Mahon v. San Rafael Turnpike Rd. Co.

California Supreme Court
Mahon v. San Rafael Turnpike Rd. Co., 49 Cal. 269 (Cal. 1874)
McKinstry

Mahon v. San Rafael Turnpike Rd. Co.

Opinion of the Court

By the Court, McKinstry, J.:

The cases cited by appellant’s counsel do not sustain his first point, that “an action of ejectment will not lie to recover the possession of a turnpike road, when the defendants only use the same for collecting tolls from the traveling public.” Ejectment is maintainable only for corporeal hereditaments. (Tillinghast’s Adams, page 19.) But this action was not brought to recover the right of way, but the possession of the lands, the plaintiff having shown the fee in himself by virtue of the patents introduced in evidence. The exclusion of the plaintiff from entering on the land, except on the payment of a toll, and then only for the purpose of passing over the same, was a disseizin.

As the action was tried and findings filed prior to the date when the Code of Civil Procedure took effect, there is an implied finding that the defendant did not have adverse possession five years prior to the commencement of the suit. The statement on motion for new trial contains no specification that the evidence was insufficient to sustain this implied finding, and the point cannot be first made in this Court.

The District Court (by implication) found that the plaintiff had not dedicated the land in controversy as a public highway. We think the evidence sustains this finding.

Judgment and order affirmed, and cause remanded, with direction to the District Court to amend the complaint, or cause the same to be amended (as of a date anterior to the judgment), by substituting “The San Rafael Turnpike Road” for “ The San Rafael and San Quentin Turnpike Road,” as a party defendant.

Reference

Full Case Name
TIMOTHY MAHON v. THE SAN RAFAEL TURNPIKE ROAD COMPANY
Cited By
4 cases
Status
Published
Syllabus
Ejectment to Recover a Toll-Road.—Ejectment lies to recover the possession of land occupied as a toll-road when the action is brought to recover the land itself and not the right of way over it. Wheat Amounts to a Disseizin.—If the owner of land used and occupied by another as a toll-road is excluded from the same unless he pays toll and then is allowed to use it only for the purpose of passing over it, the exclusion is a disseizin. Implied Findings.—In an action tried before the codes went into effect, if the plaintiff recovered judgment and the defendant pleaded the Statute of Limitations, and there was no finding on that issue, a finding, is implied against the defendant, and if he moves for a new trial he must specify, in his statement, wherein he claims the evidence was insufficient to sustain this implied finding. Suing a Company by a Wrong Name.—If a company is sued by a wrong name, but answers by its true name, and judgment is rendered against it by its true name, the judgment is not void, and the Supreme Oourt, on appeal, in affirming the judgment, will direct the Court below to substitute the true name in the complaint.