Ludewig v. Houston Pipeline Co.

773 S.W.2d 610, 112 Oil & Gas Rep. 332, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 1429, 1989 WL 55379
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 25, 1989
Docket13-87-522-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 773 S.W.2d 610 (Ludewig v. Houston Pipeline Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ludewig v. Houston Pipeline Co., 773 S.W.2d 610, 112 Oil & Gas Rep. 332, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 1429, 1989 WL 55379 (Tex. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

*612 OPINION

DORSEY, Justice.

This is a condemnation action. After preliminary negotiations failed, appellee Houston Pipeline Co. (HPL), filed its original Statement and Petition in Condemnation in which it sought to acquire a 50-foot wide pipeline easement through appellants’ (Ludewigs’) property. A description of the easement sought and a plat were attached to the original statement and petition. Three special commissioners conducted a hearing and awarded appellants the sum of $25,000.00. Appellants rejected the award as “grossly inadequate,” while appellee la-belled it “grossly excessive;” both parties filed objections to the award seeking a new trial in the District Court of Live Oak County. HPL deposited the amount of the award and received a writ of possession on July 25, 1985.

HPL took actual possession of the property and began to construct its pipeline. On November 26, 1985, the Ludewigs informed HPL in writing that the location of the pipeline under construction was not on the property condemned as described in its original petition; they demanded that all acts of trespass cease. When the demand went unheeded, the Ludewigs filed a trespass to try title action against HPL to recover possession of the land where the Ludewigs claimed the pipeline had actually been built, along with sums for rent and damages.

On January 15, 1986, HPL successfully obtained a temporary injunction enjoining appellants from interfering with its possession and use of the pipeline easement. It sought a permanent injunction as part of its condemnation suit.

On February 5, 1986, the trial court consolidated the actions of condemnation and trespass to try title.

At trial, the Ludewigs asserted that: 1) the description of the condemnation property in appellee’s original petition was defective; 2) appellee acted arbitrarily and capriciously in determining the route of the pipeline and the quantity of land taken; and 3) appellee acted with malice in entering appellants’ land.

The jury answered all special issues favorably to the Ludewigs. By their answer to Special Issue No. 1, the jury found that the description of the easement sought was not sufficient for a surveyor to locate the center line with reasonable certainty. They also found that HPL acted arbitrarily or capriciously in determining the route or the amount of land taken for the pipeline (S.I. 2); that HPL acted with malice by entering upon and occupying the property (S.I. 5); and various damages: value as of the day of taking, July 25, 1985 — $12,500 (S.I. 3); fair compensation for the use of the land since July 25, 1985 — $20,000 (S.I. 3); and $50,000 exemplary damages (S.I. 6). The jury failed to find that HPL would suffer irreparable injury if the Ludewigs interfered with HPL’s right to use the easement (S.I. 6).

The Ludewigs moved for judgment on the verdict, and HPL moved to amend the description of the easement, to disregard most of the jury’s answers, and for judgment. The court granted HPL’s motions and entered judgment on August 17, 1987, granting an easement to HPL and awarding damages to the Ludewigs of $12,500. The easement granted was described by reference to the description contained in HPL’s original statement and petition in condemnation, although that description had been superceded by HPL's amendment by leave of court. Upon motion by HPL, a second judgment was entered August 21, 1987, identical to the first, except a description of the easement was attached to the second judgment. However, that description was the one that had been superceded by the amended pleadings.

On September 9, 1987, a third and final judgment was entered, entitled “corrected judgment,” disregarding the jury’s answers to Special Issues 2, 5, 6, and 7. This “corrected judgment” granted HPL an easement (although the description was the original superceded one) and a permanent injunction against the Ludewigs from interfering with HPL’s use of the easement; it *613 also awarded the Ludewigs damages in the amount of $13,500.

Appellants’ basic contention is that the pipeline was not laid in the easement taken, as originally pleaded, in that the right of way called for a point of beginning at a stake set in the south property line 1,373 feet from the southeast comer of Ludew-ig’s 477.53-acre tract. Which comer was the southeast comer of the tract was the core of the dispute. The jury found that the description of the centerline of the right-of-way was not sufficient to enable a surveyor to identify it with certainty. The Ludewigs argue that since the centerline of the easement sought cannot be determined, the purported condemnation fails, and HPL engaged in a trespass by entering upon the land and constructing the line.

By their first point of error, appellants complain that the trial court erred in entering a judgment that is fundamentally erroneous in two respects: that it does not conform to the pleadings and that it grants mutually exclusive remedies. The judgment does not conform to the live pleadings insofar as the description of the right-of-way condemned was amended by the con-demnor after verdict upon leave of court, but the final “corrected” judgment utilized the superceded description. The ability of a condemnor to amend the description of the land taken after the commissioner’s award was settled in State v. Nelson, 160 Tex. 515, 334 S.W.2d 788 (1960) where the Supreme Court held that such an amendment is proper when it does not inject entirely new subject matter into the proceedings thereby prejudicing the landowner. In the instant case, no new matters were raised by the amendment; only one right-of-way was sought, one taken, one path cleared, and one pipeline laid. The only dispute at trial, other than damages, was whether the point of beginning of the centerline could be located from the initial call from the Ludewigs’ southeast comer. The issue arose as to which comer of the irregularly shaped tract was the southeast comer.

We will modify the judgment to incorporate the description of the centerline of the right-of-way as set forth in HPL’s First Amended Statement and Petition in Condemnation filed July 15, 1987.

The second portion of appellants’ first point of error complains that the judgment grants mutually exclusive remedies. Appellants argue that the jury’s finding by Special Issue 1 that the description of the easement was insufficient nullifies the taking, so as to invalidate the writ of possession and render HPL a trespasser. Appel-lees counterargue by their fifth cross-point that the trial court properly disregarded the jury’s answer to Special Issue No. 1.

As previously stated, the trial court properly allowed appellees to amend their petition in condemnation to correct perceived discrepancies in the original property description so that it reflected the actual location of the pipeline. As a result of the amendment, the jury’s finding of an insufficient property description in response to Special Issue 1 is rendered immaterial and moot; it therefore cannot conflict with the recital in the judgment awarding the condemned land to appellee. We overrule the second portion of point of error one and sustain appellees’ fifth cross-point.

By their eighth cross-point, appel-lees assert that the jury’s answer to Special Issue No.

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Bluebook (online)
773 S.W.2d 610, 112 Oil & Gas Rep. 332, 1989 Tex. App. LEXIS 1429, 1989 WL 55379, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ludewig-v-houston-pipeline-co-texapp-1989.