Morfi v. Fajardo Development Co.

17 P.R. 766
CourtSupreme Court of Puerto Rico
DecidedJune 19, 1911
DocketNo. 596
StatusPublished

This text of 17 P.R. 766 (Morfi v. Fajardo Development Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Morfi v. Fajardo Development Co., 17 P.R. 766 (prsupreme 1911).

Opinion

Mr. Chief Justice Hernández

delivered the opinion of the court.

Under date of June 1 of the year last past Joaquín Grermán Morfi filed a sworn complaint in the District Court for the Judicial District of Iiumaeao against The Fajardo Development Company, wherein he prayed for a judgment directing the defendant corporation to vacate the premises described in said complaint and to restrain it from carrying on or performing any works thereon. The complaint further prayed for a writ of preliminary injunction restraining said defendant, its agents, employes, servants, managers, officers, or any other person or persons under its direction, management, or administration, from entering upon, working, or performing any act on its behalf, and from running, or causing to be run, any train or engine used for transportation within the parcel of land described until a final judgment or other decree shall have been rendered, with the costs incurred in the action taxed against the defendant.

The plaintiff alleges that- the defendant company' is a foreign corporation doing business and having an office in [768]*768this Island, where it is engaged in the railroad business; that the defendant is the owner of a railroad running from the Central Fajardo Sugar Company to the playa or port of Fajardo, and that it has a branch line established for its own private purposes; that the plaintiff, in common with his mother and brothers, is the owner of a rural property composed of 18 cuerdas, more or less, with metes and bounds as set forth in the complaint; that said estate is the common and undivided property of the plaintiff, his mother and brothers; that up to a few months ago the plaintiff was under age, having but recently attained his majority; that he never conveyed or alienated his title to said land, and that no tribunal had given authorization therefor; that without the consent of the plaintiffs and without title therefor, the defendant entered upon said land and constructed and continues to construct works thereon, and, moreover, that on the lands in question the defendant operates a railroad for the transportation of freight for its private or public use, although it has never obtained an order of condemnation against the plaintiff; that the strip of land held by the defendant runs lengthwise across the property from one end to the other, thereby causing damage to the plaintiff which cannot be appraised at any specific sum of money, and that the plaintiff is prevented from utilizing the land to the full extent of his right; that the defendant has obstinately refused to vacate the land in question, and that it is impossible to compensate the plaintiff in money for the acts done by the defendant company on his land; and, moreover, that no adequate, speedy or efficient remedy exists at law of which he might avail himself to defend his rights against the defendant and to prevent the further performance of such acts.

By an order of the same date, June 1, the court directed the defendant to appear on the 9th of said month and show cause why the injunction applied for should not issue, and, at the same time, temporarily restrained the defendant com[769]*769pany, its representatives, agents, and employes, either in person or through others, from entering upon, working, or performing any act on its behalf, or from running, or causing to he run, the freight trains or engines thereof on the land in question, which restraint was to he effective until further-orders and was decreed upon the furnishing in due form of.' a bond of $1,000. This bond was given in due form.

The party defendant moved the court for the dissolution of the restraining order, and on June 3 the latter directed the parties to appear for a hearing on the 6th of the same month, both upon the motion and the application for a preliminary injunction, the latter having previously been set for the 9th. Notice of this order was served personally on Joaquin German Morfi on the same day that it was made.

The hearing was had on the appointed date, June 6, and in view of the pleadings, evidence, and arguments of both parties the order, which we transcribe below, was made on the following day:

“The court finds that from the evidence introduced it- clearly appears that the defendant — that is, The Fajardo Development Company — has been in the quiet and peaceful possession of the property for four years, more or less, during which time it constructed its railway, and inasmuch as from the evidence introduced the contention arises as to whether or not the title and possession of the defendant are valid and effective, the court is of the opinion that, the- parties should seek the ordinary relief of an action of ejectment, of nullity, or of unlawful detainer, or by such means as they may deem proper, and therefore the preliminary injunction must he denied on the ground of the authorities cited by the defendant and on I Spelling, page 233.
“The restraining order is set aside and the preliminary injunction denied. Bach party shall pay its own costs. ’ ’

From this order counsel for the plaintiff took an appeal to this Supreme Court, and after hearing the written and oral arguments of both parties said appeal is now submitted to us for consideration.

[770]*770The appellant alleges in his brief the following grounds of appeal:

1. That the court erred in considering the complaint as '"a simple application for an injunction, when it actually applied for a perpetual injunction, and for a preliminary injunction as temporary relief.

2. That the court erred in permitting the demurrer of •the defendant to be argued at the hearing to show cause why the preliminary injunction should not issue.

3. That the court erred in sustaining the demurrer as to the defect of parties plaintiff.

4. That the court erred in setting the hearing of the petition for the preliminary injunction, and the dissolution of the restraining order, for June 6, as the hearing upon the preliminary injunction had already been set for the 9th of the same month.

5. That the court erred in not granting the continuance ■of the hearing set for June 6, because such abuse of discretionary power allowed the plaintiff sufficient time to prepare his case.

6. That the final decision is erroneous because it decided the action on its merits at the first hearing of the parties, and because in the case at bar the plaintiff established his title to the realty, whereas the defendant corporation only tried to prove that it entered upon the land in good faith when this was not actually so, because no documents to establish the fact were introduced.

7. That the fact that the defendant corporation has been :in possession of the property in question for some time is not .a bar to the granting of the injunction applied for.

Let us now examine the grounds, of the appeal.

The court in rendering the decision appealed from did not commit the errors assigned, because the prayer and the .allegations of the complaint show that not only was an appli•cation made for a’ perpetual injunction, but that a specific prayer was made therein for a preliminary injunction. This [771]*771prayer followed the regular procedure provided in the special law on the subject, approved March 8, 1906, in pursuance whereof the court required the defendant to appear and show cause why the injunction prayed for should not issue.

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Bluebook (online)
17 P.R. 766, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morfi-v-fajardo-development-co-prsupreme-1911.