Court Opinion

ID: 9767369
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 05:17:49.678456+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:30.813743
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Sharp,
dissenting.
This is a personal injury suit, filed in Wilson County. The venue thereof was based upon Section 9 of Article 1995, Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statutes. The relators’ petition filed in the trial *137court alleged certain violations of the provisions of Section 9a of article 827a, Vernon’s Annotated Penal Code of Texas, and Section 121 of Article 6701d, Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statutes of Texas. Each of said acts was alleged to have constituted an “act of negligence” and to be a “proximate cause” of relators’ injuries. The defendants in the trial court, who are respondents here, filed a plea of privilege, and the trial court heard the evidence and sustained the plea, and ordered the suit transferred to Tarrant County. The trial court filed findings of fact and conclusions of law, and held “that the sole proximate cause of the collision in question was the failure of the driver of said pickup to see and avoid striking said trailer.”
The Court of Civil Appeals sustained the judgment of the trial court. At the time this suit was filed and the plea of privilege was sustained, the precise question presented here, that proximate cause in connection with the suit could not be considered in passing upon the venue question, had not been passed upon by this Court. That the trial court and the Court of Civil Appeals were amply justified in assuming that the question of proximate cause could be considered in connection with the venue question is shown by many decisions. See Thomas v. Meyer, 168 S. W. 2d 681; Bates v. Stinnett, 170 S. W. 2d 644; Braslau v. Moon, 192 S. W. 2d 780; Grimes v. McCrary, 211 S. W. 2d 1005; Gunstream v. Oil Well Remedial Service, 233 S. W. 2d 897; Wash v. Buster, 226 S. W. 2d 241; Yearwood v. Nichols, 230 S. W. 2d 313; Simmons v. Germany, 231 S. W. 2d 774.
The majority opinion is based upon Hurley v. Reynolds, 157 S. W. 2d 1018, Tex. Civ. App., and cities Compton v. Elliott, 126 Texas 232, 88 S. W. 2d 91, to sustain the decision in this case. Section 9 of Article 1995 was construed in Hurley v. Reynolds, and in that case it was held that in order to fix venue in the county where the alleged crime or offense was committed, it was essential to prove “that the crime, offense or trespass, if any, upon which the suit is based was, in fact, committed.” Many cases have been decided since the decision in Hurley v. Reynolds. That opinion, until now, was never cited with approval by this Court. As showing the construction given Section 9 of Article 1995 by many of the courts, we quote from Thomas v. Meyer, 168 S. W. 2d 681, 686, the following; “The character of the suit and the applicability of the exception being thus established, the burden then devolves upon the plaintiff to plead (in the controverting affidavit) and prove (by a preponderance of the evidence) that (1) a crime or offense was in fact committed, (2) *138by the defendant (the party asserting his privilege) as a principal, accomplice or accessory, as defined by the Penal Code, (3) in the county wherein venue is sought to be maintained, and (4) that there is a casual connection between the act or omission constituting the crime and the plaintiff’s injuries (as in the case of a trespass. Heard & Heard v. Kuhnert, Tex. Civ. App., 155 S. W. 2d 817, 819).”
It is undisputed that the question of proximate cause was not involved nor passed upon in Compton v. Elliott. Independent of the issue of proximate cause, it is necessary that a crime or offense must be alleged and proved in order to fix venue in the county where such crime or offense was committed. This record fails to show that a crime or offense, as required by Section 9 of Article 1995, was committed in Wilson County. This Court is called upon by mandamus proceedings to compel the Court of Civil Appeals to certify something merely assumed by that court for the purpose of reaching a decision, that relators proved the commission of two crimes in Wilson County. It is quite manifest from the record that the trial court and the Court of Civil Appeals did not find that an offense or crime had been committed independent of the issue of proximate cause. Based upon such assumption the majority opinion answers the question, and directs the Court of Civil Appeals to conform its ruling and decision with the majority opinion. It will be noted that relators alleged that two different crimes were committed in Wilson County by violating the provisions of Section 9a of Article 827a of Vernon's Annotated Penal Code of Texas, and Section 121 of Article 6701d of Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statutes of Texas. Respondents in the Court of Civil Appeals contended that the trial court sustained the plea of privilege because relators wholly failed to prove that any crime was committed upon which relators could base an action for civil liability. Respondents also contended that to hold that there was a violation of Section 9a of Article 827a, which defines a crime, it would have been necessary to hold that Section 138 of Article 6701d was unconstitutional, and that Section 9a of Article 827a was not repealed by the passage of the Uniform Traffic Code.
This record is not, accompanied by the pleadings of the parties and the evidence introduced, and only excerpts from the findings of fact and conclusions of law filed by the trial court are presented. The Court of Civil Appeals did not make a fact finding that there were violations of the Penal Code which constituted crimes within the meaning of Section 9 of Article 1995. That *139court took the position that the finding of the trial court, which was not challenged, and which was amply supported by the evidence, to the effect that the acts of Mabra did not constitute a proximate cause of the accident, was correct; and that the sole proximate cause of the accident was the failure of the driver of the pickup truck to see the large truck and avoid hitting same, and that the causal connection between the alleged crime and relators’ injuries was a necessary fact to be proved by the plaintiff.
This Court should not by mandamus proceedings be compelled to answer a question that has not been positively established in the trial court and the Court of Civil Appeals. Since the trial court and the Court of Civil Appeals believed that the issue of proximate cause must be considered in connection with the offense or crime, if this Court holds that proximate cause should not be so considered, then the question should be remanded to the Court of Civil Appeals, for that court to determine from the evidence and the record whether the respondents had committed a crime or offense in Wilson County, before fixing the venue in that county. The record comes to this Court incomplete. Before parties can resort to mandamus proceedings, they must have a positive and clear-cut issue to present to this Court for decision. This is not furnished by the record, and I disagree with the majority’s decision which compels the Court of Civil Appeals to conform its ruling and decision to the majority’s answer to a question the basis for which has not yet been established in the trial court and the Court of Civil Appeals. In my opinion, by answering this question under mandamus proceedings at this time, there will be established an unusual and erroneous precedent for this Court to follow in the future.
Opinion delivered February 27, 1952.
Rehearing overruled March 26, 1952.