Junction Irrigation Co. v. Snow

118 P.2d 130, 101 Utah 71, 1941 Utah LEXIS 74
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 27, 1941
DocketNo. 6362.
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 118 P.2d 130 (Junction Irrigation Co. v. Snow) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Junction Irrigation Co. v. Snow, 118 P.2d 130, 101 Utah 71, 1941 Utah LEXIS 74 (Utah 1941).

Opinion

PRATT, Justice.

This is an appeal upon the judgment roll. This suit was initiated August, 1928, but never came to trial until June 11, 1940. It is a water suit in which both parties seek in-junctive relief and damages. The issues upon this appeal arise over the findings of fact and conclusions of law of *72 the lower court rendered upon the counterclaim of defendants and appellants O. C. Snow and John Snow. They assign two errors, which we quote:

“The Court erred in its conclusions oí law as follows:
“1. That because of the fact that the defendants had permitted said action to remain in Court undetermined and without attempting to secure a determination thereof until on or about the year 1940, they are not entitled to judgment for damages on account of loss of the use of said waters on account of the acts of the plaintiff or the issuance of said restraining order or at all.
“2. The Court erred in its refusal and failure to award damages against the plaintiff to the defendants' on account of loss of enjoyment and use of the waters awarded defendants.”

Assignment #1 arises out of these facts: When plaintiff and respondent filed its complaint, it, upon ex parte application obtained a restraining order prohibiting defendants from interfering with the waters in question, and furnished a bond pursuant to section 104-17-4, R. S. U. 1933. This was in August, 1928. In May, 1940, upon motion of defendants, the court dissolved the restraining order. Thereafter defendants amended their counterclaim to include damages as a result of the restraint of the order over the period of 1928 to 1940. Upon the counterclaim, so amended, the lower court made the following findings of fact and conclusions of law, pertinent to the issues on this appeal:

“* * * There was decree to these defendants, as follows:
“To be diverted from the Mitchell Springs, tributary to the South Fork of the Sevier River, Piute County, O. C. Snow and John Snow, Priority 1881, period of use May 1 to Oct. 15, 1.5 C. F. S. to be diverted from Mitchell Ditch, and conveyed to Sevier River, allowed to flow down the said river to the head gates of the Monroe South Bend Canal Co.”
* * *
“That thereafter and during said irrigation season of 1928, and at all times since, the plaintiff wrongfully and unlawfully interrupted the flow of the said waters of the defendants from the said Mitchell Ditch by wrongfully and unlawfully taking and threatening to take said waters of said defendants, and thereby wrongfully and unlawfully depriving the said defendants of the use thereof; that the plaintiff *73 and its agent, officers and servants at said time, repeatedly destroyed the undershot works and measuring weirs of the defendants and thereafter the plaintiff, through its agents, officers and servants, destroyed these defendants’ undershot works entirely and took the same from underneath the canal of the plaintiff and wrongfully and unlawfully diverted defendants’ waters of the said Mitchell Ditch into the canal of the plaintiff and appropriated the same to the use of the plaintiff so that these defendants could not furnish the waters as agreed upon and as they had theretofore done to the Monroe South Bend Canal Company or to otherwise use said waters for irrigation purposes; that by reason of the acts of the plaintiff herein enumerated and by virtue of and because of a writ of injunction issued out of the above entitled Court at the commencement of this action in August 1928 in the above entitled cause, served upon these defendants, enjoining and restraining them from the enjoyment and use of said waters at all the times herein mentioned until May 10, 1940, when said injunction was dissolved by order of court after hearing and upon motion of defendants, defendants have been deprived of the use and enjoyment of the waters so owned and theretofore used and enjoyed by them.”
* * *
“* * * And that immediately thereafter this action was commenced and restraining order issued by this Court upon petition of plaintiff thereby preventing the said defendants from further interference with or use of said waters; and that after issue joined by these parties by proper pleadings no further action was taken to determine the rights of the parties hereto and the defendants made no request for a setting of said cause or the dissolution of said injunction until about the month of May, 1940, when said injunction was dissolved by order of this Court as aforesaid; and that during the time said injunction was in force the use of said waters was reasonably worth in each year $1.00 for each acre foot.”

A conclusion of law:

“* * * Because of the fact that the defendants had permitted said action to remain in court undetermined and without attempting to secure a determination thereof until on or about the year 1940, they are not entitled to judgment for damages on account of loss of the use of said waters on account of the acts of the plaintiff or the issuance of said restraining order or at all.”

The decree entered by the Court conformed to the conclusion of law last above quoted, and denied damages.

*74 It is respondent’s contention, among others, that damages resulting from the issuance of the restraining order are not to be recovered in and as a part of the injunction suit; that the sole remedy for such a recovery is a suit upon the bond or undertaking. If this contention be correct, it disposes of this case, as under such circumstances, the denial of such damages would be proper, even though the reason for the denial be erroneous.

We are of the opinion that respondent’s theory of the law applicable in this state is correct. This suit is not upon the bond, nor is it one in malicious prosecution. That being the case appellants are not entitled here to damages for losses sustained as the result of the improvident issuance of an injunction or restraining order. We quote from some of the authorities upon the subject.

“In the absence of elements of an action for malicious prosecution, it is established by the great weight of authority that no action will lie by defendant in an injunction suit, independently of bond or undertaking, for damages for the wrongful suing out of the injunction.”
* * *
“And though a bond or similar undertaking has been filed by the injunction plaintiff, a majority of the courts have held that no right of action for damages caused by the injunction will lie, except when founded upon such undertaking, when the elements of a malicious prosecution action are lacking. These cases limit the recovery to the bond itself.” 45 A. L. E. 1518, and cases therein cited.
“In the absence, therefore, of legislative authority to the contrary, a court of dquity will not, upon dissolving an injunction, enforce payment of damages in the original cause, but will remit the parties aggrieved to their action upon the bond.” 2 High on Injunctions, 4th Ed., 1606.

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

Related

Fillmore City v. Reeve
571 P.2d 1316 (Utah Supreme Court, 1977)
Morris v. Whaley
203 A.2d 618 (Court of Chancery of Delaware, 1964)
McDowell v. Cagle
1951 OK 346 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1951)
Wright v. Lee
138 P.2d 246 (Utah Supreme Court, 1943)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
118 P.2d 130, 101 Utah 71, 1941 Utah LEXIS 74, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/junction-irrigation-co-v-snow-utah-1941.