Young v. Seaway Pipeline, Inc.

1977 OK 248, 576 P.2d 1144, 1977 Okla. LEXIS 830
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedDecember 20, 1977
Docket49375. Consolidated with 48890
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 1977 OK 248 (Young v. Seaway Pipeline, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Young v. Seaway Pipeline, Inc., 1977 OK 248, 576 P.2d 1144, 1977 Okla. LEXIS 830 (Okla. 1977).

Opinion

IRWIN, Justice.

These appeals were previously consolidated by order of this Court. Both appeals arise out of condemnation proceedings initiated in the District Court of Lincoln County, Oklahoma, for the acquisition of a pipeline right-of-way by Seaway pipeline, Inc. (appellee) across land owned by Glenn 0. Young (appellant). While the parties are in disagreement as to some aspects of almost all the occurrences taking place, and most assuredly disagree as to the import of those events, the following is a fair recitation of facts.

Notice of the condemnation proceedings was served on appellant, but was subsequently quashed on appellant’s objection. Alias summons was issued and delivered to the Sheriff of Creek County for personal service on appellant at his place of business in that county. A deputy notified appellant of her commission and proceeded to his offices for the purpose of serving the notice. Notice was hand delivered to appellant, who refused to accept the document on the grounds that he was not the named defendant. The name of the defendant recited in the caption of the notice was “Glen 0. Young” and appellant’s true name is “Glenn 0. Young”.

On the date specified for the appointment of commissioners, appellant appeared specially and objected to the jursidiction on the grounds that he was not served with notice. Also that said notice was defective because it was served out of time and without a copy of the petition. Appellant’s objections were overruled and commissioners were appointed.

The commissioners viewed the land and filed their report of appraisement. Appellant entered written exceptions to the commissioners’ report and also filed his election for a jury trial. Appellee, believing the commissioners’ report may have been defective and the defect incurable due to the death of one of the commissioners, filed an application requesting the trial court to vacate the prior commission and its report and to appoint, instruct and swear new commissioners.

*1146 The trial court held a hearing on appel-lee’s application and vacated the appointment of commissioners and their report, appointed new commissioners, set a time for them to appear and be sworn and struck from the Court’s docket the hearing date previously set for presentation of appellant’s exceptions to the commissioners report. Appellant appealed from that order in case No. 48,890.

Subsequently, the newly appointed commissioners appraised appellant’s property and filed their report. Appellant filed exceptions to this report. Appellee paid into court the amount of the commissioners’ appraisal. Subsequently appellee made application for a temporary restraining order, and a temporary and permanent injunction, to prevent appellant from interfering with appellee’s construction work. The application of appellee for injunctive relief was predicated upon allegations that appellant had prevented appellee’s entrance upon the land subject to condemnation proceedings.

At hearing on the issue of the temporary restraining order, appellant appeared specially for the purpose of objecting to the jurisdiction of the court for the reason notice of the application for injunctive relief had not been served on him personally. Consideration of appellant’s exceptions was continued but the trial court granted appel-lee’s application for a temporary restraining order, conditioned upon a filing of a $50,-000.00 bond. Bond was posted and the restraining order issued. Appellant refused service of the restraining order. The previously docketed hearing on appellant’s exceptions and appellee’s application for a temporary injunction were continued with the temporary restraining order expressly made of continuing effect during the interim.

Prior to the new hearing date on appellant’s exceptions, appellant was cited for contempt because of an alleged violation of the restraining order. After a full eviden-tiary hearing on appellant’s exceptions, the exceptions were overruled. Appellant filed a motion for a new trial. By journal entry dated January 23, 1976, trial court overruled appellant’s motion for a new trial. The same order also overruled previously filed but unresolved motions on behalf of appellant to dissolve the temporary restraining order and for summary judgment in appellant’s favor. On the same date appellee was granted a temporary injunction conditioned upon filing of an additional $50,000.00 bond. From the trial court’s orders of January 23rd, appellant appealed in case No. 49,375.

Before commencing our discussion of the applicable law in these appeals we should first deal with appellee’s contention that the appeal in Case No. 48,890 is not properly maintainable since it is an appeal from a purely interlocutory order. The trial court’s order vacating the first appointment of commissioners and their report is interlocutory. Wrightsman v. Southwestern Natural Gas Co., 173 Okl. 75, 46 P.2d 925 (1935); City of Eufaula v. Ahrens, 58 Okl. 180, 159 P. 327 (1916). Furthermore, by vacating the first report and the appointment of the first group of commissioners, the trial court rendered moot all of appellant’s exceptions predicated upon some defect in the manner the commissioners were chosen, instructed, sworn and pursued their duty. In condemnation proceedings irregularities connected with the appointment of appraisers must be prejudicial to the right of the party asserting it, to constitute error. Arkansas Louisiana Gas Co. v. Maggi, Okl., 409 P.2d 369 (1965). As to appellant’s technical exceptions, he can hardly complain where the trial court vacated the report for precisely some of the reasons appellant asserted the report was defective.

Appellant’s exceptions to the first report of the commissioners also contained allegations going to appellee’s authority to exercise the power of eminent domain. These exceptions, together with his continued assertion of the jurisdictional issue, were not in the slightest adversely affected by the trial court’s order. All of them could be and were asserted as exceptions to the second report filed by the new commissioners. Appellant’s exceptions relating to *1147 appellee’s authority to condemn were in truth factual defenses. The statutory condemnation procedure provides no place for the assertion of factual defenses until after filing of the report of the commissioners. Board of County Commissioners of Creek County v. Casteel, Okl., 522 P.2d 608 (1976). Appellant’s jurisdictional issue and his factual defenses will therefore be considered in the context of ease No. 49,375.

Appellant has consistently contended that personal jurisdiction was never obtained over him because the alias summons with which he was served recited the defendant as “Glen 0. Young” rather than his true name of “Glenn 0. Young”. As a general rule mere irregularities in the form of process does not render it void where such defective process “is sufficient to advise the defendant of the nature of the case, the court in which it is filed, and his interest therein”. Texas Title Guaranty Co. v. Mardis, 186 Okl. 433, 98 P.2d 593 (1940). More directly to the alleged irregularity in the summons before the Court is the case of State ex rel. Moore v. Curry, 208 Okl.

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Young v. Seaway Pipeline, Inc.
1977 OK 249 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1977)

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Bluebook (online)
1977 OK 248, 576 P.2d 1144, 1977 Okla. LEXIS 830, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/young-v-seaway-pipeline-inc-okla-1977.