a merchant and furnished appellee.

Appellee brought suit against appellant, alleging that, after the crop was made, he and his family gathered 5 bales of cotton, which, together with the seed of 4 bales,' were delivered to appellant, and the cotton bought by appellant, one-half the proceeds being credited upon appellee’s account; that appellee gathered and delivered to appellant 4 other bales, which were not sold, but placed by appellant in his cotton yard; that about August 23, 1918, through an attitude of violence toward appellee, who was a negro, appellant caused appellee to leave the premises and to cease gathering said crop; that appellant then assumed control of said crop and put hands to picking cotton; that after an absence of-weeks, through the intercession of other parties and with the promise of appellant that he would not hurt appellee or any members of his family, ap-pellee returned to said premises and finished gathering said crop; that, during the absence of appellee, appellant had gathered some 7 bales of cotton and all the corn; that after appellee’s return to the premises he gathered and delivered to appellant 2 more bales of cotton and a remnant of 750 pounds of seed cotton; that appellant had sold the 4 bales of cotton delivered to appellant by appellee and which were not sold at the time appel-lee was forced to leave the premises, as well as the 7 bales gathered by appellant while appellee was absent, and 2 bales gathered by appellee after his return, making 13 bales of cotton and the s°ed of 14 bales, and had appropriated appellee’s one-half of the proceeds of same to his own use, which was alleged to be the full sum of $1,358.75. Ap-pellee also alleged that appellant was due him $149.75 for special labor performed by agreement between them; that appellee owed appellant an account for merchandise, the amount of which he did not know. Appellee prayed for a balancing of accounts between him and appellant; that said merchandise account be deducted from the aggregate amount appellant owed him for his part of the proceeds of the sale of said crops of cotton, cotton seed, and corn converted and appropriated by appellant, and for the work and labor done by appellee, which was alleged to be in the sum of $1,433.50.

Appellant answered by general demurrer, general denial, and specially alleged the rental contract as stated by appellee, but further alleged that appellee gathered 5 bales of cotton, which, with the seed, were sold by the parties and appellee’s one-half credited to his account; that appellee then abandoned the crop, whereupon appellant had gathered therefrom 9 bales of cotton and all the corn, appellee’s one-half of the corn being delivered to him; that appellee refused consent for the cotton not sold by mutual agreement to be sold, and appellant held same until tne following year, when, the price having declined, he sold it and credited appellee’s account with one-half. The answer also alleged damages against appellee, the nature of which, in view of the verdict, is unnecessary to be stated, but the amount of which, added to the appellee’s account, left him indebted to appellant, after deducting his credits from the crop, in the sum of $105.65, for which he prayed judgment.

The undisputed facts show: (1) That appellant was a merchant and cotton buyer at (lause, Tex., during the years 1918 and 1919, and made the contract with appellee for farming the land, as pleaded; (2) that appellant furnished appellee with supplies out of his store, charging the amount of them to appellee’s account; (3) that appellee cultivated a crop of corn and cotton, according to contract, and about the last of July began gathering same, and about August 23,-1918, he and his family left the premises and removed elsewhere, appellee claiming that he did so through fear of appellant, by reason of appellant’s conduct towards him and his family, which charge appellant disputes, and contends that appellee left for another reason; (4) that, before appellee left the premises, he had gathered and delivered to appellant 5 bales of cotton and the seed of 4 bales, which were sold, and one-half of the proceeds credited to appellee’s account; (5) that after appellee left, and while gone, appellant had gathered from said crop of cotton 9 bales, which appellant kept in his possession and afterwards sold, together with the seed from same, and that appellant also had gathered, while appellee was absent, the whole of the corn crop, which was divided; (6) that, after appellee’s return to the premises, he gathered and delivered to appellant one more bale of cotton, and a remnant of 750 pounds of seed cotton; (7) that the 9 bales of cotton and seed gathered by appellant during the absence of appellee, as well as the one bale (and seed) gathered by appellee after his return, were sold by appellant in Houston, Tex., and that he kept all the proceeds; (8) that appellant sold all the seed of the cotton in dispute and appropriated the proceeds.

The disputed facts, so far as necessary to *585 be set out, are: (1) Appellee contends that be gathered and delivered to appellant 4 bales of cotton, with the seed of 5 bales, which were not sold, but the cotton placed in the yard of appellant before appellee left the premises, making 9 bales in all that he delivered to appellant before leaving the premises. Appellant denies receiving the 4 bales, but contends that the 5 first mentioned are all that appellee delivered to him before appellee left. (2) Appellee contends that appellant received in all at least 18 bales of cotton from said crop, 13 of which, with the seed from 14, appellant sold and appropriated the appellee’s one-half of the proceeds thereof, which appellant denies, saying that 15 bales constituted the whole of the cotton crop.

The case was tried before a jury upon special issues, upon their answers to which judgment was rendered for appellee; hence this appeal.

In answer to the special issues, the jury found: (1) That 18 bales of cotton were gathered from the rented premises and received by appellant; (2) that appellee’s one-half of the net proceeds of the 18 bales of cotton and one remnant of seed cotton, which had not been divided, amounted to $1,223.90; (3) that appellee was entitled to $224.15 as his one-half of the proceeds of the cotton seed sold, and which had not been divided; (5) that appellant owed appellee a balance of $10 for work done; (6) that appellee owed appellant $533.65 on account; (7) that the correct charges by appellant for having the cotton picked and for gathering the corn amounted to $202.50; (8) that appellee was not negligent in failing to gather the cotton with due dispatch, and that appellant had not suffered' any damages by reason thereof; (9) that appellee did not appropriate or sell any of the property, as charged by appellant.

By his first proposition appellant complains:

“The court erred in submitting, over appellant’s objection, special issue No. 2, requesting the jury to find the net amount for which ap-pellee’s one-half of all the cotton was sold, excluding a certain remnant and certain expenses, because it was based upon an incorrect rule for the measure of damages applicable to the case, viz.

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Bluebook (online)
243 S.W. 583, 1922 Tex. App. LEXIS 1145, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rhoades-v-pointer-texapp-1922.