P. Stephen Fuqua v. Warren W. Taylor

This is an appeal from the trial courts imposition of a constructive trust on income received by appellant from an overriding royalty interest (the "Sharpe lease") obtained by him. The first issue presented is whether, where the underlying facts are undisputed, determination of the existence, and breach, of a fiduciary duty are question of law exclusively within the province of the court. We hold that they are. A second question is whether the trial court rendered judgment in the correct amount. We hold that it did not and modify the judgment as indicated infra. A third question is whether the trial court properly awarded judgment to persons who were not parties to the suit. We hold that it was error for the court to award judgment to such persons and, therefore, we modify the judgment to include only those persons who were parties to the suit. Further, we remand this cause for proceedings to determine the proper amount of recovery to be awarded each appellee. We address several additional contentions of appellant in a separate, unpublished opinion accompanying this opinion. The judgment of the trial court is otherwise affirmed, as modified.