Smith v. New Way Lumber Co.

84 S.W.2d 1104, 1935 Tex. App. LEXIS 813
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 12, 1935
DocketNo. 10312.
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 84 S.W.2d 1104 (Smith v. New Way Lumber Co.) 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
Smith v. New Way Lumber Co., 84 S.W.2d 1104, 1935 Tex. App. LEXIS 813 (Tex. Ct. App. 1935).

Opinion

GRAVES, Justice.

This statement, thought, to be correct as far as it goes, is quoted in substance from the brief filed here for the appellants:

“This is an appeal from an order of -the District Court of the 55th Judicial District, Harris County, Texas, granting a temporary injunction restraining and enjoining defendants in the.- trial court (appellants here), L. ⅛. Smith, C. V. 'Terrell, and E. O. Thompson, .who- compose the Railroad Commission of Texas, the Railroad Com-: mission of Texas itself, Mark Marshall, Director of Motor Transportation for the Railroad Commission of Texas, L. G. Phares, Chief of the State Highway Patrol; Carl Nesbitt,. Adjutant General of Texas, a'nd all deputies, inspectors, employees and representatives of the Railroad Commission of Texas and the -Director of Motor' Transportation; all members of the State Highway Patrol, as well as other representatives of the law enforcement division of the Highway Department; all State Rangers and representatives of the Adjutant General’s Department; all Sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, constables, deputy constables, and, all police or peace officers of whatever character, and servants, agents and representatives from stopping, weighing,-. searching, ¡ examining, arresting, mov *1105 ing or otherwise molesting or interfering with certain trucks, being those owned by New Way Lumber Company and other plaintiffs in this cause, without a warrant of arrest for the driver or a search warrant duly and properly issued as provided by law, and from stopping, searching, arresting, examining, questioning, delaying or otherwise molesting or interfering with plaintiffs, or either of them, or of any driver of trucks owned by plaintiffs, S. A. Lovelady and W. S. Dunbar, or New Way Lumber Company, in order to discover any violation of article 827a of Revised Penal Code of Texas (Vernon’s Ann. P. C.), or of any other law regulating the operation of , motor trucks on the State- Highways of the State of Texas, without a warrant of arrest for the driver, or a search warrant duly and properly issued as provided by law.
“The plaintiffs below (the appellees) alleged that they were doing a lumber business which would be made unprofitable by constant arrests, if the defendants below were not restrained from arresting plaintiffs’ truck drivers. Plaintiffs further alleged that they were complying with the law regulating the use of trucks on the highways; that their trucks had been constantly delayed and ■ their drivers harassed without warrant, and without proper cause and through malice, for which reasons the plaintiffs contended that they were entitled to' injunctive reliefs in a court of equity. Plaintiffs further alleged that section 6 of article 827a of the Revised Penal Code of Texas is unconstitutional, in that it violates sections 9, 10, 13, 17, and 19 of article 1, and section 1 of article 2, and section 1 of article 5 of the Texas Constitution, and section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and the gross weight referred to in section 6 of article ,827a is indefinite and meaningless, in that no gross weight is set out in such statute.
“Appellants, by motion to dismiss and in answer, substantially alleged that the court of equity had no jurisdiction to enjoin the .enforcement of the' criminal law, nor the proceedings to enforce the criminal law, for the reasons that there is no direct invasion of any vested property right; that the appellees have an adequate and complete remedy at law, and therefore are not entitled to any relief from a court of equity; that there are not being, nor will be .instituted a multiplicity of unfounded prosecutions, but that the appellees have been driving their trucks in violation of the law, and that the actions instituted have been for actual violations of a statute, which has been held constitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States; that complainants did not come into the court of equity with clean hands, but have been violating a constitutional and valid statute, and seek the protection of a court of equity in such violations; that complainants have never intended to abide by the seven thousand (7000) pound load limit law; that they have been driving their trucks overloaded in violation of the law, depending upon the aid and assistance of attorneys to protect them in such violations; that the right to arrest without warrant is given by the statutes and criminal courts are ordinarily left to construe and pass upon the constitutionality of criminal laws; that the inspection of trucks without a warrant to determine whether or not there are violations of the law regulating the operation of trucks upon the highways does not constitute an unreasonable search or seizure in violation of the Constitution; that the arrest without a warrant of drivers of those trucks when found to be guilty of violating the law is not unconstitutional; that complainants are operating upon the highways under a license and are subject to regulation and inspection, in the manner prescribed by the Legislature of this State.
“The trial court overruled appellants' motion to dismiss the appellees’ petition, which contained pleas to the jurisdiction of the court. The court also overruled appellants’ general demurrer to appellees’ first amended original petition, and, after hearing evidence from both sides, entered an order against the above'named officials of the State of Texas, granting the temporary injunction restraining them from doing the things above set out.”

In limine, on the appeal, appellants assert (and appellees deny) that the evidence so heard below — it being furnished by the appellee’s assistant general manager himself — undisputedly and conclusively showed that the appellees were operating their trucks in a commercial business, for compensation or hire within the meaning of Vernon’s Ann. Civ. St. art. 911b, hence were illegally therewith using the highways of Texas without a permit so to do from the State Railroad Commission, wherefore they were in no position in any event to *1106 ask or receive from the equity powers of the courts such injunctive relief as the appealed from order awarded them; an examination into the statement of facts verifies the factual basis for this contention, the assistant general manager for the ap-pellees, Mr. Moos, after first testifying that there was a difference in the price of the lumber delivered by them to Victoria and the delivery likewise to Amarillo, plainly disclosed that they were making a delivery charge to the purchasers of the lumber according to the weight of the truck and the distance it traveled in making the deliveries, saying in that connection this:

“Q. How do you account for that difference? A. Due to the weight and freight haul, distance; the same as railroads do.
“Q. In other words, you charge them an additional amount for the freight? A. Weight of the truck and the distance.
“Q. You charge them an additional amount then computed on the additional distance? A. Yes.
“Q. That they have to carry the load? A. Yes.
“Q. You say that you make these estimates yourself. I believe you say you made and quoted them ? A. Most of them, yes. I supervise and price them.
“Q. Do you quote f. o. b. price? A. F.

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Bluebook (online)
84 S.W.2d 1104, 1935 Tex. App. LEXIS 813, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-new-way-lumber-co-texapp-1935.