Murray v. City of Lawrenceburg

903 N.E.2d 93, 2009 Ind. App. LEXIS 509, 2009 WL 736071
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 19, 2009
Docket15A04-0803-CV-122
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 903 N.E.2d 93 (Murray v. City of Lawrenceburg) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Murray v. City of Lawrenceburg, 903 N.E.2d 93, 2009 Ind. App. LEXIS 509, 2009 WL 736071 (Ind. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinions

OPINION

MATHIAS, Judge.

Gloria Murray et al. ("the Plaintiffs") brought suit against the City of Lawrence ("the City"), the Lawrenceburg Conser-vancey District ("the Conservancy District"), and Indiana Gaming Company, LP. ("Indiana Gaming") (collectively "the Defendants"), claiming ownership of a certain portion of land being used by the Defendants. The Defendants filed a motion for a judgment on the pleadings, which the trial court denied. The trial court then denied the Plaintiffs' demand for a jury trial. The Plaintiffs now bring this interlocutory appeal and claim that the trial court erred in denying their demand for a jury trial. The Defendants cross-appeal and claim that the trial court erred in denying their motion for judgment on the pleadings.

We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

Facts and Procedural History

This case involves a dispute concerning the ownership of a small parcel of land located in Dearborn County, Indiana. Specifically, there is a 0.768 acre parcel of land ("the Disputed Property"), located within a 32.074 acre parcel of land which is currently being used by Indiana Gaming as the docking site for a riverboat casino. The Plaintiffs claim ownership of the Disputed Property through an 1856 deed in which the Indiana and Cincinnati Railway Co. deeded 2.73 acres to an individual named Squire Watts. In 1886, Mr. Watts deeded the 2.73 acres to four individuals as tenants-in-common. Specifically, Mr. Watts gave an undivided one-third interest to Thomas W. Watts, an undivided one-third interest to Bailey H. Watts, and an undivided one-third interest jointly to Thomas and Nettie Barnes. These individuals eventually had part of the 2.73 acres partitioned and platted in 1888. The Plaintiffs claim to be the heirs, devisees, legatees, beneficiaries, and successors in interest to Thomas W. Watts, Bailey H. Watts, and Thomas and Nettie Barnes. The Plaintiffs now claim that the Disputed Property is the undivided, un-platted remaining portion of the 2.78 acres. By 1941, the Lawrenceburg Flood Control District Land Acquisition Map showed the Disputed Property as having an "unknown" owner, and the Plaintiffs claim that between 1941 and 1995, no one had possession or control or claimed ownership over the Disputed Property.

On December 28, 1995, the Conservancy District entered into an agreement wherein it leased to the City the 82.074 parcel including the Disputed Property. This lease warranties title to the 32.074 acres [97]*97except for the 0.768 acres that comprise the Disputed Property. On February 1, 1996, in an apparent attempt to clarify ownership of the Disputed Property, the Central Railroad Company of Indiana issued to the City a quitclaim deed covering the Disputed Property. Although the quitclaim deed gave no source of the title, the Central Railroad Company executed an affidavit to clarify title, recorded simultaneously with the deed, wherein it claimed that it had obtained title to the Disputed Property in 1865 by way of a deed from the White Water Valley Company. On August 20, 1996, the City subleased the 32.074 acre docking site, including the Disputed Property, to Indiana Gaming. Indiana Gaming began operations at the site on December 10, 1997.

On November 21, 2005, the Plaintiffs filed a six-count complaint against the Defendants 1 and demanded a jury trial. The Defendants answered the complaint, then, on August 16, 2006, moved for judgment on the pleadings. On February 15, 2007, the trial court issued an order denying this motion and, upon the Defendants' motion, certified its order for interlocutory appeal. On July 9, 2007, this court denied the Defendants' motion to accept interlocutory Jurisdiction.

On November 27, 2007, the trial court issued an order denying the Plaintiffs' demand for a jury trial and again certified its order for interlocutory appeal. The Plaintiffs filed a motion asking this court to accept interlocutory jurisdiction. The Defendants filed a motion in opposition, arguing that we should not accept interlocutory Jurisdiction, but that if we did, we should reconsider our earlier denial of the Defendants' own motion to accept interlocutory Jurisdiction over the trial court's order denying their motion for judgment on the pleadings.

On April 8, 2008, this court issued an order accepting interlocutory jurisdiction, but not directly responding to the Defendants' motion in opposition. The Defendants then filed a motion for clarification of our April 8 order. After the Plaintiffs responded, we issued an order on April 17, 2008, which stated in relevant part:

Indiana Appellate Rule 9(D) provides in part "[aln appellee may cross-appeal without filing a notice of appeal by raising cross-appeal issues in the appellee's brief." Accordingly, should the Appel-lee [i.e., the Defendants] herein wish to raise issues on cross-appeal, it may do so in its appellee's brief.

The Plaintiffs filed a motion to reconsider, which we denied. The Plaintiffs then filed a motion requesting clarification of our April 8 and April 17 orders. We granted this motion, explaining as follows:

Under Indiana Appellate Rule 9(D), the Appellee may cross-appeal by raising cross-appeal issues in the appellee's brief. The appellee's brief shall contain any contentions the appellee raises on cross-appeal as to why the trial court committed reversible error. App. R. 46(D)(2). Thereafter, the Appellant's reply brief shall address the arguments raised on cross-appeal. App. R. 46(D)(3). The Cross-Appellant's reply brief may only respond to that part of the Appellant's reply brief addressing the Appellee's cross-appeal.

In their Appellees' briefs, the Defendants challenged on cross-appeal the pro[98]*98priety of the trial court's order denying . their motion for judgment on the pleadings. The Plaintiffs responded by filing a motion to dismiss the Defendants' cross-appeal on September 18, 2008. In this motion, the Plaintiffs claim that the Defendants should not be allowed to present on cross-appeal any issue regarding the trial court's denial of the Defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings because we had previously declined to accept interlocutory jurisdiction over this matter and because the Defendants' cross-appeal issues are "totally unrelated" to the issue presented in the Plaintiffs' interlocutory appeal. For the reasons set forth below, we decline to dismiss the Defendants' cross-appeal.2

I. Propriety of Cross-Appeal

As a threshold issue, we address the propriety of the Defendants' cross-appeal, in which they challenge the trial court's denial of their motion for judgment on the pleadings. The Plaintiffs claim that the issue presented in the Defendants' cross-appeal is not properly before us because it is unrelated to the Plaintiffs' interlocutory appeal and because we had previously declined to accept interlocutory jurisdiction over the order which the Defendants now challenge. To resolve this issue, we turn to our Appellate Rules.

As a general rule, an appellee may cross-appeal simply by presenting cross-appeal issues in the appellee's brief; the appellant then becomes the cross-appellee and responds accordingly. See Ind. Appellate Rule 9(D); Ind. Appellate Rule 46(D)(2)-(4).

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Murray v. City of Lawrenceburg
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Bluebook (online)
903 N.E.2d 93, 2009 Ind. App. LEXIS 509, 2009 WL 736071, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/murray-v-city-of-lawrenceburg-indctapp-2009.