Big Sandy Ry. Co. v. Dils

87 S.W. 310, 120 Ky. 563, 1905 Ky. LEXIS 135
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedMay 23, 1905
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 87 S.W. 310 (Big Sandy Ry. Co. v. Dils) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Big Sandy Ry. Co. v. Dils, 87 S.W. 310, 120 Ky. 563, 1905 Ky. LEXIS 135 (Ky. Ct. App. 1905).

Opinion

Opinion by

Chief Justice Hobson

Reversing.

[566]*566On March 23, 1903, the Big- Sandy Railway Company filed in the' Tike County Court its petition to condemn as part of its right of way a strip of land, belonging to John A. Dils’ heirs, 100 feet wide and 1,181 feet long, containing 2 71-100 acres. Commissioners were appointed, who valued the strip at $1,000, and fixed the damages to the remainder of the tract at $400.00. The defendants filed exceptions to the commissioners ’ report, and, the case being heard by a jury, a verdict was rendered fixing the value of the strip taken and the damages to the residue of the tract at $3,500. The defendants were not satisfied with the verdict of the jury, and took an appeal to the Tike Circuit Court. In the circuit court the case was tried anew, and a verdict and judgment were obtained, fixing the damages at $8,800, and from this judgment the railroad company appeals.

When the case reached the circuit court the railroad company entered a motion to dismiss it. The court overruled the motion, and the correctness of this ruling is the first question arising on the appeal. The judgment in the county court was rendered on' April 23, 1903. On May 14th the defendants filed with the clerk of the circuit court an attested copy of the judgment, and executed before him an appeal bond. He thereupon issued a supersedeas and a summons. Some days after this the county clerk made a copy of the other orders entered in the county court, and pinned them to the copy of the judgment which had been filed in the circuit court; but no statement of the partios to the appeal was filed until the motion to dismiss the appeal was entered by the railroad company at a subsequent term of the circuit court. A statement of the parties to the appeal was then tendered, and the court allowed it to be filed.

Sec. 839, Ky. Stats., 1903, provides; “Either party [567]*567may appeal to the circuit court, by executing bond as required in other cases, within thirty days, and the appeal shall be tried de novo.”

Sec. 840 further provides: “The appeal from the county court shall be taken by filing with the clerk of the court to which the appeal lies a statement of the parties to the appeal, and a transcript of the orders of the county court, and thereupon the said clerk shall certify to the clerk of the county court that said appeal has been filed, and the clerk of the county court shall immediately transfer the original papers to the clerk of the court to which the appeal is pending. ’ ’

It%will be observed that by sec. 889 either party may appeal by executing the bond within 30 days, and that by sec. 840 the appeal shall be taken by filing with the clerk of the court to which the appeal lies a statement of the parties to the appeal and a transcript of the orders of the county court. The two sections are to be read together. It is incumbent upon the appellant to file the transcript of the orders of the county court, a statement of the parties to the appeal, and execute the bond within 30 days after the judgment in the county court. In the case before us the bond w'as executed in time, and a partial transcript of the orders of the county court was filed, which showed the parties to the appeal sufficiently to enable the clerk to issue a summons and a supersedeas, which were issued in time. In other words, a good appeal bond was executed, and an imperfect transcript was filed, which contained an imperfect statement of the parties to the appeal. After the 30 days had expired, the court, instead of dismissing the appeal, allowed the appellant to file a full statement of the parties to the appeal and a full transcript of the orders of the county court.

Sec. 134 of the Civil Code of Practice is as follows: “The court may, at any time, in furtherance of jus[568]*568tice, and on such terms as may be proper, canse or permit a pleading or proceeding to.be amended, by adding, or striking ont tbe name of a party; or by correcting a mistake in the name of a party, or a mistake in any other respect; or by inserting other allegations material to the case; or, if the amendment do not change substantially the claim or defense, by conforming the pleading or proceeding to the facts proved.”

The purpose of this section of th'e Code is to permit amendments in just such cases as this, where by some irregularity the proceeding does not conform to the requirements of the law. In Bush v. Lisle, 86 Ky., 504, 9 Ky. Law Rep., 667, 6 S. W., 330, an imperfect transcript was filed in this court, and, after the time had expired for filing the transcript, it was insisted that the appeal should be dismissed, but the court held otherwise and allowed the imperfect transcript to be perfected.

In Puff v. Huchter, 78 Ky., 146, ihe plaintiff failed to file a petition in the magistrate’s court, but after appeal to the circuit court he w'as allowed to file an amended petition setting up his cause of action. In the same way it has been held that a defective bastardy warrant, or a defective warrant for forcible entry or detainer, or defective warrant for a misdemeanor, may be amended on appeal. (Commonwealth v. Cantrell, 45 S. W., 72, 20 Ky. Law Rep., 24; Louisville v Wehmhoff, 116 Ky., 812, 76 S. W., 876; 25 Ky. Law Rep., 995; Forsythe v. Huey, 74 S. W., 1088, 25 Ky. Law Rep., 147.)

In Galloway v. Bradburn, 119 Ky., 49, 82 S. W., 1013, 26 Ky. Law Rep., 977, it was held that where a defective appeal bond is executed in due time in a contested election case a good and sufficent bond may be given under this provision of the Code after the time [569]*569for the execution of the bond has expired. In that case the court, among other things, said,- referring to the provision of the Code above quoted: “As the Code regulates proceedings in all- actions, so this section allows an amendment of all proceedings in the process of an action. It was intended by it to provide in general for the amendment of anything that was found to be defective in the progress of an action, the purpose being to perfect rather than to destroy. It is not limited to mistakes in pleadings, but it is intended to cover any kind of a mistake and to allow an amendment. At common law, and before the passage of the modem statutes, very many mistakes or clerical errors were cause for the dismissal of an action or the defeating of justice.”

Under the rule laid down in the cases cited the circuit court properly allowed the appeal to be perfected, the purpose of the provision of the Code being to prevent just such slips as this defeating the administration of justice.

On the trial in the circuit court the evidence for the property owners tended to show that the strip of land taken lay alongside of the county road just outside of the town boundary of Pikeville,the road being a continuation of College street; that the strip was valuable for town lots, and could be cut up into something like 24 lots of 50 by 100 feet, and that other lots near this property, and between it and town, had sold for $400 and $500. The witnesses for the property owners valued the strip taken at from $8,000 to $15,000; they fixed the damages to the remainder of the tract at from $1,000 to $5,000. On the other hand, the witnesses for the railroad company fixed the value of the strip taken at $1,000 to $2,000, and the damages to the remainder of the tract at from $400 to $500. The court instructed the jury as follows, “Th'e jury will find for [570]

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Commonwealth, Department of Highways v. Kelley
376 S.W.2d 539 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1964)
Commonwealth, Department of Highways v. Evans
361 S.W.2d 766 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1962)
Smick v. Commonwealth
268 S.W.2d 424 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1954)
Louisville N. R. Co. v. Caudill
194 S.W.2d 508 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1946)
Crittenden County v. Lowery
95 S.W.2d 233 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1936)
City of Ashland v. Queen
71 S.W.2d 650 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1934)
Louisville Nashville Railroad Co. v. Hargis
20 S.W.2d 991 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1929)
Commonwealth Ex Rel. State Highway Commission v. Anderson
14 S.W.2d 392 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1929)
Saulsberry v. Kentucky & West Virginia Power Co.
10 S.W.2d 451 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1928)
Drennon v. Mitchell
7 S.W.2d 498 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1928)
Himlar Coal Company v. Kirk
6 S.W.2d 480 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1928)
Bell's Committee v. Board of Education
234 S.W. 311 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1921)
Sandy Valley & Elkhorn Railway Co. v. Hughes
205 S.W. 607 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1918)
Music v. Big Sandy & Kentucky River Railroad
174 S.W. 44 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1915)
Lexington & Eastern Railway Co. v. Napier's Heirs
169 S.W. 1017 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1914)
Hensley v. Wasiota & Black Mountain Railroad
154 S.W. 385 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1913)
Cincinnati Gas Transportation Co. v. Cartee
147 S.W. 925 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1912)
Louisville & Nashville R. R. v. Hall
136 S.W. 905 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1911)
Broadway Coal Mining Co. v. Smith
125 S.W. 157 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1910)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
87 S.W. 310, 120 Ky. 563, 1905 Ky. LEXIS 135, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/big-sandy-ry-co-v-dils-kyctapp-1905.