Shamas v. Koch Industries, Inc.

759 F.2d 796
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedApril 12, 1985
DocketNos. 83-1713, 83-1888
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 759 F.2d 796 (Shamas v. Koch Industries, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shamas v. Koch Industries, Inc., 759 F.2d 796 (10th Cir. 1985).

Opinion

BREITENSTEIN, Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal, after a court trial, from an order and judgment of the United States District Court of the. District of Utah finding that plaintiffs-appellees, Ralph Shelton, administrator of the estate of Lewis Harold Shelton, and Lorraine Shelton, the sole heir of Lewis Shelton, were justified in rescinding an oil and gas lease with the defendants-appellants, Koch Industries, Inc. (Koch) and W.A. Moncrief, dba Moncrief Oil. No. 83-1713 is an appeal from a bench order and No. 83-1888 is an appeal from written order. Ralph Shelton died during the pendency of these appeals and Shamas, administrator of the estate of Lewis Shelton, was substituted for him. We affirm.

The Shelton estate includes the mineral interests involved in this case. Tr. Vol. IV, pp. 33-34; Tr. Vol. V, pp. 230-231. In September or October, 1978, Koch commenced drilling two wells, Bates 9-1 and Reimann 10-1 in Duchesne County, Utah. Tr. Vol. IV, pp. 50, 114. These wells were not drilled on Shelton property, but the Shelton mineral interests were a part of the drilling unit communitized by Koch. Id. at 50. In November, 1978, both the Bates and Reimann wells commenced production. Id. at 116.

Coleman, landman and agent for Koch, wrote Ralph Shelton in May, 1978, proposing that Shelton execute a lease granting Koch the estate’s mineral interest in return for a royalty to the estate for one-sixth of the estate’s interest in the production obtained. Id. at 34-35. In June, 1978, Coleman wrote Lorraine Shelton requesting that she execute a similar lease. Neither Ralph nor Lorraine Shelton acted on these requests.

On January 4, 1979, Coleman telephoned Lorraine Shelton in an attempt to persuade her to sign the lease. Id. at 123. Her interest was the only unsigned interest in the communitized area. Id. at 122. She testified that she asked Coleman what the consequences would be if she failed to sign the lease and was told by him that she would be charged with her share of the drilling expenses as part owner of the well. Id. at 167. She also testified that Coleman told her that, even if Koch hit a dry hole, she would be responsible for her share of the drilling expense unless she signed the lease. Id. at 168.

Ralph, who was visiting Lorraine at that time, testified that he asked Coleman where Koch planned to drill and was told that a drill site had not been selected and would not be selected until enough property had been obtained to make drilling worthwhile. Id. at 44. Ralph then asked Coleman where the closest well was to the Shelton location. Coleman responded that [798]*798Koch’s nearest well was along Highway 40 which was a mile and one-half from the Shelton property. Id. at 44, 60.

Lorraine signed the lease on February 1, 1979. Id. at 175. She testified that her reason for so doing was to avoid the expense involved in drilling. Id.; Tr. Vol. V, p. 227.

In March, 1979, Coleman telephoned Lorraine Shelton to procure an amendment to the lease changing the effective date from January 4, 1979, to October 15, 1978. Tr. Vol. IV, pp. 176-177. She testified that Coleman told her that if she did not sign the amendment, she would receive an one-eighth interest instead of the one-sixth interest agreed to under the lease. Id. at 178. She also testified that Coleman failed to inform her that the wells were producing. Id. Coleman contends that he did explain that the wells were producing. Tr. Vol. V, pp. 268-269. Lorraine signed the amendment in April, 1979. Tr. Vol. IV, p. 179.

Ralph Shelton testified that in August, 1979, he travelled to Duchesne County, Utah and discovered for the first time that the wells had been producing since November, 1978. Id. at 49-51. Shelton retained counsel to rescind the lease in October, 1979. Tr. Vol. VI, p. 365. On or about October, 1979, Shelton’s attorney wrote Koch tendering a check to Koch for $1,271.09, the bonus which Lorraine had received when she signed the lease, and notified Koch that the Sheltons were cancelling the lease. Koch returned the check and refused to cancel. Id. at 368-369. Lorraine authorized a suit against Koch by letter of December 13, 1979. Id. at 370. On May 30, 1980, the Sheltons, represented by different counsel, brought suit against Koch and Moncrief, the joint owners of Bates 9-1 and Reimann 10-1 wells, alleging two grounds for recission, fraud and lack of capacity on Lorraine’s part to enter into the lease. R. 1, 5-6. The trial court granted partial summary judgment in favor of the defendants, holding that Lorraine did have sufficient capacity to enter into the lease. R. 48, 51-52; Tr. Vol. Ill, p. 21.

After hearing evidence, the trial court ruled that Coleman had fraudulently misrepresented material facts which justified setting aside the lease. Tr. Vol. V, pp. 344-346; R. 112. The trial court also ruled that the Sheltons rescinded the lease in a timely fashion. Tr. Vol. VI, pp. 408-409.

Appellants argue that Coleman did not misrepresent material facts to the Sheltons. The trial court found that production was a material fact and that Coleman knew or should have known that the wells were producing. Tr. Vol. V, pp. 344-345. The trial court found that Coleman’s failure to disclose this fact on January 4, 1979, was a negligent misrepresentation. Id. at 344-346. It also found that Coleman negligently misrepresented to Lorraine the consequences of failing, to sign the amendment to the lease. Under the Utah force-pooling statute then in effect, Utah Code Ann. (1981) § 40-6-6, she would have been entitled to a one-eighth percentage of her interest free of any costs. Tr. Vol. V, p. 300.

On a trial to the court, resolution of factual issues and conflicting evidence lies solely within the province of the district court. Cowles v. Dow Keith Oil & Gas, Inc., 10 Cir., 752 F.2d 508, 511. The court’s findings of fact are presumptively correct and should not be set aside on appeal unless clearly erroneous. Id. A finding of fact is clearly erroneous if it is without factual support in the record or if the appellate court, after reviewing all the evidence, is left with a firm and definite conviction that a mistake has been made. Id. In the case at bar there is substantial evidence in the record to support the findings of the trial court. Implicit in its ruling that Coleman misrepresented to the Sheltons that production had not commenced is the decision to believe the Sheltons and not Coleman. The court had the opportunity to hear and observe the witnesses and to judge their credibility. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that Coleman negligently misrepresented material facts. See United States v. Hubbard, 10 Cir., 603 F.2d 137, 142-143.

[799]*799Appellants contend that our decision in Peterson v. Koch Industries, Inc., 10 Cir., 684 F.2d 667, requires a reversal of the trial court’s ruling that the Sheltons were entitled to rescind. Peterson was concerned with an oil and gas lease between Koch and a minor and involving the Bates 9-1 and Reimann 10-1 wells in Duchesne County. Coleman failed to volunteer information that the wells were producing. We held in Peterson, supra 684 F.2d at 671— 672, that:

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Shamas v. Koch Industries
759 F.2d 796 (Tenth Circuit, 1985)

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