Opinion ID: 2456652
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Chastain's Conditional Application

Text: In a conditional application for writ of error, Chastain contends that the Court of Civil Appeals erred in sustaining Champlin's contention with reference to the four-year statute of limitations and modifying the trial court's judgment because of such holding. The intermediate court's holding was that certain payments made by Champlin to Chastain were designated as being for gas products sold by Champlin for Chastain's account for specific periods of time and that accordingly the general rule that payments on an account should be credited to first maturing items thereof was not wholly applicable to the account involved. For a statement of the rule, see Curry v. O'Daniel, 102 S.W.2d 481 (Tex. Civ.App.1937, wr. ref.). We find no error in the Court of Civil Appeals' holding that the specially designated payments operated to vary the general rule and we are further of the opinion that there is evidence to support the finding that certain payments were made for designated months. Of course, should there be another trial, the evidence relating to payments for specified months may be different or more complete than that contained in the record now before us. Chastain also contends that he is entitled to attorney's fees under the provisions of Article 2226, Vernon's Ann.Tex. Civ.Stats., in that under the contract he furnished materials to Champlin. The contract obligated Chastain to deliver or cause to be delivered to Champlin's processing plant a volume of natural gas which was to be processed for the recovery of various hydrocarbons called plant products and that a portion of such products would be sold by Champlin to third persons for Chastain's account and the products remaining would be retained by Champlin as a processing fee. The gas delivered to Champlin for processing under this agreement is not within the meaning of material furnished as that term is used in Article 2226, and the Court of Civil Appeals was correct in so holding. Chastain's Contention that the Jury's Answers to Special Issues Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5 are Against the Overwhelming Preponderance of the Evidence Our jurisdiction extends to questions of law only. Article 5, § 3, Texas Constitution, Vernon's Ann.St. Questions of whether or not a jury finding is against the overwhelming preponderance of the evidence lies within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Civil Appeals. Article 5, § 6, Texas Constitution; King v. King, 150 Tex. 662, 244 S.W.2d 660 (1951); Calvert, `No Evidence' and `Insufficient Evidence' Points of Error'; 38 Texas L.Rev. 361 (1960); Garwood, The Question of Insufficient Evidence on Appeal; 30 Texas L. Rev. 803 (1952). Chastain has preserved his points asserting that the jury's findings here are against the weight and preponderance of the evidence by complying with Rule 324, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. As pointed out in the forepart of this opinion, Chastain contended in the Court of Civil Appeals that as a legal proposition, the jury's answers to Special Issues Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5 were immaterial in that it appeared as a matter of law that Champlin could not claim an estoppel because of its own conduct in the premises. 379 S.W. 2d 938, 1. c. 942. We disagree with that holding and have held that there was some evidence supporting the jury's findings to Special Issues Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5. The discussion in this opinion has reference to legal questions only as we have no fact jurisdiction and for that reason we have called attention to those portions of Champlin's letter of September 12, 1958 which constituted some evidence supporting the jury's findings upon which an estoppel is predicated, such as, notice that a question had arisen as to the allocation formula, the desirability of applying the same formula to all producers and the request for notification if further distributions in accordance with the plant formula would not be satisfactory. The overwhelming preponderance question is another matter. It relates to the power to grant a new trial, which power is essentially the same whether exercised by a Court of Civil Appeals or a trial court. It is a fact and not a law jurisdiction. Contrary to the historic practices of most Anglo-American jurisdictions, juries are used to determine equitable rights and claims in Texas. A jury verdict is not merely advisory although it is to be tested by both the no evidence and the overwhelming preponderance rules. This is made abundantly clear by this Court's decision in Sanders v. Harder, 148 Tex. 593, 227 S.W.2d 206 (1950). The Court of Civil Appeals did not discuss and obviously did not pass upon the question of whether the jury's answers were against the overwhelming preponderance of the evidence. The rule of Barker v. Coastal Builders, 153 Tex. 540, 271 S.W.2d 798 (1954), stated on rehearing, is not applicable to this case. It is necessary that the cause be remanded to the Court of Civil Appeals to pass upon the weight and preponderance questions.