Jennings-Heywood Oil Syndicate v. Houssiere-Latreille Oil Co.

42 So. 467, 117 La. 960, 1906 La. LEXIS 803
Supreme Court of Louisiana·Decided December 10, 1906·No. No. 16,081·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

MONROE, J.

Plaintiff (hereinafter called the “Syndicate”) appeals from a judgment dissolving a writ of sequestration issued as ancillary to the suit entitled Houssiere-Latreille Oil Company v. Jennings-Heywood Oil Syndicate, 115 La. 107, 38 South. 032; a judgment dissolving a prior writ so issued having been heretofore reversed. Jennings-Heywood Oil Syndicate v. Houssiere-Latreille Oil Company, 116 La. 1053, 41 South. 255.

The writs in question, though ancillary to the defense of the main action, were issued after the appeal therein had been lodged in this court, and the question here presented is whether, by the silence of the decree in that ease concerning it, the writ involved in the present litigation shall be held to have been improperly issued and to have been dissolved at the cost of the Syndicate, at whose instance it was issued, or whether it shall be held that the meaning and effect of that decree is to recognize the necessity for the issuance of said writ, and to throw the cost of its issuance and execution upon the Houssiere-Latreille Oil Company (otherwise called the “Company”). It seems to us clear that the question, as first propounded, must be answered in the negative, and, as propounded in the alternative, in the affirmative.

The Syndicate had entered into a contract with Latreille, which is, and has been held to be, prima facie valid (Houssiere-Latreille Oil Company v. Jennings-Heywood Oil Syndicate, 115 La. 116, 38 South. 932, on rehearing), and under which it had acquired the exclusive right to drill for oil upon a certain 40-aere tract of land, of which Latreille was the owner, and to possess and use the land for the purposes of such drilling and for the handling of the oil that might be obtained, and also the right to appropriate such oil, less a certain percentage, or royalty, which is to be delivered to the owner of the land, to whom, in other respects, the surface rights are reserved.

In disregard of this contract, Latreille participated in the organization of a corporation (the Company now before the court), and undertook, in payment of his subscription to its capital stock, to convey to it the identical rights which he had conveyed to the Syndicate, and, acting upon that authority, the Company entered upon the land, and at once instituted a possessory action, alleging that it had been in possession for more than a year, and that the" Syndicate was disturbing its possession by the maintenance of a derrick, and praying for an injunction, both prohibitory and mandatory, prohibiting the Syndicate from further occupying the land and commanding it to remove its derrick. Under the protection of the prohibitory injunction, which was issued in limine and was main-[963]*963tamed by a suspensive appeal from a judgment setting it aside, the Company then proceeded to exploit the land for the oil, to which, upon the face of its contract, the Syndicate was entitled, and, having found, proceeded to appropriate the same, whereupon, at the instance of the Syndicate, the trial judge issued the (first) writ ordering that the oil should be sequestered until the rights of the parties should be determined, and a similar order was made, under which the writ here in question was issued, with regard to the yield of a well subsequently drilled. The sheriff accordingly took possession of the oil should be sequestered until the rights thereafter, on motions filed by tbe Company, in separate proceedings the court dissolved the two writs of sequestration, and ordered that the oil be released to tbe Company, and refused to allow the Syndicate an appeal from the orders so made. Thereupon the Syndicate applied for a mandamus to compel the granting of an appeal (from the order first made), and it was held by this court tliat notwithstanding that the case in which the parties had put their rights with respect to the oil at issue had been appealed to, and was then pending in, this court, the writ of sequestration had been properly issued and ought to be maintained, that the trial court had jurisdiction to issue it, and had jurisdiction to grant an appeal from the judgment dissolving it, and the mandamus was, accordingly, made peremptory. State ex rel. Jennings-Heywod Oil Syndicate v. De Baillon, Judge, 113 La. 572, 37 South. 481. At a subsequent date, in the main possessory action (being tbe only action in which the rights of the parties with respect to the oil was being litigated), it was held that the Company, lacked the necessary possession upon which to predicate a possessory action, and there was judgment for the Syndicate, dismissing said action and dissolving the injunction therein issued, at the cost of the Company. I-Ioussiere-Latreille Oil Oo. v. Jennings-IIeywood Oil Syndicate, 115 La. 116, 126, 131, South. 932. The meaning of the judgments thus rendered by this court was, and is, that the Company has no possessory rights in the 40-acre tract of land in dispute, or in any. oil or gas which may be procured therefrom, which entitle it to interfere with the possession of the Syndicate, and that the sequestration had been properly issued as ancillary (or, to use tbe language of tbe Code of Practice, “to give effect”) to the principal suit, in the sense that it was necessary for the protection of the defendant (Syndicate) and in order to prevent the plaintiff (Company) from appropriating the oil whilst the rights of the parties were being litigated. Under tbe circumstances tbe proposition that the silence of the decree in the principal (possessory) proceeding is to be construed as meaning that the sequestration was thereby dissolved, at the cost of the Syndicate, is wholly untenable, since, if the question of the sequestration had been presented by the tran-' script of appeal in that case, tbe writs would have been maintained. And, in this connection, it may be remarked that it is hardly correct to say that tbe function of a conservatory writ is exhausted when judgment is rendered, or becomes executory, in tbe cause in which it may be issued; for, if that were true, the sheriff, having property in his bauds by virtue of such writ, would be obliged to release it upon the rendition of the judgment or upon its becoming executory, whereas, tbe writ being maintained by that judgment, it is his duty to hold the property until the judgment can be executed, or until its release be otherwise ordered.

The views thus stated are in harmony with those expressed by this court in reversing tbe judgment by which the writ of sequestration first issued was 'set aside, as follows:

“The judgment dismissing the suit of the Company and dissolving its injunction is conclusive that said Company had no possessory rights, and wrongfully interfered with those of the Syndicate. The judgment left the Syndicate in pos[965]*965session of the tract in controversy, and, by necessary implication, affirmed its right, for the time being, to exploit the premises for oil and gas. The oil which was sequestered was produced by the lessees of the company, pending the appeal. The Syndicate’s right of possession attached to the oil as a product of the soil. The sequestration should, therefore, be maintained, at the cost of the party cast.” Jenni^gs-Heywood Oil Syndicate v. Houssiere-Latreille Oil Co., 116 La. 1053, 41 South. 255.

To the rule taken by the Syndicate, upon the Company, to show cause why the writ of sequestration here in question should not issue, the Syndicate thought proper to make parties certain persons and corporations whom it alleged to be the assigns, agents, aiders, and abettors of the Company, and an answer to the rule was filed on behalf of all the parties thus made defendants.

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Jennings-Heywood Oil Syndicate v. Houssiere-Latreille Oil Co., 42 So. 467, 117 La. 960, 1906 La. LEXIS 803 (La. 1906).

42 So. 467 (Jennings-Heywood Oil Syndicate v. Houssiere-Latreille Oil Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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