Yett v. Cook

268 S.W. 715
CourtTexas Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 20, 1925
DocketNo. 6525
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 268 S.W. 715 (Yett v. Cook) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Texas Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Yett v. Cook, 268 S.W. 715 (Tex. 1925).

Opinion

CURETON, C. J.

This' ease is before us on motion by W. D. Yett, mayor of the city of Austin; and other officials of the city, relators, for leave to file an original petition for writs of prohibition, mandamus, ■procedendo, and injunction against Charles ■B. Cook,. Hon. George Calhoun, judge of the Eifty-Third district, and A. S. Philquist, clerk of the district court of Travis county.

It appears from the petition and exhibits that Mr. Cook- filed a petition for mandamus in the district court of Travis county, Fifty-Third district, against the relators in this action and two other named parties, as officers of the city of Austin, seeking a mandamus for the purpose of requiring them in their respective official capacities to call an election tp fill certain offices as provided for in the charter of" the city of Austin on the first Monday in February, 1925, and for other relevant, purposes. This petition was presented to' the' Honorable George Calhoun, judge of the Fifty-Thiid district, on the 2d day of January, who set the same for hearing on the Gth of January, 1925, at 2 o’clock p. m. Notice of the hearing was issued and served, and in response to this notice the re-lators here who' contested the application' appeared, and after certain proceedings, not 'necessary to be here noted, a hearing was had in chambers, and bn the 8th of January, 1925, a peremptory mandamus was granted against the relators in this action in their respective official capacities. ■ The mandamus rfequired them in effect to do and perform all things directed by the statutes of the state and the charter of the city of Austin necessary to. the end that a general election be held in the city, of Austin on the first Monday in February,, 1925, for the purpose of electing five eouncilmen, who shall. constitute the city council of the city of ■ Austin; and especially requiring— ,,

“and commanding such respondents, and each of them, in their respective official capacities, to forthwith call such election for 'such date and issue and have posted notices thereof, and at the times when such acts and things are required by law to be done respectively, to select election judges and other officials, designated voting boxes, furnish election supplies, and generally to do and perform all other acts required by law to be done and performed by them in their respective official capacities to the end that such election may be held upon such date.”

This judgment was rendered on the 8th day of January, 1925. On the same day, in the same cause, Charles B. Cook filed a petition, wherein he prayed that the judge—

“issue forthwith and immediately a temporary injunction requiring and commanding the said respondents in said mandamus proceeding (naming them) to immediately and forthwith call said election for the first Monday in February, 1925, and immediately and forthwith take all steps and do all things that may be requisite or necessary in order that the said election may be properly and duly held in accordance with law, and further commanding and directing and ordering' them forthwith and immediately to carry out, perform, and obey the order and mandate of said writ, of mandamus above referred to, until and unless they shall be otherwise ordered by the judge of this court or by some other court having superior jurisdiction.”

This petition for temporary injunction, which in its ■ legal effect was a motion for an injunction in the same case, was immediately heard and granted by Judge Calhoun. A bond was required, which was given, and the injunction we presume issued. At any rate, the fiat indorsed on the petition providing for a bond named the respondents there, who are the relators in this action, and said that said respondents—

“are hereby ordered and commanded, until otherwise ordered by the judge of this court, or by this court, or by a court of superior jurisdiction, to proceed without delay to carry out and perform, and observe the orders and mandates of said writ of mandamus issued as aforesaid by the judge of this court on the 8th day of January, A. D. 1925.” '

That proper motion was made, notice of appeal given, and proper supersedeas bond given to supersede the judgment awarding the mandamus, are matters which are not questioned in the proceeding before us. These requisites of the law, in so- far as this proceeding is concerned, were complied with by the relators here, who were the respondents in the trial court, in the proceedings we have just described.

The Supreme Court', under the Constitution and statutes of this state is clothed with power to exercise ”botli".appellate and [717]*717original jurisdiction. It is unnecessary to discuss the question as to wlietlier or not we have jurisdiction to grant the relief prayed for in the petition under bur appellate power, for the reason that we have concluded we may consider the petition under the original jurisdiction conferred on us by the Constitution and statutes.

It is to be noted that the injunction issued by Judge Calhoun is purely ancillary and in aid of the judgment awarding peremptory mandamus. In fact, it may be said that the purpose of the injunction was to require obedience to the mandamus, notwithstanding the fact that the relators might supersede the mandamus judgment on appeal. The petition of Mr. Cook, which expressly stated it was “Proceeding Ancillary” to the mandamus suit, on which the injunction was granted, after reciting that he had been awarded a mandamus against the relators in this case, set forth that unless the writ of mandamus was forthwith complied with, and respondents in that action (relators here) proceed immediately to order the election and take the steps required by law in obedience to the mandamus, the relief granted him by the mandamus judgment would be wholly denied as the result of delay. The petition recited that the relators here had announced, in connection with the mandamus proceeding, their intention to appeal from the order granting the writ of mandamus, and alleged that if such an appeal was taken from the.order awarding the writ, the delay necessarily incident thereto would render wholly ineffectual and would totally destroy the effect of the judgment.

The prayer for injunction was consistent with the purposes the petition just stated, and the fiat of the judge indorsed on the petition expressly commands the relators here “to proceed without delay to carry out <md perform and observe the orders and mandates of said writ of mandamus.”

It is plain that the only purpose and effect of the injunctive order was to enforce and execute the judgment awarding the peremptory writ of mandamus, although the rela-tors should appeal the case and supersede the same.

The writ of mandamus is but the “means” or “execution” to enforce the judgment in favor of those to whom the writ has been awarded. Milliken v. City Council of Weatherford, 54 Tex. 388, 391, 38 Am. Rep. 629; Thorne v. Moore, 101 Tex. 205, 209, 105 S. W. 985; Ency. of Pleading, vol. 20, §§ 1240, 1241.

The statutes of this state (Rev. St. 1911, art. 2101), after making .provision for a su-persedeas bond, in article 2103 declares the effect of the filing of such bond. It reads:

“Upon the filing of the bonds mentioned in the two preceding articles, the appeal or writ of error shall be held to be perfected, and the execution of the judgment shall be stayed, and should execution have been issued thereon, f A e cleric shall forthmth issue a supersedeas.” (Italics ours.)

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Related

Deramus v. Thornton
333 S.W.2d 824 (Texas Supreme Court, 1960)
Lawler v. Wray
8 S.W.2d 524 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1928)

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Bluebook (online)
268 S.W. 715, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/yett-v-cook-tex-1925.