Court Opinion

ID: 9680159
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 07:22:25.14077+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:26.331730
License: Public Domain

BREWSTER, Justice
(dissenting).
I disagree with the part of the opinion of the majority holding that plaintiff can recover interest in this case from the date of the jury verdict, to-wit, July 24, 1974.
This was a suit to recover damages for personal injuries sustained in an automobile wreck (it was a suit for damages on an unliquidated demand).
The authorization for the recovery of interest in such cases is Article 5069 — 1.05, V.A.C.S., which provides: “All judgments of the courts of this State shall bear interest at the rate of six percent per annum from and after the date of the judgment,
The plaintiff has never had a decision in this case rendered in his favor at any time prior to the time the opinion in this case is handed down by this Court. The date on which the opinion in this case is handed down is the date of plaintiff’s judgment in this case.
I am convinced that because of the terms of Article 5069 — 1.05 authorizing the recovery in such cases as this of interest only from date of judgment that a holding that plaintiff is entitled to interest from date of the verdict, instead of from the date that the opinion in this case is handed down (the date of judgment), is erroneous.
In reaching this conclusion I rely on the following decisions: Jacobe v. Goings, 3 S.W.2d 535 (Beaumont, Tex.Civ.App., 1928, writ dism.) and Armstrong Tire and Rubber Company v. Shearer, 290 S.W.2d 294 (San Antonio, Tex.Civ.App., 1956, ref., n. r. e.).
*749Here we have a statute specifically declaring that interest in cases such as this can be recovered only from date of judgment. The majority opinion is saying in effect that, regardless of that controlling statute, interest in cases such as this can be recovered from the date of verdict, instead of date of judgment. It is things such as this that makes the law so confusing to so many of us.
I agree with the majority opinion, except on this interest point. I would allow interest to be recovered only from date the opinion in this case is handed down by this Court.