Ætna Club v. State
| Citation | 193 S.W. 1106 |
| Decision Date | 15 March 1917 |
| Docket Number | (No. 676.) |
| Parties | ÆTNA CLUB et al. v. STATE. |
| Court | Court of Appeals of Texas |
Appeal from District Court, El Paso County; Dan M. Jackson, Judge.
Suit by the State of Texas against the Ætna Club and W. C. Clark. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendants appeal. Affirmed.
Weeks & Owen, of El Paso, for appellants. C. W. Croom and P. H. Marcum, both of El Paso, for the State.
This suit was filed by the state of Texas through the county attorney of El Paso county, against W. C. Clark and the Ætna Club. The allegations of the petition and the relief sought are substantially the same as in the petition in case of Frank McLean and Wigwam Athletic Club v. State of Texas, 193 S. W. 430, this day decided. The substance of the defendants' answer is a denial of the allegations of the petition; that Clark was the manager of the premises for the club, and that the Ætna Club was a bona fide club, organized for the purpose of relieving distress and rendering moral and financial assistance to and for the intellectual advancement of persons of the negro race in El Paso county, and that the sale of liquor was made to its members only, and was an incident to the purposes of its incorporation, the allegations of the answer bringing the case within the purview of the rules announced in State v. Duke, 104 Tex. 355, 137 S. W. 654, 138 S. W. 385.
Upon trial before a jury, the following facts were found: That the Ætna Club, since its incorporation and on the date the suit was filed, had not conducted in good faith its business so as to carry into effect the purposes set forth in its charter; that the main business of the Ætna Club, as it was and had been conducted on and prior to the date suit was filed, was the sale or dispensing of intoxicating liquors to its members and invited guests; and that on said date and prior thereto, it had been using its charter as a shield or makeshift for the purpose of selling intoxicating liquors to its members.
Judgment was rendered, enjoining defendants from using the premises of the club or any part thereof for the purpose of selling spirituous, vinous, and malt liquors, or either of them, and from keeping the same for sale thereon. From this judgment, the defendants prosecute this appeal.
It is first assigned as error that the county attorney of El Paso county was without authority to prosecute the suit, it being an inquiry into the charter rights of a private corporation and an action to prevent the defendant corporation from exercising a power not conferred upon it by its charter, and therefore such an action as must have been brought by the Attorney General of the state under the provisions of ...
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Fletcher v. State, 41678
...McCormick and Ray, § 1576, p. 432. See also First National Bank of Eagle Lake v. Robinson, Tex.Civ.App., 124 S.W. 177; Aetna Club v. State, Civ.App., 193 S.W. 1106. We reject appellant's claim that Article 37.07, § 2(b), as amended in 1967 is unconstitutional insofar as it permits evidence ......
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Ætna Club v. State
...16, 1918. Action by the State against the Ætna Club and others. A judgment against defendants was affirmed by the Court of Civil Appeals (193 S. W. 1106), and defendants apply for a writ of error. Writ Weeks & Owen, of El Paso, for applicants. C. W. Croom, Co. Atty., of El Paso, for the Sta......