Hicks v. Butterworth

159 P. 224, 30 Cal. App. 562, 1916 Cal. App. LEXIS 131
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 25, 1916
DocketCiv. No. 1450.
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 159 P. 224 (Hicks v. Butterworth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hicks v. Butterworth, 159 P. 224, 30 Cal. App. 562, 1916 Cal. App. LEXIS 131 (Cal. Ct. App. 1916).

Opinion

SHAW, J.

Action to recover damages alleged to have been sustained by plaintiff on account of trespass committed by defendant’s livestock.

The case was tried before a jury which rendered a verdict in favor of plaintiff, upon which a judgment was entered against defendant, whose motion for a new trial was denied and from which order he appeals.

It appears that plaintiff was a tenant in possession, under a lease from, the owner, of the premises involved, upon which at the time of the trespass he had certain fields of alfalfa growing, and a lot of unbaled hay in the stack; that during the period extending from July 1 to November 1, 1910, defendant’s neat cattle entered upon said land, ate and destroyed the growing alfalfa and stacks of hay thereon.

Neither the complaint nor proof showed the premises to have been at the time inclosed by a substantial fence, and appellant, conceding the trespass and resultant damage as alleged, insists that plaintiff is not entitled to recover therefor. In 1878 the legislature passed an act entitled, “An act eon *564 cerning trespassing of animals upon private lands in certain counties in the State of California” (Stats. 1877-78, p. 176), which act and the provisions thereof were, by an amendment thereto approved March 30, 1878 (Stats. 1877-78, p. 878), made to include the county of Los Angeles. This act provides :

‘‘ Section 1. It is unlawful for any animal, the property of any person, to enter upon any land owned by or lawfully in the possession of any person other than the owner of such animal.

“Sec. 2. The owner of, or person who is in the lawful possession of, any land trespassed upon, in violation of this act, is entitled to recover, by action in a court of competent jurisdiction, from the owner of, or person in possession of, or person chargeable with the care of, the trespassing animal or animals, all damage sustained by reason of any such trespass, together with costs of suit.”

Under the act of 1878 just quoted, no doubt exists as to the plaintiff’s right to recover damages for the trespass, since under its provisions he was not required to inclose his land with a fence, substantial or otherwise. Appellant, however, insists that said provisions of the act of 1878 were repealed by an act of the legislature entitled, “An act concerning trespassing of animals upon private lands, and the recovery of damages resulting therefrom” (Stats. 1907, p. 999), sections 1, 2 and 6 of which are as follows:

‘ ‘ Section 1. It is unlawful for any person, firm or corporation owning, or having possession of, any animal, to suffer or permit such animal to break into and enter upon any land owned by, or lawfully in the possession of any person, firm or corporation, other than the owner of such animal in all cases where such land is planted to growing crops, vines, fruit trees, or vegetables, and is at the time entirely inclosed by a substantial fence or other inclosure.

“ See. 2. The owner of, or person who is in the lawful possession of, any land trespassed upon, in violation of this act, is entitled to recover, by action in a court of competent jurisdiction, from the owner of, or person in possession of, or person chargeable with the care of, the trespassing animal or animals, all actual damages sustained by reason of such trespass, together with costs of suit.

*565 “Sec. 6. All acts and parts o£ acts in conflict with this act are hereby repealed; provided, nothing in this act shall be deemed or construed to repeal an act of the legislature of this state relating to estrays, approved March 23rd, 1901. ’ ’

If, as claimed by appellant, the act of 1907 supersedes the provisions of the act of 1878, then it is likewise clear that plaintiff is not entitled to recover damages by reason of the trespass, since it is not claimed the premises were inclosed in any manner whatsoever. In effect, the act of 1878, as at common law, requires the owner of stock to fence them in, and no duty devolves upon the owner of land to inclose the same in order to prevent his neighbor’s stock trespassing thereon, and unless repealed by the act of 1907, it is the law in Los Angeles County applicable to the facts of this case.

Appellant has presented a very able and exhaustive brief in support of his contention that the later act repeals that of 1878; and were the question an open one, we would feel constrained to follow counsel through the maze of legislation touching the subject, commencing with the first session of the legislature in 1850, to which he directs attention. The identical question, however, was before the court in the case of Blevins v. Mullally, decided by the third appellate district (22 Cal. App. 519, [135 Pac. 307]). The action arose from a trespass of stock upon land in Colusa County, to which the act of 1878 applied, and, as here, it was there contended that such act was repealed by the act of 1907. The court, however, held otherwise, saying there was no inconsistency between the common-law rule as declared in the act of 1878 and the statute of 1907, and hence there was no repeal of the provisions of the former. This being true, it follows that in Los Angeles County one sustaining damage by reason of trespassing animals upon his uninclosed land may, under the provisions of the act of 1878, recover therefor, regardless of whether the crops be growing thereon or matured, as alfalfa hay, and stacked thereon.

It is unnecessary to repeat the argument upon which the court, through Justice Hart, based its conclusion; suffice it to say that a petition to have the cause heard in the supreme court, after judgment in the district court of appeal, was denied by the supreme court. Hence, thus approved, the question, so far as this court is concerned, is no longer an open one. Upon the authority of the decision in Blevins v. Mul *566 lolly, 22 Cal. App. 519, [135 Pac. 307], we are constrained to hold that the act of 1878, the effect of which, as at common law, is to require the owners of stock to fence them in, is, so far as Los Angeles County is concerned, still in force, and that plaintiff’s failure to maintain a substantial fence inclosing his land did not affect his right to recover damages for the trespass.

Prom what has been said, it follows that no error was committed by the court in refusing instructions requested by defendant based upon his theory that the law imposed upon plaintiff the duty of fencing his land as a protection against damages by trespassing animals. The fact that plaintiff did not keep the fence inclosing the land in repair, or failed to keep the gates closed, becomes immaterial.

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Bluebook (online)
159 P. 224, 30 Cal. App. 562, 1916 Cal. App. LEXIS 131, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hicks-v-butterworth-calctapp-1916.