Nash v. Rawlett
Nash v. Rawlett
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court:
The court did not err in permitting the plaintiff to produce in evidence the quitclaim deeds from Shea’s heirs at law to Green, and from Green to her.' They did not vest a title in the plaintiff to the lot, and so the court charged the jury; but they passed to her whatever possessory right Shea may have had as against a real1 trespasser. Chesapeake Beach R. Co. v.
2. There was no error committed in excluding the paper authorizing Young to move the house to lot 4 in square 611. He actually moved it on to lot 5, with the knowledge and acquiescence of Shea, who leased him square 611 and collected rent therefor as shown in his written receipts. Rowlett v. Nash, 38 App. D. C. 598, 605.
3. There was no error in excluding the official “permit” to defendant to erect a fence on lot 5, or the survey made by the district surveyor. Permits for the erection of structures on a lot in the city are required by the huilding regulations in the public interest. Neither they, nor a survey made at anyone’s request, can confer a right of possession or license a trespass.
4. The' judgment against Mayse, execution and sale thereunder, and the marshal’s deed conveying the interest of Mayse to defendant, were rightly excluded. No attempt was made to show that Mayse had title to, or any interest whatever in, the lot in controversy. If Shea had been in peaceable possession of the lot, in person or by tenant, the presumption of law is that his possession was lawful, and he -was entitled to recover possession from a mere trespasser without further proof of title. The rule is founded in the policy of protecting the public peace against violence and disorder. Bradshaw v. Ashley, 14 App. D. C. 485, 504; s. c. 180 U. S. 59, 45 L. ed. 423, 21 Sup. Ct. Rep. 297; Chesapeake Beach R. Co. v. Washington, P. & C. R. Co. 23 App. D. C. 587, 595; s. c. 199 U. S. 247, 50 L. ed. 175, 26 Sup. Ct. Rep. 25. If such a deed were admissible, “a party might'wrongfully intrude and enter upon the possession of another, as a pure intruder, and yet make a claim of title under a deed which manifestly conveyed none, and which the party could not in good faith have supposed conveyed title, and then call upon plaintiff for foil proof of title in fee. Such entry could not be excused by any subterfuge of that kind.” Bradshaw v. Ashley, 180 U. S. 59, 65, 45 L. ed. 423, 430, 21 Sup. Ct. Rep. 297. Clearly as to the part of the lot actually occupied by the tenant’s house, possession of which was acquired
5. The instruction given on behalf of plaintiff was in accord with the opinion of the court on the former appeal and the principles hereinbefore declared. The special instructions given on behalf of the defendant clearly stated the right of the defendant to recover possession of such part of the premises as he may not have acquired from the tenant, Young. The first refused instruction is disposed of by what has been said in discussing the rejection of the permit to Young to remove the house. The second refused instruction was embodied in the charge, which left it to the determination of the jury whether the tenant, Young, was in actual possession and making use of the whole of lot 5 at the time of the entry by defendant.
We perceive no error in the trial, and tbe judgment is affirmed, witb costs. Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- NASH v. RAWLETT
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Evidence; Ejectment; Trespassers; Evidence; Possessory Title; Marshal’s Deed. J.. A plaintiff in an action of ejectment against a trespasser may introduce in evidence quitclaim deeds to himself from the heirs of one who claimed a possessory right to the land, and from their grantee. 2. A paper executed by one, claiming to own a square of land, authorizing his lessee to move the latter’s house to a specified one of the lots of the square, is not admissible in evidence in ejectment, for the purpose of defeating the right of possession to an adjoining lot in the square, of one who claimed under the lessor, relying upon the lessee’s possession, -where the lessee placed the house, partially at least, on the adjoining lot, with the knowledge and consent of the lessor, who collected the rent for the square, giving therefor receipts reciting that the rent was for the occupation of the same. (Citing Rowlett v. Nash, 38 App. D. C. 598.) 3. An official permit to fence a lot, and an official survey thereof, are inadmissible in evidence to aid the defendant in an action in ejectment instituted to recover possession of the lot, since neither can confer a right of possession or license a trespass. 4. A marshal’s deed of land sold under execution against a third person is not admissible in evidence for the purpose of defeating the possessory title of a plaintiff in ejectment, where it is not shown that the execution defendant had any title or interest in the land. 5¡ A person in peaceable possession of land, eithre in person or by tenant, is presumed to be lawfully in possession, and will be permitted to recover possession from a mere trespasser without further proof of title, in comformity to the policy of protecting the public peace against violence and disorder. (Citing Bradshaw v. Ashley. 14 App. D. C. 485, affirmed in 180 U. S. 59, 45 L. ed. 423, 21 Sup. Ct. Iicp. 297, and Chesapeake Beach R. Co. v. Washington, P. c£ C. R. Go. 23 App. D. C. 587.) 6. A person who, originally a trespasser, obtains possession from a lessee whoso lessor has a possessory title cannot defeat such title by acquiring the rights of a stranger who has no connection with the title. (Citing Rowlett v. Rash, supra.) 7. A lessor’s claim in ejectment of possessory title by virtue of his tenant’s occupancy extends to only so much as was actually in the tenant’s possession. 8. A trespasser’s purchase of a house from the owner, who is lessee of the lot upon which it stands, with knowledge that the lessor claims a possessory title to the land, and for the purpose of procuring the surrender of the tenant’s possession, does not effect the lessor’s title. 9. A person claiming a possessory interest in a lot, partly by virtue of his own asserted possession and partly through another’s surrender of so much as was in his possession as lessee from one who claimed a prior possessory title, is entitled, as against a successor to the lessor’s title, to that portion, and only that portion, whose possession was not obtained by him from the lessee.