The Sessos had a strained relationship with their daughter, Toni Compton
Mary Sesso testified that she kept both of the keys to the safe deposit box in their original envelopes hidden in her jewelry box in her husband’s drawer
This appeal concerns whether Toni Diane Compton committed a breach of fiduciary duty and fraud against her mother, Mary Sesso, and whether Toni Compton’s husband, Johnny Compton, acted in a way that renders him liable for any or all of the alleged fraud. Mary Sesso sued the Comptons, and after a nonjury trial, the court determined that (1) Toni Compton committed fraud and constructive fraud against Mary Sesso and (2) Johnny Compton knew or should have known of the fraud and he accepted some of the benefits from it. Accordingly, the court awarded ages against Toni Compton and held Johnny Compton jointly and severally liable for $26, of that amount. The court also assessed $15,000 in exemplary damages against Toni https://hookupdate.net/cs/russianbrides-recenze/ Compton. On appeal, the Comptons challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support the judgment. By cross-appeal, Mary Sesso contends that the court erred by limiting Johnny Compton’s liability. She requests that we reform the judgment to hold him jointly and severally liable for the entire judgment. We will affirm the judgment.
Toni Compton’s parents, Mary and Tony Sesso, lived in a house they owned in Del Rio. Mary Sesso testified that she and her husband changed their will, directing that their estate be divided equally among their three children, but that Toni Compton’s share would pass to their grandson, Lynn Compton.
The Sessos had a fixed income of just over $1100 per month and intended to use the cash only for extraordinary or emergency expenditures
, Toni Compton persuaded her parents to sell the house and move to an apartment in San Angelo so that she could care for them. In early , the Sessos received a check for $76, from the sale of the house. Toni Compton drove her parents to Del Rio to complete the transfer of keys and to cash the check. The Sessos used $2, of the funds for a cashier’s check to pay a debt to a furniture store and took the remainder in cash in two bank pouches. A letter prepared in 2003 by the Del Rio bank recites that the Sessos received $73, – $53,500 in $100 bills, $20,000 in $50 bills, two $20 bills, one $5 bill, four $1 bills, and a quarter.
On , the Sessos and Toni Compton opened a safe deposit box at the San Angelo bank where Toni and Johnny Compton had their accounts. Mary Sesso testified that she and her husband let Toni Compton sign the box agreement because Toni Compton wanted access to the box in case of an emergency. Mary Sesso testified that they put all of the cash they received from the Del Rio bank into the safe deposit box. Mary Sesso testified that her husband wanted to keep the money at home.
Mary Sesso testified that they cashed the check and rented the safe deposit box on the same day. When the defense pointed out that the respective bank documents indicated the events occurred on consecutive days, Mary Sesso said she believed the dates shown on the documents were erroneous. She said that, in any event, if a night passed between cashing the check in Del Rio and placing the money in the rented box in San Angelo, Toni Compton had possession of the cash during that time.
She told Toni Compton where the keys were in case of emergency. Mary Sesso testified that Toni Compton delivered groceries to their apartment every Friday and went unsupervised into various areas of the apartment. Mary Sesso testified that she did not authorize anyone to open the safe deposit box and did not know that anyone had opened it. She testified that she knew that her husband did not authorize anyone to take funds from the box because he would have told her if he had.
