Sullivan v. Beardsley
Sullivan v. Beardsley
Opinion of the Court
On the first day of November, 1874, the defendant leased the premises described in the complaint, with the appurtenances, to the plaintiff for the term of three years. At the time of the execution of the lease there was a stream of water running through the demised premises, and there was an action then pending which the San José Water Company had commenced for the condemnation of said water right. On the day following the execution of the lease, the defendant in that action, and in this, consented to the entry of a decree, in the action for condemnation, in favor of the water company, under which" it appropriated the water of said stream to its own use. The plaintiff alleges that he was damaged thereby, and introduced evidence tending to prove that allegation. The issues were submitted to a jury, which returned a verdict in his favor. A new trial was moved for by the defendant upon a statement, and the Court granted the motion, on the ground “ that the special circumstances under which the water was diverted from the leased premises did not constitute an eviction of the plaintiff by the defendant.” The instructions given to the jury make it quite apparent that the Court, during the trial, thought otherwise. Among the instructions is the following: “ When the eviction is partial, as it was in this case, and the lessee remains in the occupation of a portion of the demised premises, the measure of damages is the value of the premises as they would have been without the partial eviction, and then the value of them as evicted deducted.” The Court in this instruction seems to have passed upon the principal issue in the case, and in so doing undoubtedly erred. But to our comprehension there is a graver difficulty to be overcome before a recovery could be upheld upon the facts of this case. The defendant does not appear to have participated in any act or proceeding for the diversion complained of, beyond
Order affirmed.
Mobeisoe, C. J., concurred.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- SULLIVAN v. BEARDSLEY
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Eviction—Definition—Pendency of Action—Judgment.—The defendant leased land to the plaintiff upon which there was a stream of water; and the next day, in an action commenced prior to the lease by the San José Water Company—in which, however, no notice of lis pendens had beenfiled—consented to a decree for the condemnation of the water, and tlio water company afterward appropriated the water of the stream. In an action for damages for the loss of the water, held, that, as the defendant’s lease antedates the decree, and he had no notice, actual or constructive, of the pend-ency of the action, he was not affected by it; and that, as the defendant had not participated in the diversion of the water, or done anything beyond consenting to the entry of a decree against himself, which could not in any way affect the rights of the plaintiff, there was no eviction. Id.—Id.—Id.—To constitute a partial eviction, in such a case as the one stated, it would be necessary for the plaintiff to show that the water company had established a right to divert the water by a title prior to that of the plaintiff, or that the defendant had at least had some agency in diverting it. ^