Clinchfield Coal Corp. v. Hayter

108 S.E. 854, 130 Va. 711, 1921 Va. LEXIS 186
CourtSupreme Court of Virginia
DecidedSeptember 22, 1921
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 108 S.E. 854 (Clinchfield Coal Corp. v. Hayter) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Clinchfield Coal Corp. v. Hayter, 108 S.E. 854, 130 Va. 711, 1921 Va. LEXIS 186 (Va. 1921).

Opinion

Burks, J.,

delivered the opinion of the court.

[1] The plaintiff (Hayter) claims that the defendant cut and removed from the former’s land eighteen trees and branded 135 trees, seriously injuring them. The defendant admitted branding the 135 trees on plaintiff’s land, but denied that any injury resulted from the branding, and also denied that any trees were cut on the plaintiff’s land. There was a sharp conflict between the evidence for the plaintiff and that for the defendant on the matters denied by the defendant. There was also a sharp conflict between the testimony for the two parties as to the value of the trees alleged to have been cut. The plaintiff and one or more of his witnesses testified that the trees cut were worth $10 apiece. The testimony for the defendant was that these trees were not worth more than from $1.20 to $1.50 apiece. The testimony for the plaintiff was to the effect that the trees had been seriously injured by the branding and that at least eight of [714]*714them had died prior to the institution of this action. The testimony for the defendant was to the effect that the branding did the trees no harm, and that they were worth just as much after the branding as before. The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff and assessed his damages at $400.00. There was a motion to set aside the verdict as contrary to the evidence which the trial court overruled, and entered up judgment for the plaintiff for the amount of the verdict. While the decided preponderance of the evidence appears from the record to be with the defendant as to the damages sustained by the plaintiff, it is plain from the above statement of facts that this court cannot interfere with the verdict and judgment of the trial court. It was the province of the jury to weigh the evidence on these subjects and under the circumstances it cannot be said that the verdict was without evidence to sustain it, or is so plainly contrary to the evidence that this court ought to interfere. W. S. Forbes & Co. v. Southern Cotton Oil Co., ' ante, p. 245, 108 S. E. 15.

[2] A motion was made to dismiss the writ of error on the ground that the petition did not show that the judgment complained of was a final judgment. The petition speaks of the judgment complained of as a certain judgment rendered by the Circuit Court of Russell county at its September term, 1919, for $400.00 in favor of C. M. Hayter against the petitioner. The ground of the motion appears to be that the petitioner speaks of the judgment as a certain judgment instead of a final judgment. Turning to the record we find that the only judgment entered by the court at that time in favor of the plaintiff against the defendant was in fact a final judgment. The motion to dismiss is wholly without merit.

[3] The first error assigned by the plaintiff in error is the action of the trial court in allowing the plaintiff to file a bill of particulars at the time at which it was filed. On [715]*715motion of the defendant the plaintiff was required to file a bill of particulars by an order made December 19, 1916. It was a proper case to have required a bill of particulars, and the order of the court was not complied with. At the September term, 1919, both parties announced themselves ready for trial and the trial was begun. Nothing was said at that time about the failure to file the bill of particulars, but after the plaintiff had gone on the stand and had testified at some length in his own behalf, he offered in evidence on his own behalf several letters written him by the local land agent of the defendant with reference to the controversy, in one of which it was admitted that the defendant had branded 135 white oak trees on the plaintiff’s land, but denied that the branding had done the timber any harm and also denied that any trees had been cut on the plaintiff’s land by the defendant. At this stage the defendant objected to any testimony “with reference to damage alleged to have been suffered by reason of the branding of said 135 trees because no bill of particulars had been filed, and that the defendant could not at that date prepare its defense to the issues raised by the bill of particulars if it were permitted to be filed.” No motion was made to postpone the hearing, or to continue the case. Looking at the case restrospectively, it seems plain that the defendant was not taken by surprise, and that he was full-handed with proof on the items of controversy set forth in the bill of particulars. It had its witnesses present to testify as to the boundaries of the land and a number of witnesses to testify as to the value of the trees cut and removed and the injury to the 135 trees that were branded, and there is no suggestion now that any injury resulted to the defendant from allowing the plaintiff to file the bill of particulars at the time at which it was filed. The sole ground of complaint is that the statute permitting the defendant to call for a bill of particulars was not complied [716]*716with. We are satisfied from the record that the defendant was not, and could not have been injured by permitting the bill of particulars to be filed at the time at which it was filed. It is said in the brief for the defendant in error that the bill of particulars had in fact been filed long, before and was found among the papers in the c^se, but there is no evidence of this fact in the record. The bill should have been filed in accordance with the order of the court, but when it was found that the orders did not show the filing it was necessary for the trial court to determine what should be done. Some discretion must be left to the trial courts in matters of this kind and where, as here, it can be seen from the record that no injury could have resulted to the defendant from the failure to file the bill of particulars earlier, this court will not set aside its ruling. We are not unmindful of former rulings of this court on the subject of bills of particulars, a number of which are referred to in Burks’ Pleading and Practice, sec. 318, and Colby v. Ream, 109 Va. 308, 63 S. E. 1009, referred to by the plaintiff in error, but the facts of this case are easily distinguishable from prior cases. Furthermore, we are satisfied that the plaintiff in error is not entitled to a reversal on this point in view of the provisions of section 6331 of the Code.

The second assignment of error is to the action of the trial court in admitting in evidence a certain plat and blue print and certain drawings over the objection of the defendant, and in overruling the defendant’s motion to strike the same from the evidence. Plaintiff and defendant claimed under a common grantor but the plaintiff held the older deed and hence the superior title to the land within his boundaries,' but there was a dispute between them, as to the true location of the beginning corner of the plaintiff’s title and the next succeeding corner, and the plaintiff also claimed that the defendant had ignored some of the calls [717]*717of his deed a,t another point, and had thereby cut off a triangle of his land upon which were fifteen of the trees which had been cut and removed by the defendant.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
108 S.E. 854, 130 Va. 711, 1921 Va. LEXIS 186, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clinchfield-coal-corp-v-hayter-va-1921.