Court Opinion

ID: 9828094
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 18:05:59.618365+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:42:43.523120
License: Public Domain

On Motion for Rehearing.
Counsel for appellee have filed an ingenious motion for rehearing, insisting that we erréd in dismissing this appeal, contending that the judgment was final. We have reviewed all of the cases cited in support of their contention, and have arrived at the conclusion that they can be differentiated from the instant case. They seem to announce the rule that where a plaintiff institutes a suit for two or more different demands or causes of action which are submitted by the court in the charge to the jury, and a verdict is returned in his favor on one of them, this, by implication, is a finding against the other causes of action, and hence the verdict is final; but this is not the case here. Appellant sued to recover different amounts of rents for the years 1911 and 1912, and also sought to recover for the value of a span of mules, alleged to have been furnished by him to defendant for the purpose of making a crop for the last-named year, and sought a foreclosure of his landlord’s lien for such rents and advances. There was no issue as to the rent for 1911, and the court directed a verdict in favor of the plaintiff thereon, so that this item was not in issue; but the pleadings and evidence raised an issue as to all. the others, and they were specifically embraced in the charge of the court, which was submitted for the determination of the jury, But the jury did not *397find as to either or any of said last-named items, hence there is no analogy in this respect to the cases cited by appellee. If there had been a finding in favor of the plaintiff on the rents for 1912, and no mention made in the verdict as to the other items, then the cases cited would be analogous, and it might be inferred that by such specific finding they found against* him as to the other items; but there is absolutely no finding as to any of these items in issue, hence no inference can be indulged one way or the other; and, in our judgment, this was equivalent to no finding whatever upon any question in issue before the jury, for which reason we feel justified in holding that the verdict was not responsive to the issues raised by the pleadings and evidence and embraced in the charge, and therefore adhere to our original view upon this question.
It seems that we were mistaken in stating that appellee’s demurrers and exceptions were not presented to or passed upon by the court. This was occasioned by our overlooking an amended transcript, which contains a recital to the effect that they were in fact presented to and overruled by the court. We reiterate our intimation as to the insufficiency of the petition, but have no authority to do anything more than to make the suggestion, since the appeal must be dismissed.
The motion for rehearing is overruled.