Holimon v. Rice

185 S.W.2d 927, 208 Ark. 279, 1945 Ark. LEXIS 407
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedMarch 12, 1945
Docket4-7555
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 185 S.W.2d 927 (Holimon v. Rice) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Holimon v. Rice, 185 S.W.2d 927, 208 Ark. 279, 1945 Ark. LEXIS 407 (Ark. 1945).

Opinion

Holt, J.

This is a suit in ejectment, and involves a strip of land approximately 100 ft. x 210 ft. in North Crossett, Arkansas. Appellant, Mrs. Lillie D. Holimon, alleged in her complaint that she was the owner and entitled to immediate possession of the land in question; that she acquired title by deed from her father, J. W. Doss, July 1, 1936; that her father obtained title by deed from M. A. Carter January 16, 1923; and that Carter acquired title by deed from J. R. Johnson May 10, 1917. She further alleged that appellee, Rice, over her protests, erected a store building, a garage, and a dwelling house on this land, which buildings have a rental value of $50 per month, and that he has had wrongful possession of the property for more than three years prior to the filing of her complaint, and that she has been damaged in the amount of $1,800. She further alleged that appellee, “Rice, claims title to said land from a common source with her, to-wit, J. R. Johnson.” Her prayer was that the court make an order directing the county surveyor to determine the boundary' line between her property and that of appellee, that she be awarded possession of the strip of land in question with all improvements thereon, title to same be quieted in her, and for damages.

Appellee’s (Rice) answer was a general denial and affirmatively alleged as defenses that he is the owner of the land in question; that said improvements have been constructed on his land, which lies west of the true and established boundary line between his property and that of appellant, that he bought the land from J. R. “Rube” Johnson’s son, August 23, 1930, that he and appellant “purchased with reference to said division line and improved and occupied up to said line,” and that he “has to this date continuously resided upon said land with his family, and made large and valuable improvements continuously on his land, in plain view of the plaintiff and her predecessor in title, J. W. Doss, without objection until September 2, 1942, when plaintiff, without cause, instituted suit for the land of defendant which she never owned”; that appellant is estopped from claiming the land in controversy; that he (Rice) has openly, notoriously, adversely and peaceably held adverse possession of said land for seven years and more.

Upon a jury trial, there was a verdict for appellee, Rice, and from the judgment comes this appeal. At the trial, it developed that Stell, a defendant below, was a tenant of appellee, had no interest in the litigation, and he passed out of the case. For reversal, appellant questions the sufficiency of the evidence, the admission of certain testimony, certain instructions and the form of the jury’s verdict.

This being a suit in ejectment, under our oft repeated rule, before appellant (plaintiff below) would be entitled to prevail, she must do so on the strength of her own title and not on the weakness of appellee’s title.

The court, on the burden of proof, properly instructed the jury that: “The burden of proof to establish the allegations of the complaint rests upon the plaintiff, Mrs. Holimon,, and it must he established by a preponderance of the evidence before she would be entitled to recover. The burden of proving adverse possession and estoppel rests upon the defendant and must be established by a preponderance of the evidence as to those two defenses; provided, the plaintiff has proven by a preponderance of the evidence that the buildings or a part thereof are located upon her lands.”

The record presented is voluminous, comprising some 250 pages.. Many witnesses testified for both parties. Twenty-four instructions were given to the jury by the court, twelve on its own motion, seven at appellee’s request, and five at the request of appellant.

When considering the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury’s verdict, we must weigh it in the light most favorable to appellee, and if we find it to be substantial, it becomes our duty to affirm.

Stated most favorably to appellee, the testimony shows that appellee purchased the land in question on August 23, 1930, from the son of J. R. “Rube” Johnson, and appellee’s title is deraigned. from the same source as that of appellant. At the time of appellee’s purchase from Johnson, Johnson pointed out to him the boundary line between his land and appellant’s, which is the same boundary line that appellee says is now the established boundary line as contended by him in this suit.

Some time about 1933, L. L. Morris and Joe Rawls, surveyors, assisted by Frank Grreen, the county surveyor, surveyed and established the corner and boundary line as being the same as appellee now contends. Morris has made subsequent surveys always establishing the same boundary line. Morris testified that all of appellee’s land was on the west side of this division line and all of Mrs. Holimon’s land was on the'east side of the line. T. W. Johnson testified that appellee had no improvements on the east side of this boundary line. C. W. Woods corroborated Johnson. Arden Hollis testified: “I bought the land that Shack Rice now owns from Rube Johnson in 1927. The lines were already established and Rnbe Johnson carried me down there and showed me the lines and the corners. Shack Rice does not have any improvements on Mrs. Holimon’s side of the line. C. W. Woods and Baskin were with me when Rube Johnson showed me the line.”

Appellee built a house on the land in 1930 and a cowpen in 1932 within fifteen feet of the east line. He also erected a garage, a store and service station and made other valuable improvements on the land. During the time these improvements were being made by appellee, appellant stood by without protest and attempted to exercise no act of ownership of the land in question. Appellee has openly and adversely occupied the land in controversy from the date of its purchase by him in 1930 for a period of seven years and more.

In June, 1936, J. W. Doss, appellant’s father, sold three acres of land on the east side of this boundary line adjoining appellee’s land to appellant. Appellant recorded this deed March 31, 1938. There was evidence that Mrs. Holimon and appellee purchased their land with reference to the division line and corner as claimed by appellee, and each improved and occupied up to this line and Rice has continuously resided upon the land on the west side of the division line with his family and made valuable improvements without a protest or objection from appellant until the time the present suit was filed.

There was evidence on the part of appellant that tended to contradict appellee’s testimony. However, the jury has settled all fact issues in favor of appellee. We do not attempt to detail all the testimony. It suffices to say that we think, when all the testimony is considered, the jury could well have found for appellee on any one, or all, of the three defenses, supra, interposed by appellee. The principles of law announced in Lacey v. Humphres, 196 Ark. 72, 116 S. W. 2d 345, apply here.

The court-instructed the jury that if they should find from a preponderance of all the testimony that the improvements placed upon the land in controversy by Rice were located upon land belonging to Mrs.

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Bluebook (online)
185 S.W.2d 927, 208 Ark. 279, 1945 Ark. LEXIS 407, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/holimon-v-rice-ark-1945.