Twin City Fire Ins. Co. v. First Nat. Bank

1930 OK 483, 292 P. 833, 145 Okla. 293, 1930 Okla. LEXIS 224
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedOctober 28, 1930
Docket19562
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 1930 OK 483 (Twin City Fire Ins. Co. v. First Nat. Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Twin City Fire Ins. Co. v. First Nat. Bank, 1930 OK 483, 292 P. 833, 145 Okla. 293, 1930 Okla. LEXIS 224 (Okla. 1930).

Opinion

LEACH, C.

On July 6, 1926, the Twin' City Fire Insurance Company, through its local agent at Marietta, Okla., issued to Oscar T. Cochran a fire insurance policy' for $3,000, describing the dwelling house of Cochran in the town of Marietta, except it incorrectly stated the exact location of such dwelling, to which policy was attached a mortgage or loss-payable clause in favor of the Local Building & Loan Association of Oklahoma City, the mortgagee in a mortgage theretofore given by Cochran on his premises. On January 10, 1927, the National Fire Insurance Company of Hartford, Conn., acting through the same local agent who wrote the Twin City policy, issued to Cochran a $2,000 policy on the same property and correctly described the location of the building. The house was destroyed by fire on April 17„ 1927. On August 1, 1927, Cochran assigned the policies with his rights thereunder to the First National Bank of Marietta, who . commenced separate actions to recover on each of said policies. The loan association intervened in the Twin City suit claiming an interest in the insurance to the a(mount of its mortgage by virtue of the mortgage clause attached to the policy and the defendants asked to be subrogated to any recovery had by the loan association. The defendants each filed general demurrers to plaintiff’s petition which were overruled and they answered. The two cases were consolidated and upon trial a verdict and judgment were entered for the plaintiff bank, atad the defendants appeal.

The defendants first contend that the court erred in overruling their demurrer to plaintiffs’ petition, and in not sustaining their objection to the introduction of evidence thereon. Their objection to the petition is that it failed to state the value of the property destroyed.

In the Twin City case, the petition a'leged “that the loss sustained by reason of said residence being destroyed was about $5,910 as shown by the estimate of the cost of said house.” In a succeeding paragraph it was alleged that the insured' served the defendant with an estimate and proof of loss, “a copy of said estimate is hereto attached and made a part hereof and marked ‘Plaintiff’s Exhibit B’.” In an affidavit attached to the exhibit it is stated “that the cash value of said house was, at the time of the fire, $5,910, and the above or foregoing estimate is a true and eorrfect estimate *294 and statement of the property destroyed and the value thereof.” Similar allegations are contained in the petition on the National policy.

“The allegations of a petition must be construed in connection with the exhibits attached and referred to* in the petition.” Home Ins. Co. of N. Y. v. Whitchurch, 139 Okla. 1, 281 Pac. 234.

“Pleadings attacked by demurrer should be liberally construed in favor of the pleader where material allegations are merely defectively stated and not entirely omitted.” Firemeen’s Fund Ins. Co. v. Box, 123 Okla. 113, 252 Pac. 433.

We are of the opinion and hold that the allegations of plaintiff’s petition, when considered as a whole, sufficiently advised the defendants by express statements therein of the value of the property at the time of its destruction and of the sum the plaintiff would claim its value to be on the trial of the cause. We find no error in the ruling of the court thereon.

The next assignments- of error which are presented together are:

“Said court erred in refusing to grant the applications of plaintiffs in error for a change of venue. Said court was guilty of misconduct which was prejudicial to the substantial rights of plaintiffs in error and prevented them from having a fair and impartial trial.”

The defendants presented an application for a change of venue, which was also considered as a motion to disqualify the trial judge, based on certain remarks made -by the judge in an action pending in the district court of Carter county between parties other than those in the present action, some two and one-half years prior to the date of hearing in the instant case. The statement made in the Carter county case is as follows :

“By this Court: Well, I wish there was a way in this state so people co^ki collect insurance. By Mr. Webster (counsel for defendant) : We except to the remarks of the court. By the Court: Just a minute and I will give you an earful. I wish the insurance companies in this state when they come in my court would first come and say ‘We don’t want to try our cases before you, you will not give us a fair trial,’ and I would immediately confess it in order to get the case out for the reason I have never seen — this court never observed yet a legal policy in this court, or when the insurance companies were not trying in some way, and they are trying it at all times, to best the insured, • buy the juries, and everything else.” i

In response to the application or motion presented in the present case, the court stated, in part:

“By the Court: Of course, I made that statement, that is the stenographic report of that part of the proceedings in that ease. That is a case tried two and a half years ago — two years ago any way. I will confess into this record at the time I made that statement I was nettled, * * * and many times, I thought, the attorneys for the insurance companies had filed what I considered frivolous pleadings for one delay and another, and finally it did get on my nerves. * * * i realize the purport of that statement and it should not be made from the bench, but because I made that statement in 1925, don’t mean I would make it in 1927. I am a little older and a little wiser and a little sadder maybe. I don’t think I am disqualified to give an insurance company a fair trial. I know nothing about these insurance cases. That was entirely a different company. * * * By Mr. Wilkins (of counsel for plaintiff) : Does the court now feel he is prejudiced against the defendant, or biased in favor of the plaintiff? By the Court: Of course, I will say I am not. I will furthermore say I have no special desire to try anybody’s case. I don’t think that statement would forever bar this court from trying an insurance case, however, as we progress along through the trial the record will be made, and if you can show where this court does not give you a fair and impartial trial, the Supreme Court will give you a new trial. The motion for change of venue is overruled, and I will also treat it as a motion to disqualify the court and give you an exception.”

No doubt at the time the motion to disqualify the court was presented, the honorable trial judge, against whose honesty and integrity no charge is made, felt that he was without prejudice or bias in the cause and that there were no sufficient grounds to sustain the motion. The previous statement of the judge in the Carter county case standing alone would not, as we view it, be sufficient to disqualify the court in the present action, especially so when the same is considered in connection with the response thereto by the court on presentation of the motion.

“An application filed in a civil cause to disqualify the judge on the ground of prejudice or bias is addressed to the sound discretion of the judge, and the ruling will not be reversed on appeal, unless there appears to have been a clear abuse of such discretion.” Williams v. Williams, 120 Okla. 12, 249 Pac. 920.

However, it is contended by counsel for appellants that the ruling and conduct of

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Bluebook (online)
1930 OK 483, 292 P. 833, 145 Okla. 293, 1930 Okla. LEXIS 224, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/twin-city-fire-ins-co-v-first-nat-bank-okla-1930.