Veach v. Port Machine, Inc.

431 S.W.2d 585, 1968 Tex. App. LEXIS 2148
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 31, 1968
DocketNo. 422
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 431 S.W.2d 585 (Veach v. Port Machine, Inc.) 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
Veach v. Port Machine, Inc., 431 S.W.2d 585, 1968 Tex. App. LEXIS 2148 (Tex. Ct. App. 1968).

Opinion

OPINION

SHARPE, Justice.

This appeal is from a summary judgment that appellant Richard Veach take nothing against appellees Port Machine, Inc., sometimes hereafter “Port”, and Texaco, Inc., sometimes hereafter “Texaco”.

Veach sued appellees for damages on account of personal injuries suffered by him when he fell over a water line installed by Port for Texaco at a boat basin owned by the Matagorda County Navigation District No. One, part of which had been leased to Texaco.

The motions for summary judgment of Port and Texaco were based upon the contention that each of them owed no duty to Veach and were not liable for his alleged injuries because he was a trespasser on the premises in question and there was no allegation of intentional harm. Texaco also alleged in its motion for summary judgment that Port was an independent contractor for whose acts Texaco would not be responsible even if the same proved to be negligent.

Appellant, by two points, contends that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Port and Texaco.

The summary judgment evidence consists of three depositions and one affidavit. The depositions were given by plaintiff Veach, Paul Lee Miller, Vice-President of Port, and J. R. Stevens, Assistant District Superintendent of Texaco, which district included Matagorda County, Texas. The affidavit was given by Eli Mayfield, attorney for the Matagorda County Navigation District No. One.

The deposition testimony of Veach reflects the following: He is a small commercial fisherman residing in Palacios, Matagorda County, Texas. At about 5:15 A.M. on September 17, 1966 while it was still dark he drove his pickup truck to the area where his boat was tied up at the Ma-tagorda County Navigation District No. One dock. He intended to go shrimping that day. He parked his pickup, started to his boat and tripped over a newly installed pipe which was above the ground about one foot, resting on a piece of stump. Veach fell off the dock into his boat, sustaining various injuries to his body. Veach said he did not see the pipe prior to tripping on it. Veach had been docking his boat at said location for about three months prior to the accident, but he had not used it for four days prior thereto. There were no signs, lights or other warning or protective devices near the pipe. An employee of Veach was on the opposite side of the pickup from where Veach fell, came over and helped Veach get up and then drove him home.

The deposition testimony of Paul L. Miller reflects the following. He is Vice-President of Port Machine, Inc. His company installed a temporary water line for Texaco at the location in question on September 16, 1966. Miller acted pursuant to an agreement with Mr. J. R. Stevens, Assistant District Superintendent for Texaco. Stevens and Miller went together to the location where the water line was to be installed, and Stevens explained what was to be done. The fitting for the end of the line was not available on the day it was laid and was not installed until a few days later. Miller testified that the dock in question was constructed about 1954 or 1955, and he helped build it. He had been familiar with it since then until the [587]*587present. It was customary for people, the general public, to tie their boats up along this particular turning basin or dock whether they had a lease or not. That practice had been going on ever since the basin was put in. People left their boats for a day or two or longer and used the area between the road and the bulkhead where their boats were tied up. He did not recall any signs to indicate where the Texaco lease was located.

The deposition testimony of J. R. Stevens reflects the following. He is Assistant District Superintendent for Texaco. The work was done by Port pursuant to agreement with Texaco. Texaco had an oral agreement with the Navigation District on a monthly basis for use of a portion of the District’s property. Stevens negotiated the agreement with Eli May-field, attorney for the district, about one week before the water line was laid. Texaco’s purpose in leasing the area in question was in connection with work preliminary to moving in a rig to drill a well at a location not specifically identified. Stevens said that the agreement involved about 250 feet along or near the bulkhead or docks on the Navigation District property. Stevens and Miller went to the area where the water line was to be laid, and Stevens lined Miller up on the work. Stevens instructed Miller about laying the line in certain places, told him to bring it to about the middle of the leased area, and to put a valve on the end of the line. Stevens was not present on the day the line was installed by Port but went to its location the next day when Veach called him early in the morning about the accident and his injuries. Veach told Stevens that he had fallen over the line, which had been propped up there, into his boat and had hurt his back. The deposition of Stevens further reflects the following questions and answers:

“Q When you went down to the dock down there, tell us what you found.
A Well, I found the line laid, as near as I could tell, as I directed Mr. Miller to lay it, with a block under the end of the line.
Q And where was the line, I mean with respect to your leased area ?
A It was laid along the edge of the dock there.
Q And you say it was on a block?
A No, sir. I said the end of it was blocked up.
Q Yes. And that was on approximately midways through your leased area?
A Yes, sir.
Q How was it blocked up ?
A It was just what looked like an old chunk of wood under the end of it there.
Q And about how high off of the ground.
A I will say about six or eight inches.
Q How far from the edge of the dock was it?
A Approximately a foot or a foot and a half from the edge of the dock.
Q Out on the shell ?
A On the shell.
Q So, from the beginning of your leased area the pipe was not in the area between * * *
A As I recall, it was not.
Q In between the piling and the wooden area there, somewhere between the place where you started, or the line was started, and where the end of it was, it was moved out of that area, is that correct?
A I believe that is correct.
[588]*588Q. And it was laying out onto the shell ?
A Yes, sir.
Q About a foot or foot and a half, and the end of it was propped up on a piece of wood?
A Old rotten limbs or log or something stuck under the end of it.”

Stevens further testified he knew that shrimpers and others customarily used areas of the basin for tying up their boats.

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Bluebook (online)
431 S.W.2d 585, 1968 Tex. App. LEXIS 2148, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/veach-v-port-machine-inc-texapp-1968.