Sweatt v. Tarrant County

108 S.W.2d 700, 1937 Tex. App. LEXIS 854
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 9, 1937
DocketNo. 13578.
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 108 S.W.2d 700 (Sweatt v. Tarrant County) 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
Sweatt v. Tarrant County, 108 S.W.2d 700, 1937 Tex. App. LEXIS 854 (Tex. Ct. App. 1937).

Opinion

BROWN, Justice.

Appellant, Mrs. Rhoda Sweatt, a feme sole, who resides upon a five-acre tract of land lying just inside the city limits of the City of Fort Worth, Tex., brought this suit against the State of Texas, the County of Tarrant, and the City of Fort Worth, and joined as a defendant the West Texas Construction Company, which did certain work in the making of the improvements but which construction company was dismissed before the case was tried, and alleged that the three defendants first named, by mutual agreement, constructed the Fort Worth-Grapevine highway and East Balknap street, which is a part of such highway, and that in so doing they changed the natural course of water from rainfall at and near the junction of such highway with Beach and Harper streets, near the eastern limits of the City of Fort Worth, so as to cause her tract of land to be flooded with water from every rain of any appreciable size, thereby greatly injuring the land; and alleged as her measure of damages the value of the property immediately before the work was-done and the value immediately after.

It seems that the work done was done partly within the city limits and partly beyond said city limits. We do not think it necessary, in the view we take of this case, to detail the answers filed by the State of Texas and its Highway Commission, and by Tarrant County and the City of Fort Worth, excepting to say that the City of Fort Worth pleaded in bar of any recovery against it the two-year statute *702 of limitation, which plea was sustained hy the trial court and of which judgment appellant makes no complaint.

The case was tried to a jury on the following issues given here as to their substance and answers returned as shown:

Issue No. 1 requested the jury to find whether construction of the highway in question, together with the grading of Harper street, diverted the water in the locality in question from its natural course. The answer found is “Yes.”

Issue No. 2 requested the jury to find whether or not such diversion caused any damage to appellant’s property. The jury answered “No.”

The court instructed the jury that if they answered the second issue “Yes,” to answer the third and fourth issues, but, if they answered the second issue “No,” not to answer the third and fourth issues.

The third and fourth issues inquired of the jury what was the reasonable market value of appellant’s property immediately prior to the construction of the highway and the grading of Harper street, and the reasonable market value thereof immediately after such construction and 'grading.

It. is not necessary to notice, issues Nos. 5 and 6.

On this verdict the court rendered judgment that appellant take nothing as against any and all. of the •defendants. She filed an amended motion for new trial, which was overruled, and she has appealed the cause to this court.

In appellant’s brief we' find 18 assignments of error.

We understand that our Supreme Court has held that propositions are ho longer necessary in a brief. We deplore the day when such a ruling was made necessary by the enactment of a statute, because we know, and we believe every diligent lawyer in Texas knows, that a proposition immediately brings to the attention of the appellate court the point raised, and, without such manner of briefing, the court is compelled to wade through the record to find the point.

But we understand that there must be assignments of error in the brief; that these must be such as are proper for consideration; and that if there are propositions advanced they must comply with the present statutory reqttirements for assignments of error. Vernon’s Ann.Civ. St. art. 2249 et seq.

The first assignment of error aserts that the verdict is contrary to the law and the evidence.

Such an assignment has been many times condemned, and no proposition can aid it or give life to it.

The second asserts that the undisputed evidence showed that, by reason of the diversion of the water from its former course by the construction of the highway and the grading and graveling of Harper street, appellant’s land was frequently overflowed and , thus injured and appellant damaged.

The third asserts that under the undisputed evidence appellant’s land, as a matter of law, was injured and appellant damaged.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth assignments are not presented for review.

The seventh asserts misconduct on the part of the jury, in that they discussed matters not in evidence and not in the record, which influenced them to return a verdict against appellant.

We think such a blanket assertion is too general to warrant consideration. The eighth is not presented for review.

The ninth asserts misconduct in that, while “considering their verdict, especially their answer to special issue No. 2 of the court’s charge, jurors discussed the real or supposed general benefits of the construction of the highway to the community in common on or near the highway and as an offset to any damages to plaintiff by reason of said highway and its construction as involved in this suit, and all such discussion being extraneous to, contrary to and in violation of the court’s charge, and the jury were thereby materially influenced in returning their verdict against plaintiff.”

The tenth asserts misconduct, in that the jury “received and considered other evidence than in the record of this case as to real or supposed general benefits to the community from the construction of the highway, and possible future litigation on account of waters upon plaintiff’s land, and were materially influenced thereby in returning verdict against plaintiff.”

It is easily seen that the tenth assignment of error is multifarious and duplicitous, in that it deals with two separate and distinct matters under discussion, which the briefer alleges influenced the verdict.

*703 We believe that the matters so complained of should be presented in separate assignments of error.

The eleventh assignment of error asserts: “The verdict of the jury in answer to special issue No. 2 of the court’s charge was contrary to the overwhelming preponderance of the evidence and against the undisputed evidence in the case.”

This assignment of error is duplicitous and multifarious. The forepart of it admits that there was evidence pro and con on the issue presented, but that the answer of the jury to the issue is contrary to the overwhelming preponderance of the evidence. This presents a fact question within our jurisdiction, and one over which the Supreme Court has none.

The last portion of the assignment of error asserts in so many words that there is no evidence in the record to support the answer of the jury to the issue submitted and that such answer is against the undisputed evidence. This portion of the assignment of error presents a law question within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, as well, of course, within our jurisdiction.

We should not consider such assignment of error, as presented, and no proposition, or propositions, could cure the defect as we find it here.

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Bluebook (online)
108 S.W.2d 700, 1937 Tex. App. LEXIS 854, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sweatt-v-tarrant-county-texapp-1937.