Trucker's Equipment, Inc. v. Sandoval

Decision Date22 June 1978
Docket NumberNo. 1253,1253
Citation569 S.W.2d 518
PartiesTRUCKER'S EQUIPMENT, INC., Appellant, v. Aurora SANDOVAL, a widow, et al., Appellees.
CourtTexas Court of Appeals
OPINION

NYE, Chief Justice.

This is a venue case. Aurora C. Sandoval, individually and on behalf of her minor daughter, brought suit against defendant Trucker's Equipment, Inc., under the Texas Wrongful Death statute for the death of her husband. The accident allegedly resulted when a hydraulic hose, which defendant Trucker's Equipment, Inc., had assembled to a coupling, broke loose from the coupling causing a cotton shredder to fall on the decedent. Suit was filed in the District Court of Cameron County, Texas. Defendant filed a plea of privilege to be sued in Nueces County, the county of its alleged general office and principal place of business. The trial court, after hearing evidence, overruled the defendant's plea of privilege, and this appeal resulted.

Plaintiffs are residents of Cameron County, Texas. Defendant Trucker's maintained a place of business in Harlingen, Cameron County, Texas. Defendant's general business activities included the sale, distribution and assembly of hydraulic hoses and fittings for tractors and trucks. The decedent, at the time of his death, was employed as a farm worker on the McElwrath farm in Cameron County, Texas. On August 14, 1974, the date of his death, the decedent was working underneath an elevated cotton shredder. The shredder was held aloft by hydraulic pressure through hoses attached to a tractor. When the hydraulic hose, which held the shredder in the elevated position, tore loose from its coupling, it caused the shredder to drop and crush the decedent. There were no eyewitnesses to the accident.

Plaintiffs alleged that defendant Trucker's Equipment sold the specific coupling to McElwrath farms and assembled the offending coupling to the hydraulic hose in question. Plaintiffs alleged that, as assembled, the hydraulic hose and coupling were defective, unreasonably dangerous, and not reasonably suitable for the purposes for which such assembled hose was intended. Plaintiffs further alleged that the defendant negligently assembled the coupling to the hydraulic hose and that such negligence proximately caused the decedent's death. In response to defendant's plea of privilege, the plaintiffs filed a controverting affidavit and a supplemental controverting affidavit alleging venue to be maintainable in Cameron County under subdivisions 9a, 23 and 31 of Article 1995, Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. (1965).

At the plea of privilege hearing, David McElwrath, Jr., the McElwrath farm manager, testified that he purchased the specific hydraulic hose in question with its original fittings from Aldridge-Washmon in Harlingen, Texas, on August 12, 1974. He delivered the hose to the decedent late that night. He further testified that the hose was purchased for the purpose of replacing an old hydraulic hose on the cotton shredder in question. The next day certain witnesses observed the decedent using the tractor and cotton shredder on the McElwrath farms. Late that same afternoon, the decedent stopped his wife, who was also working on the farm, to inform her that he was in a hurry to reach Trucker's Equipment, Inc. prior to closing time in order to have some hydraulic hoses repaired. Defendant Trucker's place of business was located approximately 10 miles away from the farm.

The next afternoon, the decedent's body was found pinned beneath the cotton shredder, which, at that time, was located inside a barn on the farm. The decedent had apparently been greasing the shredder. The decedent was still clasping a grease gun in his right hand. The hydraulic hose connecting the tractor to the cylinder that lifted the cotton shredder had pulled loose from one of its couplings. The coupling in question remained attached to the tractor but the hydraulic hose had pulled away from this particular coupling. It was dangling off to one side of the shredder. The other end of the hydraulic hose remained attached to the shredder. Hydraulic oil from the detached hose had drained onto the barn floor. Testimony at the trial established that the loss of hydraulic oil would cause the cotton shredder to drop from a raised position. The tractor and cotton shredder, otherwise, were in good working order.

McElwrath identified the hydraulic hose which had separated from its coupling as being the same hose he had purchased on August 12, two days before the death of the decedent. He further testified that the coupling from which the hose separated was not the same coupling that was on the new hose when he purchased it. The coupling from which the hose separated was a "Stratoflex" brand. The manager of Trucker's Equipment, Inc. in Harlingen testified that Trucker's Equipment, Inc., and Cummins Sales and Service in Brownsville were the only two area stores carrying this particular brand of couplings. McElwrath further testified that the McElwrath Farms limited their purchase of hoses and couplings to two sources: Trucker's Equipment, Inc., in Harlingen, and Burton's Auto Supply. The only exception was the single hose that was purchased from Aldridge-Washmon on August 12th. In addition, there was introduced into evidence, an invoice issued by defendant to "McElwrath" or "McElwreth" on August 13, 1974. This was the day the deceased went to defendant's place of business to get some hydraulic hoses repaired. This invoice contained a charge for the purchase of a Stratoflex coupling as well as a charge for fitting the coupling on a hydraulic hose. The serial number of the coupling shown on the invoice matched the serial number stamped on the particular coupling in question which was on the cotton shredder that crushed the decedent.

Plaintiffs' evidence included the testimony of a professional mechanical engineering consultant who was experienced in the field of determining the causes of failures of hydraulic equipment, including hydraulic hoses as they are fitted into couplings. He testified that the hydraulic system on the tractor in question which raises and lowers the shredder operated between 1800 pounds and 2000 pounds per square inch of pressure. The identifying number on the hydraulic hose indicated that the hose was designed to operate at 2000 pounds of working pressure, to withstand a standard in-use test of 4000 pounds of pressure and to expand or burst only at a pressure of 8000 pounds. The identification marks on the coupling in question indicated that it was designed to be used on the particular hydraulic hose in question. When properly assembled, the portion of the hose inside the coupling would withstand more pressure per square inch than the portion of the hose outside of the coupling. This expert witness further testified that he had examined the hose and the fitting in question for the purpose of determining why the specific hose separated from the coupling. He had taken x-rays of the coupling in question to determine its internal configuration. Based on all of his examination and his expertise, the consultant testified, in effect, that the failure resulted from the manner in which the hydraulic hose was attached to the coupling. He stated specifically that the failure was due to excessive turning of the hose inside the coupling while being assembled, which damaged and tore the outer rubber jacket of the hose. This rendered it unsuitable for use in a hydraulic system with a pressure designation of between 1800 and 2000 pounds. He compared the effect on the hose in the coupling to that of stripping the threads of a nut and bolt. The expert testified that the jacket of the hose as fitted into the coupling would not, in his opinion, withstand 200 pounds of pressure.

Based on all of this evidence, the trial court overruled defendant Trucker's plea of privilege. Defendant brings forward legal and factual insufficiency points directed toward the trial court's implied findings that venue was maintainable in Cameron County under each subdivision of Article 1995 relied upon by plaintiffs.

Findings of fact and conclusions of law were not requested or filed. In such a case, the trial court's judgment should be affirmed if it can be upheld on any legal theory that finds support in the evidence. Bishop v. Bishop, 359 S.W.2d 869 (Tex.Sup.1962); Mobile County Mutual Insurance Co. v. Jacobs, 531 S.W.2d 436, 438 (Tex.Civ.App. Corpus Christi 1975, no writ); Life & Casualty Insurance Company of Tennessee v. Rivera, 420 S.W.2d 788 (Tex.Civ.App. Corpus Christi 1967, no writ). We must presume, therefore, that the trial court resolved every issue of fact that was supported by evidence in appellee's favor. We view such evidence in the light most favorable to such findings, disregarding all evidence that is contrary thereto. James v. Drye,159 Tex. 321, 320 S.W.2d 319 (1959); Mobile County Mutual Insurance Co. v. Jacobs, supra; Loyd W. Richardson Construction Corporation v. Corpus Christi State National Bank, 513 S.W.2d 287 (Tex.Civ.App. Corpus Christi 1974, no writ).

We first consider whether or not venue is properly maintainable in Cameron County under subdivision 31. Plaintiffs' pleadings and controverting affidavits were sufficient to show plaintiffs' reliance upon each venue provision of subdivision 31. Subdivision 31 provides as follows "Suits for breach...

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    • United States
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    • April 11, 1989
    ...143 S.W.2d 648 (Tex.Civ.App.-Waco 1940), aff'd, 138 Tex. 450, 159 S.W.2d 854 (Comm'n App.1942, opinion adopted); Trucker's Equipment, Inc. v. Sandoval, 569 S.W.2d 518 (Tex.Civ.App.-Corpus Christi 1978, no writ). The criminal rule includes the same exception as the civil rule of evidence. On......
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