Hopkins v. Duggar
Hopkins v. Duggar
Opinion of the Court
Appellee sued in statutory ejectment stating his case in three counts. There was a disclaimer as to the lands described in the second count of the complaint upon which plaintiff thereupon had judgment, without costs or damages. As to the regularity of that judgment no question is made. Count 1 described the land sued for as:
“A strip off the west side of the east % of the west %, being 40 feet wide at the north end, and 30 feet wide on the south end of section 24, in township IS, range 3 east, in Marengo county, Ala.”
In count 3 the land was described as;
“A strip or parcel on the west side of the E. y2 of W. i/2 of Sec. 24, T. 18, R. 3 east, bounded as follows: On the N. by the north line of said section; on the east by a turn row and ditch; on the south by the south line of said section, and on the west by the line dividing the E. y2 of W. y2 and W. y2 of W. % of section 24, T. 18, R. 3 E., in Marengo county, Ala.”
To these counts the plea was “not guilty.” The verdict, which, as to form, followed the court’s oral charge, was in these words:
“We, the jury, find for the plaintiff assessing the damages at one hundred and twenty-five dollars.”
Upon this verdict the court rendered judgment for plaintiff, appellee, for land described as follows:
“A strip or parcel on the west side of the east half of west half of section 24, township 18, range 3 east, bounded as follows: On the north by the north line of the said section, on *628 the east by a turn row and ditch; on the south by the south line' of said section, on the west by the dividing line dividing the east half of west half and the west half of west half of section »24, township 18, range 3 east, in Marengo county, Ala.,”
—and for the damages assessed by the jury, it thus appearing that the court referred the verdict to the third count of the complaint.
It will be noted that the western boundary of the east y2 of the west y2 of section 24 is the common western boundary .of the two tracts described in counts 1 and 3; and so the north and the south lines of the half section are common to the two tracts. The difference is that the tract described in count 1 is bounded on the east by a line at its north end 40. feet,, and at its south end 30 feet, from the western boundary line of the half section, while the tract described in count 3 is bounded on the east by a ditch and a turn row. The record does not inform us whether the two descriptions are coterminous on the east. . .
defendant and his predecessors, had by their tenant cultivated the land up to the'turn row and ditch during all that time, no question was raised as to the line, until defendant, within the last 10 years, purchased land described as the east y2 of the west y2 of section 24, and thereupon went into possession of the land in suit. The evidence contained nothing to indicate that the possession of plaintiff, or his predecessors, originated in an admitted possibility of mistake, no intimation of a reason for doubting that plaintiff and his predecessors believed the line of the turn row and ditch was the true line, and upon these facts plaintiff acquired title up to that line, even though the belief as to its correct location originated in a mistake in fact, and, in these circumstances, the title so acquired was not affected by any inquiry as to what plaintiff or his predecessors might or might not have claimed had they known they were or might be mistaken. Smith v. Bachus, 201 Ala. 534, 78 South. 888; Hoffman v. White, 90 Ala. 354, 7 South. 816; Alexander v. Wheeler, supra. Nor in these circumstances did the act of February 11, 1893 (section 1541 of the Code of 1896), apply to plaintiff, or the claim of title by adverse possession on which he relied; nor does that act, as amended by section 2830 of the Code of 1907, apply to cases involving questions as to boundaries between coterminous owners, as does this case. Smith v. Bachus, supra.
Appellant refers also to the decision in Kirkland v. Pilcher, 174 Ala. 170, 57 South. 46. That was an action in detinue. The issue was whether plaintiff had a general or special property in the chattel sued for and had a right to the immediate possession thereof. The verdict and judgment were for .a sum certain, assessed as damages, without a finding or judgment against either party for the property sued for or its alternative value. There was thus an utter failure to respond to the issue tried, and this court held the verdict and judgment to be invalid. Here, manifestly, the case and the question are different, as we have already indicated, and the opinion of the court is that no harmful error has been shown and that the judgment should be affirmed.
Affirmed.
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