Town of Bellevue v. Hunter
Town of Bellevue v. Hunter
Opinion of the Court
This action was brought in the district court of the county of Morrison to enjoin the obstruction of an alleged highway of the town. The case was tried by the court without a jury, and findings of fact and conclusions of law made, and judgment directed for the defendant. The plaintiff then made a motion for amended findings of fact and conclusions of law, so as to find, in effect, that the locus in quo was a public highway and to direct judgment for the plaintiff. The motion was denied, and judgment entered in favor of the defendant, from which the plaintiff appealed.
The findings of fact here relevant are substantially as follows: That in 1898 a highway was duly laid out and established by the town along .the section line between sections ten and fifteen in the town, extending from-the southwest corner of the southeast quarter of section ten east to the east line of the sections, where it connected with a! road running north and south along such east line; that such highway extends across a marsh for some thirty rods at or near its westl end, and through brush and timber for the remainder of its length; that after laying out the highway, and in 1898, the town opened the same by grading a roadway across the marsh and cutting the trees and brush out of the roadway from the marsh to the road running north and south; that the roadway so graded and cut out was along| what was then believed to be the line between sections ten and fifteen; that from 1898 to the present time the highway has been continuously traveled and kept in repair along the roadway so graded across the marsh; that from the marsh to the east line of the sections the roadway so cut out as aforesaid has at all times been traveled to| some extent, but no work has been done on that part of the road, except that five or six years ago brush along the same was again cutl out under authority from defendant, who was then road overseer;
■ Counsel for the plaintiff, however, urges that the cases cited are not in point, for the reason that a finding that there is no evidence to show a certain fact is a very different thing from saying that all the evidence, taken together, is insufficient to establish that fact. It would seem that the greater would include the less, and, if there was no evidence to show an alleged fact, it would follow that there was not sufficient evidence to establish (to show) the fact. It is also suggested that such a finding is not sufficient as. against a motion to make more definite. There is no assignment of error to the effect that the court erred in refusing to make the finding more definite. Nor was any motion to that effect made in the district court, except moving the court to find certain alleged evidentiary facts set out in the notice of motion. It is true that the court was asked, in case the proposed findings did not strictly conform to the facts, to make complete findings upon the question of dedication, and the acts done, performed, and bearing on the question, and full and complete findings on the
It follows that the contention of the plaintiff that all of the findings of fact, taken together, amount to a finding of the ultimate fact “that at the place in question there is a highway by virtue of statutory proceedings,” rests upon the assumption that the burden was on the defendant to show, that the line of roadway opened east of the marsh, by cutting out the brush, was not on the section line, where the road was laid. Obviously such burden was not on the defendant. The complaint alleged that the locus in quo was a public highway, and this-allegation was put in issue by the answer. This was the main issue, and the plaintiff was bound to establish the existence of a highway at the place where the obstructions were placed. A highway was laid upon the section line, and the officers of the town Lmeved that a roadway which they cut out was along the section line, where a highway had been laid; but neither their act nor their belief was proof that the point of the obstruction was where the highway was laid. Nor was the burden of establishing the negative of the issue thereby shifted to the defendant, for the presumption that he did not violate the law and obstruct a public highway is just as forcible as the presumption that the public officers did their duty, if any presumptions can arise in such a case. Therefore the findings of fact must be, and are, construed as a finding of the ultimate fact that the locus in quo was not a public highway. So construed, they sustain the conclusion of law.
This leaves for consideration only the question whether the evidence ■ was such that the plaintiff was entitled, as a matter of right, to have the findings of fact amended as requested — that is, so as to find that the locus in quo was a public highway — or at least to a new trial. We discover no evidence which would justify, much less require, a finding that the locus in quo is a highway by a common-law dedication. Whether it is such by either statutory proceedings or statutory user,, or dedication, as it is sometimes called, is a more serious question. Upon a consideration of the whole evidence, we have reached the conclusion that the findings of fact are sustained by the evidence. We so hold.
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- TOWN OF BELLEVUE v. JAY HUNTER and Another
- Status
- Published