Clark v. Amoco Production Co.

• Citation: 794 F.2d 967
• Decision Date: 18 July 1986
• Docket Number: No. 85-2393,85-2393
• Parties: James CLARK, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. AMOCO PRODUCTION CO., etc., et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)

Page 967

794 F.2d 967

James CLARK, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. AMOCO PRODUCTION CO., etc., et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 85-2393.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

July 18, 1986.

Richard A. Ferris, Pittsburgh, Pa., for plaintiffs-appellants.

Tim Hatton, Beattyville, Ky., Kenneth R. Sheets, Xenia, Ohio, amicus.

Robert P. Thibault, R. Scott McCay, Houston, Tex., for Texaco, Inc.

Morris Harrell, Cynthia A. Keely, Michael V. Powell, Dallas, Tex., for Amoco Prod. Co.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Before WILLIAMS, GARWOOD and JONES, Circuit Judges.

JERRE S. WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge:

Appellants James Clark and Dan Profitt brought this suit on behalf of the estate of James R. Meadors ¹ against Amoco Production Co. and several other oil companies claiming a one-eighth interest in minerals extracted from land in Jefferson County, Texas, that include the famed Spindletop Oil Field. ² In their complaint, Clark and Profitt allege they are the administrators of Meadors' estate. Their claim is based upon the assertion that Meadors received a deed in 1911 granting him the interest at issue here. This deed was filed and recorded in 1931. On behalf of themselves and the rest of Meadors' heirs, Clark and Profitt now seek to recover this interest and they ask for an accounting of all minerals extracted from this property that they estimate will entitle them to twenty billion dollars in damages for appellees' use of and production from this land over the past seventy years.

Appellants' complaint was dismissed by the district court under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) for failing to state a claim. Specifically, the district court found that the appellants' claim was barred by the doctrines of presumed lost deed and laches. We reverse the dismissal of appellants' case, and we remand it for further proceedings.

I. ASSERTED FACTS

The allegations in appellants' complaint claim that James Meadors received in 1911 a deed from Ephraim Garonzik granting Meadors a one-eighth interest in mineral rights in 160 acres of Jefferson County, Texas. This deed was recorded in Jefferson County in 1931. Meadors died in or about 1939. In 1982, Clark and Profitt brought individual actions, as heirs of Meadors, against some of the present defendants seeking to obtain records that would establish Meadors' interest in this property. Initially, they filed their claim in Texas state court. Their suit, however, was subsequently removed by the defendants to federal district court in the Eastern District of Texas. Their claim was then dismissed pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) for failing to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. They did not appeal the dismissal.

In 1983, Clark and Profitt were appointed as administrators of Meadors' estate by the Register of Wills of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Clark and Profitt then initiated a diversity suit on behalf of the estate, thus including themselves and all of the other Meadors' heirs, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1332(a)(1). Realizing that the situs of the dispute was Texas and that the law applied would be Texas law, the district court in Pennsylvania transferred this case to the Eastern District of Texas on September 13, 1984, under the authority of 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1404(a).

Appellees then moved the district court to dismiss appellants' complaint pursuant to rule 12(b)(6) for failing to state a claim. The district court assigned this motion to a magistrate for hearing and a recommendation. The hearing was held on November 29, 1984, and the magistrate's report was filed on March 14, 1985. The magistrate recommended that the complaint be dismissed on the grounds of presumed lost deed and laches. The magistrate reported that res judicata probably barred the claim as well, but that it would be unfair to dismiss appellants' suit on that ground. The district court reviewed the report and adopted it in its entirety, dismissing appellants' claim under presumed lost deed and laches. It entered final judgment on May 2, 1985. We now review whether appellants' case was properly dismissed on these grounds. Additionally, we consider appellees' claim that this action is barred by the principles of res judicata.

II. TOO ABRUPTLY OUT OF COURT?

Appellants' claim was dismissed for failing to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. In reviewing this dismissal, we must adhere to the rigid Rule 12(b)(6) standard. We must construe appellants' complaint in the light most favorable to them and take all the allegations contained therein as true. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 1686, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974); Jamieson By and Through Jamieson v. Shaw, 772 F.2d 1205, 1207 (5th Cir.1985). A case should not be dismissed pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) "unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45, 78 S.Ct. 99, 102, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957).

Although Rule 12(b)(6) is a powerful tool to use in expediting the judicial process and excising court calendars of cases in which there are no judicially cognizable claims, it is a disfavored motion and is rarely granted. Sosa v. Coleman, 646 F.2d 991, 993 (5th Cir.1981). Rule 12(b)(6) should not be used as a substitute for a request for a more definite pleading within the meaning of Fed.R.Civ.P. 8. Sisk v. Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept., 644 F.2d 1056, 1059 (5th Cir.1981). Nor is a Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal warranted because the district court believes the plaintiff is unlikely to prevail on the merits. Scheuer, 416 U.S. at 236, 94 S.Ct. at 1686. Even if it seems "almost a certainty to the court that the facts alleged cannot be proved to support the legal claim," the claim may not be dismissed so long as the complaint states a claim. Boudeloche v. Grow Chemical Coatings Corp., 728 F.2d 759, 762 (5th Cir.1984).

To qualify for dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6), a complaint must on its face show a bar to relief. United States v. Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, 625 F.2d 547, 549 (5th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 451 U.S. 1002, 101 S.Ct. 2341, 68 L.Ed.2d 858 (1981). Although dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) is ordinarily determined by whether the facts alleged in the complaint, if true, give rise to a cause of action, a claim may also be dismissed if a successful affirmative defense appears clearly on the face of the pleadings. See Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Sales, Inc. v. Avondale Shipyards, Inc., 677 F.2d 1045, 1050 (5th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1105, 103 S.Ct. 729, 74 L.Ed.2d 953 (1983). As appellants' claim was dismissed on the basis of affirmative defenses, we review the dismissal by evaluating these defenses.

A. How Strong a Presumption of a Lost Deed?

Under the doctrine of presumed lost deed ³ a deed may be presumed to have been executed to one who has been in possession of land for a long period of time under a claim of title. Humphries v. Texas Gulf Sulphur Co., 393 F.2d 69, 72 (5th Cir.1968). The rationale for this policy is:

Since it is not consistent with human experience for one really owning property of value to assert no claim thereto, but to acquiesce for a long period of time in an unfounded, hostile claim, the rule is sound which permits the inference that an apparent owner has parted with his title....

Adams v. Slattery, 156 Tex. 433, 295 S.W.2d 859, 868 (1956), quoting Magee v. Paul, 110 Tex. 470, 221 S.W. 254, 256 (1920).

The presumed lost deed doctrine requires the proof of three elements: (1) a long asserted and open claim, adverse to that of the apparent owner; (2) a nonclaim by the apparent owner; and (3) acquiescence by the apparent owner in the adverse claim. Humphries, 393 F.2d at 73; Page v. Pan American Petroleum Corp., 381 S.W.2d 949, 952 (Tex.Civ.App.1964), cert. denied, 382 U.S. 820, 86 S.Ct. 45, 15 L.Ed.2d 66 (1965). Upon proof of all of these elements, a presumption arises that the party in possession received a grant or deed for the property at issue. The Texas courts in applying the doctrine rely upon the common sense rationale that a party with a legitimate claim to valuable property will not wait for years before asserting his claim.

Another stated justification for the application of the doctrine is that it becomes far more difficult for courts to determine the validity of claims to property once time has elapsed. Records of transactions are lost or destroyed, and the people who conducted or witnessed the transactions are dead or their memories have dimmed. See Jeffus v. Coon, 484 S.W.2d 949, 953 (Tex.Civ.App.1972).

Presumed lost deed must be pled and proved by the party asserting it. Harvey v. Humphreys, 178 S.W.2d 733, 736 (Tex.Civ.App.1944). The elements of presumed lost deed ordinarily present questions of fact. Swilley v. McCain, 374 S.W.2d 871, 876 (Tex.1964); Jeffus, 484 S.W.2d at 954. Although asserted by appellees, the defendants in this case, as an affirmative defense, there is no reason that presumed lost deed cannot be established by the content of a plaintiff's pleading. To do so, however, each element of the doctrine must be established through the pleadings. The district court in this case found that the appellants' pleadings concede the requisite elements. We disagree.

There can be little dispute that appellants' pleadings concede the existence of a long-asserted and open claim adverse to them. Their complaint, however, does not explicitly state or permit the inference to be made that no claims have been made or that they have otherwise acquiesced in the appellees' hostile and adverse possession of this property. Apparently, the district court merely assumed these facts because of the magnitude of the claim and the period of time involved. Although this may be a practical assumption in view of the circumstances of this case, it simply...