State ex rel. Jiner v. Foard

157 S.W. 619, 251 Mo. 51, 1913 Mo. LEXIS 191
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedJune 2, 1913
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 157 S.W. 619 (State ex rel. Jiner v. Foard) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Jiner v. Foard, 157 S.W. 619, 251 Mo. 51, 1913 Mo. LEXIS 191 (Mo. 1913).

Opinion

GRAVES, J.

Original proceeding in prohibition. The facts of the case must.be gathered from the returns, as the" case proceeds here upon the pleadings, without evidence. Judge Foard of the Butler Circuit Court, one of the respondents, makes returns as follows :

“Now comes J. P. Foard, one of the respondents herein, and for his return to the writ of prohibition issued in this case, respectfully says
“That he is now, and was at the time mentioned in said writ, the duly acting and qualified judge of circuit court of Butler county, Missouri.
“That on the 14th day of February, 1913, in the circuit court of Butler county, Missouri, and at the January term of said court, decree was entered in favor of Lizzie Jiner, relator herein, against London Jiner, respondent herein, in an ejectment suit involving the real property in relator’s petition herein described, and that London Jiner was the defendant in said ejectment suit and in possession of the property.
[54]*54“That on February 20, 1913, and during the same term of the Butler Circuit Court, said London Jiner filed a suit against Lizzie Jiner to recover the value of improvements made by him in good faith, believing he was the owner of said property, and in his petition in said cause asked that defendant be enjoined from taking possession of said premises until, this action could be heard and determined.
“That on March 3, 1913, this respondent made an order in the circuit court of Butler county, Missouri, enjoining said Lizzie Jiner from obtaining writ of restitution for the possession of said premises until the termination of suit for the value of improvements on said property.
“That on March 3, 1913, and after the last above described order was made, said Lizzie Jiner filed a motion to rescind said order, and that' said motion was overruled .by this respondent on the 7th day of March, 1913.
“Respondent further states that the Butler Circuit Court was adjourned to court in course, and that thereafter on the - day of March, 1913, this respondent was served with notice that relator would apply to this court for writ of prohibition herein.
“Respondent says that he is willing now and at all times to obey whatever orders this honorable court may see proper to make in the premises; and avers that he issued the restraining orders as he believed he had a right to do, under the laws of this State, and having fully made return respectfully prays to be hereof discharged. ’ ’

The order or judgment of March 3, 1913, referred to in the return is as follows:

“Now at this time it appears to the court, that in an ejectment proceeding heard and determined in this court on February 14, 1913, in which Lizzie Jiner was plaintiff, and London Jiner was defendant, said Lizzie Jiner obtained judgment against said London Jiner [55]*55for the possession of lot 8 in block 12 of Clevlen & Foley’s subdivision of the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 34, township 25 north, range 6 east, in Butler county, Missouri, which judgment was and is unappealed from; and it appears that afterward, to-wit, on the 20th day of February, 1913, and at the same term of this court, said London Jiner instituted this suit, which appears to be an action for improvements made in good faith believing he was the legal owner of the aforesaid premises, and praying among other things that said Lizzie Jiner, the defendant in this action, be enjoined from taking possession of said premises by virtue of the aforesaid judgment until the final termination of this suit.
“And it appearing that the plaintiff, London Jiner, upon the facts stated in the petition is entitled to the relief prayed for, it is ordered that defendant herein be enjoined from obtaining writ of restitution, and that the defendant, her agents and servants be enjoined from taking possession of the above described lands until the final hearing of this cause or the further order of this court.”

Respondent London Jiner filed a motion to dismiss the relator’s petition for writ of prohibition, assigning therein several grounds or reasons therefor, which if necessary will be noted later. Under the facts stated in the return should a writ of prohibition go, is the question with which we are vexed.

I. We have not set out the petition of London Jiner, the unsuccessful defendant in ejectment, but it will be sufficient to say that the said London at least attempted to bring an action under sections 2401 and 2402, Revised Statutes 1909. These sections become material in the discussion of the case, and we will quote them. Section 2401 reads:

“Sec. 2401. If a judgment or decree of dispossession shall be given in an action for the recovery of [56]*56possession of premises, or in any real action in favor of a person having a better title thereto, against a person in the possession, held by himself or by his tenant, of any lands, tenements or hereditaments, such person may recover,- in a court of competent jurisdiction, compensation for all improvements made by him in good faith on snch lands, tenements or hereditaments, prior to his having had notice of such adverse title. ’ ’

Section 2402 reads':

“Sec. 2402: The plaintiff in his petition shall set forth the nature of his title, the length of his possession and the kind and value of the improvements made; and shall also aver therein that he entered into the possession of the land, believing that he had good title thereto, and that he made the improvements specified in the petition in good faith, under .the belief' that he had good title to the land, and shall be verified by his affidavit thereto annexed. ’ ’

su1tPendent We have held that "when the defendant in ejectment does not claim title from or through the plaintiff, then his action for improvements must ailc^ as a11 independent action. That in snch ease the value of the improvements cannot be adjudicated in the ejectment suit proper, but must be adjudicated in an action under the statute. [Tice v. Fleming, 173 Mo. 1. c. 56 et seq.; Bristol v. Thompson, 204 Mo. 366; Mann v. Doerr, 222 Mo. 1. c. 19.]

London Jiner, the unsuccessful defendant in the éjectment suit, has proceeded under the statute and his rights in this action now before us must be measured by the statute. Not only so, but the action of the circuit judge, his co-respondent in the pending case, must likewise be gauged by those statutes. Pertinent to the case is another section of the chapter pertaining to ejectment. It is section 2403, Revised Sttautes 1909, [57]*57and immediately succeeds the sections we have quoted, supra. The language of this section is:

“Sec. 2403. An injunction may be granted to stay the plaintiff from taking possession of the land until the value of the improvements is ascertained, or until the further order of the court. ’ ’

We have here expressed statutory authority for the granting of an injunction in cases brought under these statutes, and this we do not understand that counsel for relator deny. Their contention is that the judgment which we have quoted is not a final judgment in injunction, and therefore should not have been entered until an injunction bond had been given.

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Bluebook (online)
157 S.W. 619, 251 Mo. 51, 1913 Mo. LEXIS 191, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-jiner-v-foard-mo-1913.