Wood v. Pacolet Mfg. Co.
Wood v. Pacolet Mfg. Co.
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
The plaintiff owns lands on the Pacolet River, adjoining the lands of the defendant, on which its large cotton mills stand. The action was brought for damages, both actual and exemplary, alleged to have been inflicted by the trespass of the defendant in wilfully, oppressively and wantonly blasting out and removing rock from the plaintiff’s land, and to enjoin the defendant from further threatened trespass'. A temporary injunction was granted pending the trial of the cause. On the trial of the issue of trespass and damages flowing therefrom, the plaintiff secured a judgment for one thousand dollars. The Circuit Judge, in refusing the motion for a new trial, made the injunction permanent.
We consider first the exceptions relating to' the jury trial on the law side of the Court.
We consider next the grounds of the motion for a new trial. There was not an entire absence of evidence tending to show the defendant had blasted rock in or near Pacolet *50 River, on the plaintiff’s side of the thread or channel of Kirby Spring Branch, as it was in 1893, and it was not error of law to refuse to sustain this ground of the motion.
We are unable to find any evidence whatever of a trespass committed with a high hand, or wilfully or oppressively. The whole evidence shows,-beyond the least doubt, that the plaintiff entered on the land and blasted rock under a bona üde claim of title, without breaking the plaintiff’s close and w-ithout insult or outrage of any nature whatever. Indeed, the main issue was whether the defendant had made any entry at all on land -owned by plaintiff, or in her possession, or had only put to use by blasting, land owned and held by it long before any dispute -arose. But we do not think there was error in not granting a new trial on this ground, because there was evidence of actual damages which, if credited by the jury, was sufficient to warrant the verdict for one thousand dollars. The Court should not infer that punitive damages entered into the verdict, for fio do- so- would be to assume the jury -acted on caprice and embraced in the verdict punitive damages without regard to the fact that there was no evidence to warrant such damages. On the contrary, the jury should be given the credit of acting reasonably, and finding a verdict for -actual damages on the -evidence which tended to prove -such damages to at least the amount of the verdict. There was evidence to support the verdict for one thousand dollars, and we can not hold, as -a matter of law, the Circuit Judge erred in refusing a new trial. Sutton v. Power Co., 76 S. C., 320; Ruddell v. Ry. Co., 75 S. C., 290, 55 S. E., 528. The rule thus stated in Barfield v. Coker, 73 S. C., 181, 192, 53 S. E., 170, does not affect this conclu *51 sion: “Under this view there was error of law in not setting aside the verdict as to the second cause of action, and there must be a new trial as to that cause of action. But since the verdict is a general one, and it can not be said to which cause of action it relates, and there is no means of apportioning the verdict as between said causes of action, a new trial must -be granted on the whole case, under the authority of Lampley v. Atlantic Coast Line Co., 63 S. C., 462, 41 S. E., 517, and Jones v. Railroad, 70 S. C., 217, 49 S. E., 477.” Here assuming the complaint states two causes of action, it can be said with certainty the verdict should be considered to embrace compensatory damages only, because there was evidence of such damages to the amount of the verdict, and no evidence whatever to' suggest even a basis for punitive damages. A very different question would be presented if the Circuit Judge had refused a nonsuit as- to> punitive damages, or refused to instruct the jury that there was no evidence to warrant such damages.
The exceptions relating to the trial of the legal issues are overruled.
The judgment of this Court i-s, that the cause be remanded to the Circuit Court for such further proceedings as may be necessary to fix the boundary line between the plaintiff and the defendant, and for such further proceedings as may be necessary in the premises.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Wood v. Manufacturing Co.
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- 5 cases
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- Syllabus
- X. Charge. — While it is better practice for the judge not to state to the jury what effect their verdict would have on the equity issues, under the evidence in this case it is not prejudicial error for the judge to say to the jury, a verdict for the plaintiff would continue the injunction and a verdict for the defendant would dissolve it. 2. Compensatory bamages for trespass does not depend on negligence. 3. New Trial.- — Verbict here on complaint for actual and punitive damages, there being no evidence of wilfulness, or high-handedness, sustained, as there was evidence of actual damages to the amount of the verdict.. Barfield v. Coker, 73 S. C., 192, distinguished from this. 4. Ibib. — Damages. — Under allegation of injury from blasting rock on plaintiff’s land, it is not ground for new trial that proof does not show the damage resulted from a special kind of trespass or a trespass at a particular place. 5. Injunction. — Order restraining’ defendant from blasting rock “below the center of the mouth of the branch referred to in the testimony as it originally ran,” reversed for indefiniteness, as the mouth of the branch as it originally ran was not located by the evidence, or the verdict of the jury, or the order.