Williams v. Tompkins

42 S.W.2d 106, 1931 Tex. App. LEXIS 1426
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 20, 1931
DocketNo. 10842.
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 42 S.W.2d 106 (Williams v. Tompkins) 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
Williams v. Tompkins, 42 S.W.2d 106, 1931 Tex. App. LEXIS 1426 (Tex. Ct. App. 1931).

Opinion

*108 VAUGHAN, J.

This is an appeal prosecuted from a judgment denying to appellant a writ of mandamus against appellee as auditor of the city of Dallas and sought to compel appellee as such auditor to issue and countersign a proper warrant to pay the amount of an award made to her in compensation for personal injuries. As to the allegations upon which appellant predicated her right to the relief sought, it is only necessary to reproduce the following, viz. that the injuries received by her were in consequence of having been run over by a motorcycle officer of the city of Dallas on September 6, 1926; that a claim for compensation for loss from such injuries was presented and filed with the city December 80, 1926, and was by its board of commissioners duly and properly audited and allowed on December 21, 1928, as evidenced by a formal order of that date entered allowing said claim in the sum of $1,716.52 and ordering same paid; that it was the duty of appellee, in his official capacity, to issue and countersign all vouchers and checks, to pay all accounts and claims ordered paid by the board of commissioners of the city of Dallas (including appellant’s claim); and that no such account or claim can be collected except upon a check or voucher issued and countersigned by him as such auditor.

In the discussion of the several material questions presented by this appeal, the ease, as developed on both theory and fact by appellant and appellee, respectively, will be reflected ; therefore, a further statement of the case as made by the pleadings will not be necessary. Following are all of the material facts established by the evidence to have existed from the time appellant was injured to the date the order allowing her claim was entered.

On September 6,1926, appellant “was struck by a motorcycle ridden by a traffic policeman and sustained bruises and contusions of her right leg and thigh, a deep laceration of her left thigh and hack, which were severely bruised, sprained and injured internally, her left foot and ankle severely injured and a compound-comminuted fracture of both bones ■of the left leg just above the ankle.”

On December 30, 1926, Dr. Dane B. Cooke, •city health officer, made the following report to the board of commissioners of the city of Dallas as to the condition of appellant: “Mrs. Williams is confined to the bed or a chair from which she is unable to arise even with the aid of crutches. Movement in an ■effort• to arise produces severe pain in the small of the back; the heel of the left foot cannot be brought to the floor, and no weight can be tolerated on the left leg. The hones of the left leg which were, broken into many small pieces and driven through the flesh and' out through the skin have again but feebly united; the leg somewhat shortened and not entirely straight, and leg and foot swollen to .nearly twice the normal size. Over the site of the fracture there is a large reddish fluctuating area which appears to be caused by a piece of a dead bone which is separating from the more healthy tissue and will ultimately form a chronic discharging ulcer and will have to be removed surgically, and may continue as a chronic osteo-myelitis requiring repeated operations and possibly the amputation of that leg. It is my opinion that Mrs. Williams will never again regain the use of her left leg, may never be able to walk again, even with the use of crutches, and certainly will never be able to perform any part of her housework again. She is totally and permanently disabled.”

On December 21, 1928, an order was entered by the board of commissioners on petition of appellant for redress on account of the injuries sustained by her, which in effect directed the city auditor to pay appellant the sum of $1,716.52 in settlement of her claim for damages, sustained by her on September 6, 1926; the said order further recites that appellant was struck by a motorcycle ridden by H. D. Miller of the police department, and directs said sum to be paid out of suits and accounts fund, and instructed the city attorney to draw the necessary release, and provides that out of said sum of $1,716.52 appellant should pay $641.52 to the city of Dallas, said sum representing accumulated taxes on appellant’s homestead, and directed that the doctor’s bill should also be paid out of said sum.

Following are all of the material facts established by the evidence to have existed in support of appellee’s defense:

On July 12, 1929, the new city government —composed of J. Waddy Tate, mayor, and Wylie, Pouts, Harris, and Graves, commissioners — passed an order revoking the order of December 21, 1928, allowing appellant the sum of $1,716.52 in settlement of her claim, for injuries received by her September 6, 1926, and as grounds for said rescission the following statement is contained in said order of July 12, 1929:

“Whereas, heretofore, on the 21st day of December, 1928, the Board of Commissioners of the City of Dallas passed an order providing that the City of Dallas pay to Mrs. Lizzie (Lucy) Williams, widow, the sum of $1,716.52; and,
“Whereas, it appears upon investigation of said Board order and the claim of the said Mrs. Lizzie (Lucy) Williams that there was ■never any legal liability existing against the City of Dallas for and on behalf of the said Mrs. Lizzie (Lucy) Williams, and that the City of Dallas was at no time legally obligated to pay Mrs. Lizzie (Lucy) Williams any sum of money or to make compensation to the said Mrs. Lizzie (Lucy) Williams in any manner ; and,

*109 “Whereas, it appears that the said Board order which was passed on the 21st day of December, 1928, was passed and enacted without legal consideration, and that order was void and invalid.”

That appellant, as owner of lot 6 and 15 feet of lot 6, block 2/1008, Maple avenue, was due the city "of Dallas taxes, penalties, and interest aggregating $041.52 up to December 15, 1928. By letter of date July 12, 1929, written by A. A. Long, assistant city attorney, addressed to the mayor and board of commissioners, they were advised that, in the opinion of said assistant city attorney, appellant’s claim for personal injuries, by virtue of having been struck and injured by one Miller, motorcycle policeman of the city of Dallas, was not a valid claim against said city, and that there had been no legal liability resting upon said city by virtue of said accident. The following excerpt from the appellant’s first amended original petition was offered in evidence by appellee:

“That heretofore, to wit, about the 6th day of September, 1926, the plaintiff was injured by being struck by a motorcycle ridden by one H. D. Miller, a member of the police department of the said City of Dallas, Texas, who was employed by the said City as a traffic policeman, whose duty was to assist the City in the control and regulation of traffic in and upon a street.”

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Related

Opinion No.
Texas Attorney General Reports, 1992
City of Houston v. Chapman
145 S.W.2d 669 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1940)
Tompkins v. Williams
62 S.W.2d 70 (Texas Commission of Appeals, 1933)

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Bluebook (online)
42 S.W.2d 106, 1931 Tex. App. LEXIS 1426, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-tompkins-texapp-1931.