Court Opinion

ID: 9683640
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 13:34:06.983141+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:49.359032
License: Public Domain

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING
Since date of our opinion and judgment on September 21, 1973 the attorney for plaintiff/appellant obtained an order from the trial court directing that the originals of the depositions referred to in our opinion be included in a Supplemental Transcript and forwarded.
Even before the Motion for Rehearing was filed the plaintiff/appellant delivered the same to the clerk of this appellate court along with a motion for leave to file the same as a part of the record.
Under old Rule 22, source of T.R.C.P. 413, “Preparation of Cause for Submission,” this court held that after submission and judgment rendered by an appellate court a motion to perfect the record by permitting additional material in supplement could not be granted; that the court was without authority to grant the motion. North Texas Building & Loan Ass’n v. Pyeatt, 87 S.W.2d 491, 494 (Fort Worth Civ.App., 1935, error refused).
In De Leon v. Texas Employers Ins. Ass’n, 159 S.W.2d 574 (San Antonio Civ. App., 1942, writ ref., w. o. m.) Justice Norvell had occasion to consider Rule 22, the effect thereon by the altered language of the present rule (T.R.C.P. 413), and other pertinent rules.
As we understand the opinion in De Leon its holding is that despite the liberalization accomplished by the Rules of Civil Procedure, and despite the deletion of some of the language of old Rule 22 in T. R.C.P. 413, there should not be an exercise of the discretion lodged in the appellate court to permit perfection of the record on appeal after it has written its opinion and rendered its judgment in an instance where the complaining party clearly had notice of the particular deficiency prior to such time.
In the instant case the very first counter-point in the brief of appellee was clearly based on the want in the appellate record of the depositions in question and appellee’s position was that since the judgment of the trial court recited that the depositions were considered in arriving at judgment this court was bound to presume that if they had been made a part of the record the judgment could only have found support thereby. Therefore the plaintiff/appellant was “on notice” of the fact that the record on appeal was imperfect and he had been so aware for the six month period between the time of the filing of the brief of appellee and the time the case was submitted in this court.
Under these circumstances, no sufficient reason having been shown which could justify our setting aside the judgment we have already rendered in the cause, it would appear that we would abuse our discretion by so doing (in other words the law compels our refusal so to do).
Reference is made to sections in Vols. 3 and 4, Tex.Jur.2d, “Appeal and Error— Civil”, Sec. 393, “(Scope of Review Limited by What is Shown) — -In general”, and Sec. 597, “When amendment may be made; Defects occurring at or after submission.”
The Motion for Leave to File Depositions as part of the record on appeal is denied and the Motion for Rehearing is overruled.