Moreman Gin Co. v. Brown

• Court: Texas Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: Fly
• Citation: Moreman Gin Co. v. Brown, 291 S.W. 946 (Tex. App. 1927)
• Decision Date: 16 February 1927
• Docket Number: (No. 7693.)
• Parties: MOREMAN GIN CO. v. BROWN et al.

291 S.W. 946

MOREMAN GIN CO. v. BROWN et al.

(No. 7693.)

Court of Civil Appeals of Texas. San Antonio.

February 16, 1927.

Rehearing Denied March 9, 1927.

Appeal from District Court, Nueces County; W. B. Hopkins, Judge.

Action by Mrs. Mittie Brown, for herself and her minor children, against the Moreman Gin Company, in which J. M. A. Brown and another intervened. Judgment for plaintiff individually and against defendant, and defendant appeals. Affirmed.

Kleberg & North, E. B. Ward, and M. G. Eckhardt, Jr., all of Corpus Christi, for appellant.

Boone & Savage, of Corpus Christi, and H. S. Bonham, of Beeville, for appellees.

FLY, C. J.

Mrs. Mittie Brown, for herself and her minor children, Morris Brown, M. K. Brown, Jr., Lucille Brown, Lila Mae Brown, and Robert Lee Brown, instituted this action against the Moreman Gin Company, a private corporation, to recover damages for the death of M. K. Brown, the husband of Mrs. Brown and father of the children, which death it was alleged was caused by the negligence of said gin company. It was alleged that the deceased at the request and invitation of the gin company took a load of cotton to one of the gins of the company to have it ginned and baled; that while waiting for the work to be done he walked near where a hoisting crane or derrick was being operated to load cotton on vehicles for transportation, and said crane or derrick fell upon him and broke his spinal column and severed the spinal cord, causing his death after three weeks of intense suffering and excruciating agony. Appellant filed numerous exceptions to the petition, and alleged that deceased had been guilty of negligence which contributed to his injury and death.

The cause was submitted to a jury on nine special issues, and upon the answers thereto judgment was rendered by the court in favor of Mrs. Brown, individually, for $5,000, but that she recover nothing in her capacity of next friend for the minors, and that J. M. A. Brown and Martha Brown, parents of deceased, who had intervened in the suit, recover nothing.

For what reason no damages were allotted to the minors by the jury does not appear in the record. It is evident, however, that the jury, for some reason or no reason, desired to deny them damages, for in answer to the issue as to what sum would reasonably compensate Mrs. Brown and the children, the jury answered: "$5,000, the amount to be paid to Mrs. M. K. Brown for all relief, general and special, legal and equitable." It is a singular verdict, but appellant has no cause to complain.

The evidence shows that the deceased, M. K. Brown, went to the gin of appellant upon its invitation to have two bales of cotton ginned and baled, and while waiting at a place near his vehicle, loaded with seed cotton, for his cotton to be taken by appellant and prepared for him, he walked to a place near where a derrick for loading cotton was in use, and the derrick fell and injured him so that he died. He was at a place when hurt where it was customary for the patrons of the gin to go, and where appellant permitted and invited him to go. He had done nothing towards handling or using the derrick when it fell and broke his back and otherwise injured him. He was not guilty of contributory negligence in going near the hoisting crane or derrick, and it fell from the negligence of appellant in not keeping it in a proper state of repair. Deceased was not an intruder on the premises, nor at the particular spot where he was hurt, but appellant had by its acts invited its different patrons to use the derrick and to assist one another in using the derrick. Deceased had gone to the place where persons were engaged in loading their cotton with the derrick, but was struck down when he had not touched the derrick. Brown had the right to go to...