Quarles v. State
| Decision Date | 16 February 1966 |
| Docket Number | No. 38867,38867 |
| Parties | James H. QUARLES, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee. |
| Court | Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |
J. Charles Whitfield, Jr., Houston, for appellant.
Tom Kenyon, Dist. Atty., Angleton, Davis Grant, Gen. Counsel for State Bar, Austin, Ralph Gilbert, Member, Grievance Committee, A. R. Mason, Angleton, Past President, Brazoria County Bar Assn., and Leon B. Douglas, State's Atty., Austin, for the State.
The offense is barratry; the punishment, a fine of $350.00 and 45 days in jail.
The evidence adduced by the State reveals that on June 22, 1964, the appellant appeared uninvited at the home of the wife of Joe Bill Wells and represented himself to her as an investigator. The appellant stated to Mrs. Wells that he wished to investigate the circumstances surrounding her husband's death which had been occasioned by the explosion of an oil well in Galveston County on June 14, 1964. The appellant also exhibited certain newspaper clippings depicting the recovery of large amounts of money as damages in similar cases and sought to have Mrs. Wells sign a paper authorizing him to investigate the case, to hire a lawyer of his own choosing to handle the case and to receive a fee of one-third of the damages recovered for the death of her husband. Mrs. Wells demurred and told appellant that she would have to talk with her father before she signed anything. Subsequently that day her father arrived at her home, and the three discussed the possibility of appellant's investigating the case. According to the father of Mrs. Wells, the appellant said that he could recover between $200,000 and $400,000 for the death, asked them to contact him if they decided to use his services, left his business card and departed.
It was also shown by the testimony of Mrs. Snyder, a friend of Mrs. Wells, that the appellant had come to her house the day after the death of Mrs. Wells' husband and had asked her to deliver his business card to Mrs. Wells because he did not want to speak to her prior to the funeral of her husband.
The evidence reflected that until he appeared at Mrs. Wells' house on the day in question, neither she nor her father had ever seen the appellant before.
We find the evidence sufficient to support the jury finding that appellant sought to obtain employment to collect the claim of Mrs. Wells for the death of her husband by means of personal solicitation of such employment.
Appellant complains in oral argument of the trial court's failure to grant his oral motion to quash by which he alleged that the complaint is vague and that the information was not sworn to by the proper official. We find no motion to quash the information in the transcript. Article 513, Vernon's Ann.C.C.P. requires that all motions to set aside an indictment or information shall be in writing; therefore, such contention is not before us for review. Stecher v. State,...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Quarles v. State of Texas
...various county officials and private persons: a. to compel them to vacate prior convictions for barratry, for example, Quarles v. State, 398 S.W.2d 935 (Tex.Crim.App.1966); Quarles v. State, 385 S.W.2d 395 (Tex.Crim.App. 1965), cert. denied 382 U.S. 829, 86 S.Ct. 65, 15 L.Ed.2d 73 (1967); b......
-
Molinar v. The State Of Tex., 14-08-00749-CR
...court overrules an oral motion to quash, it preserves nothing on appeal because the motion was not in writing. See Quarles v. State, 398 S.W.2d 935, 937 (Tex. Crim. App. 1966); Crum v. State, 946 S.W.2d 349, 358 (Tex. App. Houston [14th Dist.] 1997, pet. ref'd). Because we have only Molinar......
-
Carlile v. State
...See 1 Branch's Ann.P.c., 2nd ed., Secs. 366, 367, 368, pp. 390--391; 56 Tex.Jur.2d, Trial, Sec. 57, p. 388. See also Quarles v. State, Tex.Cr.App., 398 S.W.2d 935; cf. Nixon v. State, 165 Tex.Cr.R. 602, 309 S.W.2d And it has been said the rule should not be enforced as to attorneys engaged ......
-
Faulks v. State
...or to dismiss the indictment preserved nothing for review. Fegan v. State, 152 Tex.Cr.R. 452, 215 S.W.2d 163 (1948); Quarles v. State, 398 S.W.2d 935 (Tex.Cr.App.1966); Stecher v. State, 383 S.W.2d 594 (Tex.Cr.App.1964); Riley v. State, 379 S.W.2d 79 (Tex.Cr.App.1964). The requirement of a ......