San Antonio & A. P. Ry. Co. v. Addison

• Court: Texas Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: Gaines
• Citation: San Antonio & A. P. Ry. Co. v. Addison, 70 S.W. 200, 5 Tex. Ct. Rep. 849 (Tex. 1902)
• Decision Date: 13 November 1902
• Parties: SAN ANTONIO & A. P. RY. CO. v. ADDISON.

Page 200

70 S.W. 200

SAN ANTONIO & A. P. RY. CO. v. ADDISON.

Supreme Court of Texas.

November 13, 1902.

Certified questions from court of civil appeals of Third supreme judicial district.

Action by W. O. Addison against the San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railway Company. From a judgment for plaintiff, defendant appeals to the court of civil appeals, which certifies certain questions to the supreme court.

Morrison & Wallace, for appellant. Bowers & Schulz, for appellee.

GAINES, C. J.

This case comes to us upon certified questions. The certificate is as follows:

"The above styled and numbered cause is now pending in this court, and was a suit brought in the justice's court by appellee against the appellant to recover $130 damages to horses shipped over the appellant's line of railway. Trial was had in the justice's court, which resulted in a judgment for the plaintiff for $100. The appellant appealed to the county court, where, on December 12, 1901, judgment was rendered against it in appellee's favor for $130, with 6 per cent. interest thereon from May 20, 1900. The court, in submitting the case to the jury, did not, in its charge, authorize the recovery of interest, nor did plaintiff, in his petition, seek to recover interest, but the petition embraces a prayer for general relief. There is evidence to sustain the verdict of the jury and the judgment of the court for the sum of $130. The verdict of the jury did not find interest but was for the sum of $130. It appears without conflict in the evidence that plaintiff's cause of action accrued on May 20, 1900, and that the amount of damages sustained at that time was $130. We have ruled against the appellant on all of its assignments of errors, and we find no reversible error in the record, unless there was fundamental error in the judgment for interest on the $130 from May 20, 1900. The appellant has an assignment of error to the effect that the court erred in rendering judgment for 6 per cent. interest on the amount recovered from the date of the injuries, because the pleadings of the plaintiff did not ask for such relief. Under the authority of Railway Co. v. Jackson, 62 Tex. 209, Railway Co. v. Greathouse, 82 Tex. 104, 17 S. W. 834, Watkins v. Junker, 90 Tex. 584, 40 S. W. 11, and in view of the fact that the plaintiff's petition prays for general relief, we have ruled against the appellant on this assignment. In view of the above findings, the court of civil appeals of the Third supreme judicial district of Texas certifies to the supreme court of Texas the following questions:

"(1) In the absence of a verdict finding 6 per cent. interest on the amount found by the jury, there being no conflict in the evidence as to the fact that the injury occurred on May...