Whitener v. State

450 P.2d 964, 75 Wash. 2d 332, 1969 Wash. LEXIS 745
Washington Supreme Court·Decided February 13, 1969·No. No. 40356·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

Ott, J.

June 2, 1958 a jury in the Superior Court for Grant County in an eminent domain proceeding awarded Sterling Whitener and Lilja Whitener, his wife, a verdict for the appropriation by the state of 12.6 acres of land found necessary for public use for the construction of certain off ramps to Primary Highway 18. November 28, 1958, based upon the jury’s verdict, a formal judgment and decree of appropriation was entered which provided, inter alia:

Now, Therefore, in accordance with the verdict of the jury returned and entered herein, and the foregoing findings, and the court being fully advised,
It Is Ordered, Adjudged, and Decreed that Ten Thousand Four Hundred Fifty-two 40/100 Dollars ($10,452.40) is the total amount of compensation, including interest and costs, to be paid into the registry of the court herein by petitioner for the owners, tenants, encumbrancers, and all other persons interested therein for the appropriation and use by the said petitioner as a right of way for state public road and highway of the following described lands, real estate, premises, and other property, together with access rights including air, view and light .of the abutting property to the right of way being acquired herein from said respondents in Grant County, Washington, to wit:
.... [Legal description of the 12.6 acres omitted]
[334] It Is Further Ordered, Adjudged and Decreed that upon payment into the registry of the above-entitled court of the sum of Ten Thousand Three Hundred and no/100 Dollars ($10,300.00), together with costs herein taxed at One Hundred Fifty-two and 40/100 Dollars ($152.40), the petitioner, the State of Washington, shall be and become the owner in fee simple of the lands, real estate, premises and appurtenances and other property sought to be appropriated herein, being Item No. 5, Parcel No. 12191, together with the access rights including air, view and light of the abutting property to the right of way being acquired herein from said respondents, and shall be entitled to enter into possession thereof and to take, hold, own and at all times thereafter use and possess the same and that such payment shall be in full for the taking, condemnation and appropriation and use of the same.
It Is Further Ordered, Adjudged and Decreed that upon payment of said award and judgment into the registry of the court in this cause, the clerk thereof be, and is hereby ordered and directed to satisfy said judgment and to hold such sum of money for distribution subject to the further order of this court.
It Is Further Ordered, Adjudged and Decreed that the State of Washington shall maintain a fence between said farm unit and the state highway, and that said fence shall be a four strand barbed wire, the strands to be twelve inches apart, the bottom strand to be twelve inches from the ground, the fence to be fifty inches high, steel posts 14 feet apart and that the State of Washington shall be liable for the maintenance of said fence.
It Is Further Ordered, Adjudged and Decreed that the State of Washington shall provide a drainage ditch, maximum width of 24 feet and minimum width of 12 feet at the top, varying in depth from two to four feet, located approximately parallel with the northerly right of way line of PSH No. 18 within the right-of-way as the right-of-way abutts [sic] the southern boundary of the respondents’ property. (Italics ours.)

Shortly after entry of the judgment, the state paid into the court’s registry the sum of $10,452.40, which was thereafter disbursed to the Whiteners. The highway has since been opened and used by the public for nearly 9 years.

[335] November 17, 1967, Sterling Whitener and his wife commenced an action against the state of Washington in Grant County, alleging inter alia that (1) the state had not constructed the drainage ditch as required in the decree of appropriation, (2) therefore part of the consideration for the appropriation had not been paid, and (3) title to the 12.6 acres of land should therefore be quieted in the plaintiffs. The complaint alleged a second cause of action for damages in the sum of $300,000 due to the lost use of the 12.6 acres in question and damage to adjacent farm lands resulting from the state’s unlawful construction of the highway. The state answered the first cause of action contending that title to the land in question vested in the state on or about March 28, 1959. It answered the second cause contending the Grant County court lacked jurisdiction to resolve the issue of damages because of the provisions of RCW 4.92.010, requiring such actions to be commenced in Thurston County. The Whiteners moved for summary judgment supported by affidavits and exhibits. The state likewise moved for summary judgment of dismissal supported by affidavits and exhibits. May 3, 1968, the court granted Whiteners’ motion for summary judgment and quieted in them title to the 12.6 acres and reserved jurisdiction to resolve the issue of damages at a later trial.

May 24, 1968 this court granted a restraining order preventing the Whiteners, pendente lite, from interfering in any manner with the movement of traffic on that portion of Public Highway 18 involved in this proceeding. July 17, 1968 we granted a writ of certiorari to review the efficacy of the trial court’s judgment entered May 3, 1968. The cause was heard before this court on October 14, 1968. The state’s principal assignment of error was that “[t]he trial court erred in accepting jurisdiction of this action and granting plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment.”

The facts are not in dispute and are substantially as above indicated. We are here concerned with whether the decree of appropriation required the construction of the ditch to be accomplished before title to the 12.6 acres passed to the state. The decree, set out above, provided [336] that when the $10,452.40 was deposited by the state into the registry of the court for the Whiteners. that, “the petitioner, the State of Washington, shall be and become the owner in fee simple of the lands . . . sought to be appropriated herein . . .

It is conceded that the state deposited the money into the registry of the court, and the sum thus deposited was disbursed to the Whiteners. The state immediately entered into possession and exercised dominion and ownership over the property as against the Whiteners and all others.

The decree expressly recited that “in accordance with the verdict of the jury” title was to vest in the state upon payment of $10,452.40. When the decree was prepared and presented to the court for signature, except for the payment of money, none of the conditions requiring future performance by the state (except for one not here material) were interpreted by the parties or by the court as conditions precedent to the passage of title.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Whitener v. State, 450 P.2d 964, 75 Wash. 2d 332, 1969 Wash. LEXIS 745 (Wash. 1969).

450 P.2d 964 (Whitener v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

State v. Shain
469 P.2d 214 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1970)