Crawford v. Butler

924 So. 2d 569, 2005 WL 3163511
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedNovember 29, 2005
Docket2003-CA-02283-COA, 2003-CA-02285-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 924 So. 2d 569 (Crawford v. Butler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crawford v. Butler, 924 So. 2d 569, 2005 WL 3163511 (Mich. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

924 So.2d 569 (2005)

Karen Rushing CRAWFORD, Appellant
v.
Bruce E. BUTLER and Wife, Appellees.
Karen Rushing Crawford, Appellant
v.
Bruce E. Butler and Wife, Margaret O. Butler, Appellees.

Nos. 2003-CA-02283-COA, 2003-CA-02285-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

November 29, 2005.
Rehearing Denied March 21, 2006.

*571 Carol Ann Estes Bustin, Hattiesburg, attorney for appellant.

William H. Jones, Jackson, attorney for appellees.

*572 EN BANC.

LEE, P.J., for the Court.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 1. This appeal results from litigation between neighbors in Jones County. The suit was originally filed in 1999 as Bruce Butler and Margaret O. Butler (the Butlers) v. Karen Rushing Crawford and Steven Earl Crawford (Butler I). The Butlers alleged that the Crawfords were impeding the Butlers' access to their property which adjoined the Crawfords' land. The Butlers also sought permission to install a waterline beneath the Crawfords' driveway. A trial was held on February 17, 2000, and the chancellor took the matter under advisement. The chancellor never ruled on the matter; therefore, in 2002 the Butlers again filed suit (Butler II) with nearly identical allegations. The parties agreed to submit the case to the chancellor based upon the testimony transcripts from Butler I, in addition to filing exhibits and briefs.

¶ 2. During the course of the litigation, the Crawfords divorced. Karen Rushing Crawford now owns the property in question. Although Karen Rushing Crawford's brief refers to her as Dr. Rushing, for the sake of clarity this Court will refer to her as Crawford, the name utilized throughout the course of the litigation.

¶ 3. On September 5, 2003, the chancellor ruled that the Butlers had an easement by conveyance for ingress and egress across Dr. Crawford's property, that Dr. Crawford had no right to obstruct the easement with a locked gate or otherwise, and that the easement carried with it the right to construct and maintain utilities. It is from this judgment which Dr. Crawford now appeals, arguing seven points, which are reproduced below.

FACTS

¶ 4. In 1978, David Cox purchased property on R.V. Lindley Road in Jones County. Cox built a home on the Leaf River, constructing a private driveway spanning the 1.1 miles from the house to R.V. Lindley Road. He fenced the length of his property along the road and installed a gate at the intersection of the private drive and the road.

¶ 5. In 1991, the Crawfords purchased two tracts of land off R.V. Lindley Road from Cox. The first tract comprised 2.81 acres, and the second tract comprised 6 acres and the house. Testimony at trial established that sometime after this conveyance, Cox created an easement granting the Crawfords access to their house; however, the easement is not included in the record.

¶ 6. On September 8, 1994, Cox sold twenty-five acres south of the private drive to Sarah Blackwell. The private drive ran between the Blackwell property and land retained by Cox. Attached to Blackwell's deed was an exhibit reserving a sixty-foot easement; however, the exhibit is neither referenced in the deed, nor signed by either Cox or Blackwell. On September 12, 1994, Cox sold 133 acres to Chandler and Jennifer Sholar. The Sholars' tract ran parallel to R.V. Lindley Road, and their deed included all of the fencing along the road, the gate to the private drive, and the front part of the driveway. The Sholars' deed specifically excepted from purchase the sixty-foot easement delineated in the Cox-Blackwell deed.

¶ 7. In July of 1995, the Butlers purchased Blackwell's property, and the following next year the Crawfords purchased the Sholars' tract of land. In 1999, the Butlers informed the Crawfords that they wanted to run a waterline to their property, and would, therefore, need to run the line beneath the Crawfords' driveway. *573 The Crawfords refused to grant the Butlers permission, and the Butlers prepared to dig the water line, heightening the tensions between the families.

¶ 8. The rift between the Crawfords and the Butlers grew. Although the Crawfords kept the gate to the drive locked, the Butlers would cut the locks to access their property. With the gate unlocked, Dr. Crawford has been unable to keep live-stock, as the Sholars once did, and Dr. Crawford has had numerous trespassers. Furthermore, the Butlers brought heavy equipment across the driveway en route to their property, damaging the driveway. Dr. Crawford's other complaints will be discussed as appropriate throughout the opinion.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 9. This Court will not disturb findings of the chancellor unless the chancellor was manifestly wrong, clearly erroneous or applied an erroneous legal standard. Tinnin v. First United Bank of Miss., 570 So.2d 1193, 1194 (Miss.1990). Where there is substantial evidence to support the chancellor's findings, this Court is without the authority to disturb his conclusions, although this Court might have found otherwise as an original matter. In re Estate of Harris, 539 So.2d 1040, 1043 (Miss.1989).

DISCUSSION OF ISSUES

I. DID THE CHANCELLOR ERR IN FINDING THAT THE BUTLERS HAVE AN EASEMENT BY CONVEYANCE?

¶ 10. Dr. Crawford argues that she possesses the true deed by which Cox sold his land to Blackwell. The Cox-Blackwell deed was executed on September 8 and filed on September 12, 1994, and is comprised of four pages, the fourth of which is titled "Exhibit A." Exhibit A is labeled "Description of a 60 foot wide road easement" and contains the description of a 2.93 acre tract of land. The exhibit to the Cox-Blackwell deed reserves the right of egress and ingress. Crawford argues that because the Cox-Blackwell deed does not refer to Exhibit A, and because Exhibit A is not signed, dated or notarized, no right of egress and ingress was conveyed to Blackwell in the Cox-Blackwell transaction. Dr. Crawford argues that the instrument used to convey the easement is flawed; therefore, no right to ingress or egress was transferred from Cox to Blackwell and then Blackwell to the Butlers.

¶ 11. The Cox-Sholar deed, executed September 12, 1994, is subject to all easements of record. Crawford argues that because the Cox-Blackwell deed did not successfully reserve the easement, the Cox-Sholar deed was not subject to any easement.

¶ 12. Dr. Crawford further argues that the deed supplied by the Butlers and used by the Butlers in Butler I is a fake deed and does not exist anywhere in the courthouse land records. This deed was recorded on September 14, 1994.

¶ 13. The Butlers respond that Dr. Crawford's argument was not advanced at trial and "flies in the face of the Appellants own stipulation." Indeed, at trial, Dr. Crawford's attorney stipulated that the Cox-Blackwell deed with Exhibit A was recorded at the Jones County courthouse on pages 359 through 362; furthermore, Dr. Crawford's attorney stipulated that the easement was of record at the time Dr. Crawford purchased her land from the Sholars. These stipulations are binding on the parties and the court. Benton v. Harkins, 800 So.2d 1186, 1187(¶ 8) (Miss.Ct. App.2001). Dr. Crawford may not now circumvent her prior stipulations. Accordingly, we do not address Dr. Crawford's *574 assertion that the deed is fictitious, and we limit our review to whether the Cox-Blackwell deed successfully transferred a right of egress and ingress.

¶ 14. An easement may be conveyed by grant, prescription or implication. Logan v. McGee, 320 So.2d 792, 793 (Miss. 1975).

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Bluebook (online)
924 So. 2d 569, 2005 WL 3163511, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crawford-v-butler-missctapp-2005.