James Bradley Pounds v. J.L. Shirley

235 So. 3d 1418
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedOctober 10, 2017
DocketNO. 2016-CA-00590-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 235 So. 3d 1418 (James Bradley Pounds v. J.L. Shirley) 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
James Bradley Pounds v. J.L. Shirley, 235 So. 3d 1418 (Mich. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

WESTBROOKS, J.,

FOR THE COURT:

¶ 1. The executor of the estate of James R. Pounds (Pounds Estate), and heirs individually, appeal the ruling of the Prentiss County Chancery Court. The chancellor reformed the warranty deed of the subject property, finding that the deed mistakenly included property not mutually agreed upon by the decedent and the owner. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶2. Jim “J.L.” Shirley (Shirley) was deeded land east of the Brown’s Creek Channel by his uncle, H.C. Shirley, in 1970. The deed conveyed “all that part of [eight tracts] lying and being east of Brown’s Creek Channel.” In 1988, Shirley was conveyed the land west of Brown’s Creek by his uncle’s widow, Eloise Cavaness Shirley. Shirley leased his land to James 1 for farming purposes for a number of years. In 1997, Shirley, suffering from cancer, decided to sell the tract of his land east of Brown’s Creek to James.

¶ 3. Shirley and James undertook discussions about the sale and purchase of the land east of Brown’s Creek, but they never discussed the exact acreage. The 1997 conveyance from Shirley to James was for the purchase price of $105,000 and was owner financed by Shirley, who held a deed of trust that was never recorded. There were two deeds relating to the 1997 conveyance of land. The first deed was signed on January 13, 1997. That deed read in part: “In consideration of the sum of ten dollars and other valuable consideration ..,, I [ ] hereby convey to [ ] J.L. Shirley [ ] the following described land in Prentiss County, Mississippi, to-wit: All that part of the following described land lying and being East of Brown’s Creek Channel .... ”

¶ 4. The second deed, a purportedly corrected deed, was signed the following day, on January 14, 1997. Both Shirley and his wife, Linda, signed the second deed, though Linda’s signature was not necessary because the deed was titled in James’s name only.

¶ 5. The 1997 deeds were prepared by a local attorney, Ellis Finch. There were only three people (Shirley, James, and Finch) present when the property was transferred. The 1997 deeds contained the exact language set forth in the second two paragraphs of the 1970 deed. However, Finch moved the language specifying that the only part of the land being conveyed was “all that part of [eight tracts] lying and being east of Brown’s Creek” from the first paragraph to the second paragraph of the deed. Though the 1997 deed contained nearly the exact same language as that of the 1970 deed, the following alterations created the case in controversy:

For and in consideration of the sum of [t]en [d]ollars ($10.00) and other good and valuable considerations, the receipt and sufficiency of all of which is hereby acknowledged, I, J.L. Shirley, do hereby convey and warrant to James R. Pounds, the land situated in Prentiss County, Mississippi, and being more particularly described as follows: All that part of the following described land lying and being [e]ast of Brown’s Creek Channel ■ ....

¶ 6. James became ill and passed away in July 2014. James Bradley Pounds (Bradley), James’s son, undertook the farming operations on his father’s land. Bradley had his father’s land surveyed following his death. As a result of the description of the property in the corrected deed, the surveyor included land west of Brown’s Creek in his survey. The Shir-leys were not aware of any claim to the land west of Brown’s Creek. On December 29, 2014, James’s surviving heirs conveyed the entirety of the surveyed property, including the disputed tract, to Bradley. Bradley recorded the deed on December 30, 2014.

¶ 7. After discovering that James’s heirs asserted a claim against certain portions of land west of Brown’s Creek, the Shirleys filed a complaint against the Pounds Estate. In their complaint, the Shirleys argued that the warranty deed should be voided for fraud or civil conspiracy, or reformed due to a mutual mistake, or, in the alternative, the title to the property should be confirmed based on adverse possession. At trial, Shirley testified that the sale of the land west of Brown’s Creek was never contemplated. Linda, who is Finch’s cousin, testified that Shirley never discussed selling the property west of Brown’s Creek. Linda testified that the west side of the property held sentimental value to her and Shirley, and it was part of their livelihood.

¶8. Shirley’s son-in-law, Harold Smith, testified that Shirley would bushhbg the same land that the Pounds Estate claimed ownership of, but he never witnessed James bushhog or maintain the property. Eula Mae Pounds, James’s wife, testified that she knew that he had purchased land west of Brown’s Creek. However, Shirley’s counsel impeached her trial testimony with her deposition statements that she had never heard her husband state at any time that he purchased land west of Brown’s Creek. At trial, Bradley téstifíed that his father never told him that he intended to buy property west of Brown’s Creek. But Bradley contended that his father knew that he owned land on the west side of Brown’s Creek but was unaware of the exact acreage. Bradley testified that his father never told him that Shirley intended to sell land west of Brown’s Creek. Bradley acknowledged that if certain tracts of land west of Brown’s Creek were sold to his father, two of the tracts would essentially be landlocked.

¶9, At trial, the judge asked Bradley why his father would purchase tract five, a landlocked tract, surrounded by Shirley’s land.-Bradley admitted that a mistake had been made in the deed; nevertheless, Bradley assorted that the tract was to accompany property on the east side of the land, though the tract was located on the west side. Bradley also argued that the deed had an easement across Shirley’s land. Nevertheless,. Bradley conceded that the property had no possible use, and he did not know why his father would have purchased the landlocked tract.

¶ 10. Randy Paul Pounds (Randy), James’s brother, also testified at trial. Randy farmed land with James. Randy testified that after farming Shirley’s land for a number of years; his brother decided to purchase some of the land. He testified that before the purchase was made, there was no discussion about the purchase of land west of Brown's Creek.. However, Randy explained. that his brother was aware that he would be purchasing around 200 acres on the east side and 120 acres on the west side of Brown’s Creek. Randy acknowledged that he never heard Shirley state that he sold James land west of Brown’s Creek. Randy also testified that Shirley installed a gate on an adjoining neighbor’s land that separated the land west of Brown’s Creek. Since James farmed a portion' of the land west of Brown’s Creek, Shirley provided him with a key to access the land. Randy testified that though Shirley gated some of the land, he did so out of necessity to prevent trespassers from entering the property.

¶11. Randy also testified that he saw Shirley bushhog and “spray” ditches with weed killer to prevent vegetation on the land that he considered James’s land; but he had not seen Shirley bushhogging for five or more years.

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
235 So. 3d 1418, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/james-bradley-pounds-v-jl-shirley-missctapp-2017.