Cohn v. Saenz
| Decision Date | 18 April 1917 |
| Docket Number | (No. 5835.) |
| Citation | 194 S.W. 685 |
| Parties | COHN v. SAENZ et al. |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
Appeal from District Court, Jim Wells County; V. W. Taylor, Judge.
Action by Rufino Saenz and others against M. D. Cohn. Judgment for plaintiffs, and defendant appeals. Reversed and remanded.
J. C. Scott, of Corpus Christi, and W. W. McCampbell, of Alice, for appellant. Jas. M. Taylor, of Corpus Christi, and Jno. A. Pope, of Laredo, for appellees.
This is a suit by appellees against appellant to recover damages for personal injuries suffered by Josefina Saenz, the wife of Rufino Saenz.
The case was tried with a jury and with a practicing attorney, appointed for the trial of this cause by the Governor, after notice that the regular judge was disqualified by reason of having been previously one of the counsel for one of the parties to the litigation, and that the parties could not appoint a special judge by agreement. No effort was made to order an exchange of districts by judges of adjoining districts, for the reason that the regular judge of the district having venue of this cause notified the Governor that an exchange would be impossible. The jury returned a verdict in favor of appellees for $5,350, upon which judgment was rendered.
The first assignment of error attacks the authority of the special judge to preside.
When a judge of the district court is disqualified to try any cause because of having been of counsel for one of the parties to the cause, and the parties to the suit cannot appoint a proper person to try the case by consent, the Constitution (article 5, § 11) provides that a competent person may be appointed to try the same in such manner as may be prescribed by law; and the same section of the Constitution further provides that district judges shall exchange districts and hold court for each other when required by law. Authorized by the above constitutional provision, and for the purpose of carrying it into effect, the Legislature enacted the law relating to disqualification of district judges. Chapter 45, p. 86, General Laws of Texas, 34th Leg. 1915. There is no other law that can confer authority upon a person to act as special judge in Texas except the one above mentioned. This law requires that some district judge in an adjoining district exchange districts with the disqualified judge and try the case. This is mandatory. No person can be empowered to sit in the place of a regular judge who is...
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Clements v. Fort Worth & D. S. P. Ry. Co.
...S. W. 699; Pickett v. Michael (Tex. Civ. App.) 187 S. W. 426; T. & P. Coal Co. v. Ready (Tex. Civ. App.) 198 S. W. 1034; Cohn v. Saenz (Tex. Civ. App.) 194 S. W. 685. Revised Statutes relating specifically to this matter by article 3266 "When the county judge is disqualified to act in the c......
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Cohn v. Saenz
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