State ex rel. Department of Highways v. Holmes

194 So. 2d 181, 1967 La. App. LEXIS 5540
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 4, 1967
DocketNo. 10735
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 194 So. 2d 181 (State ex rel. Department of Highways v. Holmes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Department of Highways v. Holmes, 194 So. 2d 181, 1967 La. App. LEXIS 5540 (La. Ct. App. 1967).

Opinions

BOLIN, Judge.

The Department of Highways, State of Lousiana, expropriated a part of a certain lot with improvements located on the east side of Benton Road in Bossier City, Louisiana, for construction of a portion of Interstate 20. In accordance with the constitutional and statutory provisions the Department deposited in the registry of the court $35,950, being the appraised value of the lot and improvements of which $1,800 was fixed as severance damages.

The owners of the property, James M. Holmes and his divorced wife, Fleeta Adkins Holmes, answered the suit and sought an increase in the damages to $50,000 to be apportioned one-half to each. At the time of the taking Jimmy L. Cordell and his divorced wife were lessees of the property at a monthly rental of $200. The Cordells, having been named as defendants, reconvened separately, each asking that the lease be recognized as being in full force and effect until December 31, 1965 and that they be adjudged entitled to $20,000 which was alleged to be the value of the lease over and above the monthly rental for a period of five years.

By agreement of the parties the Holmes couple was permitted to withdraw from the registry of the court the sum of $13,350 being the difference between the appraised value of the land and improvements taken less the sum claimed by the Cordells. Holmes, his wife and the Department deny the Cordells are entitled to any reimbursement for their lease, claiming the lease expired December 31, 1962, prior to the expropriation.

Following trial on the merits the judgment was increased to $37,442.76 for the land, the improvements and severance damage in favor of the landowners. In a separate judgement the court awarded $12,000' to plaintiffs in reconvention, Jimmy L. Cordell and Alma Williams Cordell, and’ against defendant in reconvention, State of Louisiana, through the Department of Highways. This latter award was based on a finding the lease had an economic value of $400 per month; that Cordell had exercised his option to renew his lease, which had two years to run; and on the finding that he had an additional three-year option from December 31, 1965. An. intervention filed by Roy L. Cordell was-dismissed and he has not appealed.

The Department of Highways was granted devolutive appeals from both judgments of the lower court and the appellees filed motions to dismiss the appeals based on the-ground the Department has failed to comply with its duty to deposit the additional amount awarded by the trial court over the initial deposit of plaintiff when taking the appeal nor has it paid the excess to-these defendants. We think it necessary, prior to a determination of the correctness-of the lower court’s judgments allowing increases, first to dispose of the motions to dismiss. In brief filed in support of the motion attorney for defendant J. L. Cordell states there is no longer any issue between Jimmy Cordell and Alma Cor-dell concerning the distribution of the judgment as between them; in the divorce suit Jimmy Cordell has had the judgment judicially sequestered and both parties are-protected thereby.

It is admitted the Department of Highways has neither deposited the excess amounts of the trial court’s awards in the-registry of the court nor has it paid these amounts to appellees.

Appellees contend deposit of the excess is a prerequisite to the perfecting of a de-volutive appeal by plaintiff. In support of this contention we have been cited to Article 1, Sec. 2 and Article 6, Sec. 19.1 of the Constitution of Louisiana; Louisiana Re[183]*183vised Statutes 48:445 and 48:456; State of Louisiana, through the Department of Highways v. Rownd (Orl.App.1959) 119 So.2d 282 (cert. denied May 31, 1960); State v. Dodge (La.App. 3 Cir. 1964) 166 So.2d 286 and the extensive discussion of Justice Summers in State of Louisiana, through the Sabine River Authority v. Phares (Sup.Ct.1963) 245 La. 534, 159 So.2d 144, at 146-147.

Article 1, Sec. 2 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1921 provides:

“No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property, except by due process •of law. Except as otherwise provided in this Constitution, private property shall not be taken or damaged except for public purposes and after just and adequate ■compensation is paid.” (Emphasis add■ed.)

The authority for the Legislature to provide for the “quick-taking” of property for highway purposes is conferred by Article 6, Section 19.1 of the Constitution and the implementing statutes are found in Lottisiana Revised Statutes 48:441 et seq. The constitutional provision and the statutes passed pursuant thereto contemplate •deposit of just and adequate compensation, •or the appraised value of the property and damages to which the owner thereof may be entitled, prior to vesting of title in the Department of Highways.

The question then becomes: Is deposit of the appraised value in the registry of the court sufficient not only to allow title to vest but to allow an appeal by the Department of Highways from a judgment of a district court without depositing the excess? If this question is answered affirmatively does this amount to the granting of a suspensive appeal in violation of both Louisiana Revised Statutes 19:13 and Louisiana Civil Code Article 2634?

In State v. Rownd, supra, the Orleans Court of Appeal had before it the question of whether the deposit of the excess awarded by the lower court prior to appeal amounted to an acquiescence in the judgment so as to cut off the appellant’s right of appeal. In disposing of this question the court made the following pertinent observations :

* * * * * *
“When we come to consider the question of whether there has been acquiescence in the judgment, we note in the first place that, although in the special highway expropriation statute, Act 107 of 1954, LSA-R.S. 48:441 et seq., there is no express provision which grants to the Department of Highways the right to appeal, there are provisions which seem to us to indicate clearly that the Department has such a right though, for reasons which we shall later give, such an appeal may be devolutive only.
“There are two provisions in the statute to which attention should be directed, Section 459, captioned ‘Effect of appeal’, provides that no appeal ‘shall operate to prevent or delay the vesting of title * * *.’ The other section of the statute which is important is Section 454. It is captioned ‘Trial according to general expropriation laws.’ It provides that, except where specially otherwise provided in this amendment of 1954, these expropriation suits by the Department of Highways ‘are tried in accordance with the provisions of the general expropriation laws.’
“When we refer to the general expropriation laws which are to be found in LSA-R.S. 19, we find section 13, as amended by Act 706 of 1954 thereof, reads as follows:
“ ‘There is no suspensive appeal from any judgment rendered in an expropriation suit. When a devolutive appeal is taken by either party, payment to the owner of the amount awarded by the trial court, or the deposit thereof in the registry of the court, entitles the plaintiff to the [184]*184property described in the judgment in the same manner as would a voluntary conveyance. If any change in the amount awarded is made on that appeal, the plaintiff shall pay the additional assessment or recover the surplus paid.’

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Related

State ex rel. Department of Highways v. Holmes
196 So. 2d 535 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1967)

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Bluebook (online)
194 So. 2d 181, 1967 La. App. LEXIS 5540, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-department-of-highways-v-holmes-lactapp-1967.