Miller & Lux v. Kern County Land Co.
Miller & Lux v. Kern County Land Co.
Opinion of the Court
It appears from the complaint herein that both the parties to the suit are corporations having their principal places of business in the city and county of San Francisco. The action was brought in said city and county to recover $25,000 on account of injuries to real estate situated in the county of Kern. It is alleged in the complaint that the plaintiff owns certain lands and an interest in the Buena Vista reservoir, which lands and reservoir are situated in said county of Kern; also that said plaintiff owns an interest in a certain' ditch leading out of said reservoir and across said lands; and that defendant, with force and arms, and unlawfully and against the will of plaintiff, placed and maintained a dam in said ditch, thereby preventing the use thereof for
The very question here involved has been determined in Drinkhouse v. Spring Valley Waterworks, 80 Cal. 308, 22 Pac. 252. As shown by the complaint in that action, the defendant had its principal place of business in the city and county of San Francisco, where the action was begun for injury to real estate situated in San Mateo county. The defendant moved to change the venue to San Mateo county, the motion was granted, and this court affirmed the order. It is true that no provision of the constitution is referred to in the opinion or cited in the briefs; but section 392 of the Code of Civil Procedure is referred to, and it is directly held that under that section the proper place for the trial of an action for injury to real property is in the county where such real property is situated. We should not presume that the court and counsel overlooked a provision of the constitution, but rather that they had it in mind, and saw no inconsistency between it and the code provision: Fresno Nat. Bank v. Superior Court of San Joaquin Co., supra. For the foregoing reasons, we advise that the order be reversed.
We concur: Cooper, C.; Haynes, C.
For the reasons given in the foregoing opinion the order is reversed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- MILLER & LUX v. KERN COUNTY LAND COMPANY
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Venue—Cliange—Corporations—Injuries to Kealty.—Uocie of Civil Procedure, section 392, provided i-iac actions for injuries to -eal property must be tried in the county in which the subject „of the action is situated. Constitution, article 12, section 16, provides that a corporation may be sued in the county where the liability arises or the breach occurs, or in the county where it has its principal place of business. Action was brought against a corporation for injuries to real estate in the county where it had its principal place of business, which was other than that in which the land was situated. Held, that the provision of the constitution did not affect the code provision, and hence refusal to grant defendant’s motion for a change of venue to the latter county was error.