Liles v. Barnhart

93 So. 490, 152 La. 419, 1922 La. LEXIS 2901
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedJune 5, 1922
DocketNo. 24226
StatusPublished
Cited by44 cases

This text of 93 So. 490 (Liles v. Barnhart) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Liles v. Barnhart, 93 So. 490, 152 La. 419, 1922 La. LEXIS 2901 (La. 1922).

Opinions

OVERTON, J.

Plaintiffs and one of the defendants, W. E. Barnhart, are the owners, in indivisión, of a certain tract of land, consisting of approximately 22 acres, situated in the parish of Caddo; the plaintiffs owning one-fifth and Barnhart four-fifths. Plaintiffs were recognized as the owners of their one-fifth interest in the suit of Liles et al. v. Pitt et al., reported in 145 La. 650, 82 South. 735.

Some time prior to the institution of that suit, Barnhart, who was then claiming ownership of the entire tract, granted a mineral lease on it to the Gulf Refining Company of Louisiana.

Under the lease, the Gulf Refining Company entered upon the land, bored wells for oil, and, it is alleged, wrongfully withdrew therefrom large quantities of oil and gas exceeding $500,000 in value. Therefore, it is alleged that both Barnhart, the lessor, and the Gulf Refining Company, the lessee, are indebted, in solido, unto plaintiffs for their one-fifth part of the oil and gas, or the proceeds thereof, thus taken from the land, less one-fifth part of the cost of production. This part, less their proportion of the cost of production, they allege, exceeds $100,000 in value. They further allege that they are unable to fix the amount thereof with exactness, and are therefore entitled to an accounting from the Gulf Refining Company and from Barnhart, so that the exact amount may be ascertained.

Plaintiffs also allege that, when judgment wa? rendered in their favor, declaring them to be the owners of a one-fifth undivided interest in said land, Barnhart appealed suspensively from that judgment to this court; and on July 8, 1915, furnished as surety on> the appeal bond the United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company. It is further alleged that this company signed the bond in the sum of $13,440 to secure to plaintiffs their part of whatever oil or gas, .or the proceeds thereof, that might be delivered or paid to Barnhart during the pendency of the appeal; that the appeal was decided on June 30, 1919; that they are entitled to an accounting from Barnhart and the Gulf Refining Company, showing the amount paid [423]*423to Barnhart during that period, and to judgment against the surety company, on the bond, for the amount shown to have been so received by Barnhart.

Plaintiffs also allege that they desire a partition of the real estate, mentioned, in the first part of this opinion. They allege that it cannot be divided in kind, and therefore that it should be partitioned by licitation.

Plaintiffs pray (according to the prayer of their original petition, as amended by their first and second amended petitions) for a partition of said land by licitation; for judgment ordering said accounting; and for judgment against Barnhart and the Gulf Refining Company, in solido, for one-fifth of the value of all oil and gas wrongfully taken from said land, less the reasonable cost of production; and for judgment against the United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company for the amount received by said Barnhart, during the pendency of said appeal, not to exceed the amount of the appeal bond; and they pray for legal interest on the judgment to be rendered against each defendant, from judicial demand until paid.

The Gulf Refining Company and Barnhart, for answer to the above demand, -deny all liability to plaintiffs for anything therein claimed; and plead against the demand, arising from oil taken by them, from said land, the prescription of one year. Both deny that the land is indivisible in kind, and hence deny that a partition by slale is necessary. The Gulf Refining Company, however, asks that, in the event a partition by sale should be found necessary, then that its rights as lessee and the rights of the owners of the land be separately appraised, and the proceeds of sale ratably distributed among them; and that, should the amount, payable out of said sum to it, be less .than the total value of its rights in said property as appraised, then that such portion of the fund, as would be payable to Barnhart, be paid to it, up to the total value of its rights, as thus fixed. The Gulf Refining Company further prays that its lessor, .Barnhart, be called in warranty,- and that it have judgment against him, in the event plaintiff should recover judgment, for all amounts that it has paid Barnhart, and for all amounts that it may be condemned to pay plaintiffs.

Barnhart is an absentee, and therefore a curator ad hoc was appointed to represent him, who, in Barnhart’s behalf, denies all liability to plaintiffs, and pleads the prescription of one year in bar of plaintiffs’ demand.

The United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company answered and excepted to the suit. The exception was argued and taken under advisement, but does not appear to have been passed upon. That company made no other appearance, and issue was not joined as to it.

The lower court, after trial, rendered judgment ordering that the land be sold at public auction for cash, to effect a partition; plaintiffs to have one-fifth of the proceeds of the sale, and Barnhart the remaining four-fifths; and condemning the Gulf Refining Company to pay plaintiffs $7,173.26, with 5 per cent, per annum interest thereon from July 20, 1919, until paid, being one-fifth of the value of oil and gas taken from said land, less the cost of production, for the year immediately preceding the institution of the present suit, uj) to August 31, 1919; and maintaining the plea of prescription of one year, as to all other demands of plaintiffs. The trial also resulted in judgment in favor of the Gulf Refining Company and against' its warrantor, Barnhart, for $1,247.04, being one-fifth of the royalty paid to him during the year immediately preceding the institution Of this suit, and up to August 31, 1919, with 5 per cent, interest thereon from July 20, 1919, until paid, and for $600, representing one-fifth of the bonus paid to Barnhart. [425]*425at the time the Gulf Refining Company acquired the lease, -with legal interest thereon from February 5, 1913, until paid. The right was also reserved the Gulf Refining Company to remove from the leased premises all the pipe, machinery, and other fixtures placed thereon by it, except such as are attached to and form part of the wells.

From this judgment, plaintiffs and the Gulf Refining Company have appealed. The curator ad hoc for Barnhart has filed no answer to the appeal.

It appears from the evidence that on February 5, 1913, and prior thereto, Barnhart was claiming the ownership of the entire tract of land from which the oil was after-wards produced, under a deed, which on its face, was translative of property. On that date he granted the mineral lease, mentioned above, to the Gulf Refining Company. Under that lease, the Gulf Refining Company exploited the land, and extracted therefrom large quantities of oil and some gas, and paid royalties, in large amounts, to its lessor, Barnhart. The plaintiffs, shortly after the discovery of oil, brought their suit, above referred to, against Leland H. Pitts et al., which included Barnhart as one of the defendants, to recover their undivided interest in the land in question, and in other lands. In so far as it is necessary to state, that suit resulted, in the trial court, in the recovery, by the plaintiffs herein, 'of a one-fifth undivided interest in the land now in question. Barnhart appealed suspensively from that judgment, furnishing the United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company as surety on the appeal bond, in the sum of $13,440. On appeal, the judgment of the lower court was, on rehearing, affirmed. Liles et al. v. Pitts et al., 145 La.

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93 So. 490, 152 La. 419, 1922 La. LEXIS 2901, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/liles-v-barnhart-la-1922.