City of Syracuse v. Hogan
| Decision Date | 16 January 1923 |
| Citation | 138 N.E. 406,234 N.Y. 457 |
| Parties | CITY OF SYRACUSE v. HOGAN et al. |
| Court | New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Action by the City of Syracuse against Thomas Hogan and others. From an order of the Supreme Court, Appellate Division (201 App. Div. 874,193 N. Y. Supp. 928) affirming an order of the Special Term denying a motion to strike the action from the Special Term calendar and send same to the Trial Term for trial by jury, defendants appeal by permission. The following question was certified: ‘Are the defendants entitled to a trial by jury as a matter of right?’
Order appealed from reversed, motion to strike from Special Term granted, and certified question answered in affirmative.
Thomas Hogan and Peter B. Cole, both of Syracuse, for appellants.
Frank J. Cregg, Corp. Counsel, of Syracuse (Frank Hopkins, of Syracuse, of counsel), for respondent.
The appellant is the owner of a lot of land situate on the westerly side of South Salina street, a public highway in the city of Syracuse, a correct description of which is set out in the complaint and admitted in the answer.
The complaint alleges that South Salina street in front of said premises is, and for more than 100 years prior to the commencement of the action has been, a public highway 99 feet in width, dedicated to the use of the public for street purposes, and is one of the public streets of the city; that plaintiff is, and at all times mentioned has been, the owner in fee of South Salina street adjoining appellant's lot on the east, or the fee thereof has been in the people of the state of New York and plaintiff holds the same in trust for the use of the public; that it is its duty to keep the streets within its borders free from obstructions and cause the removal therefrom of all encroachments thereon, and that ordinances have been passed for that purpose; that on the 1st of December, 1913, appellant wrongfully and unlawfully took from one Church and wife a deed purporting to convey to him a strip of land 29 feet in South Salina street adjoining his said premises on the east and extending along the entire South Salina street front of appellant's lot, to which the grantors in said deed had no title; that appellant now asserts and claims title to said strip and has incumbered the same with permanent buildings and structures. Then follow allegations to the effect that the maintenance of such buildings and structures is illegal and unauthorized; that plaintiff has demanded that the same be removed, but that the appellant has neglected and refused to comply with such demand; and that other defendants have certain interests in said premises, either as tenants or mortgagees. The judgment demands, with other things, that appellant be perpetually enjoined and restrained from further maintaining said building and encroachments, and that he be ordered and directed forthwith, at his own expense, to remove the same and restore the street and sidewalk in front of said premises to the condition they would be in if said buildings and encroachments were not thereon; that in case appellant fails in this respect that plaintiff be authorized to do so at his expense; that the deed from Church and wife to the appellant and the mortgages held by other defendants thereon be amended and reformed so as to exclude therefrom the strip in question.
The answer of the appellant, after admitting the ownership of the lot described in the complaint alleged to be owned by him, denied its other material allegations as to plaintiff's title in the strip of land conveyed to the appellant by Church and wife, and alleged that the appellant's grantors had a good title to said strip which they conveyed to him. The answer also set up as an affirmative defense that for a period of 65 years or more prior to the commencement of the action the appellant and his grantors and predecessors in title have been in possession of said 29-foot strip and have been in exclusive possession, control, and occupancy thereof, and that their title thereto has not, until the commencement of this action, been disputed or questioned by the plaintiff. The statute of limitations is also pleaded and other defenses, which it is unnecessary here to set forth.
After issue had been joined the plaintiff put the action on the Special Term calendar for trial. The appellant moved to have the same stricken therefrom, on the ground that it had been improperly placed thereon, since he, as a matter of right, was entitled to a jury trial. His motion was denied and then an appeal was taken by him to the Appellate Division, where the order was unanimously affirmed. Leave, however, was given to appeal to this court, and the following question certified: ‘Are the defendants entitled to a trial by jury as a matter of right?’
[1][2] If the appellant were entitled to have the issues tried by a jury as a matter of right, then the order appealed from is wrong and should be reversed; otherwise, it should be affirmed. The joinder of equitable causes of action with others purely legal does not deprive a defendant of the right of a trial by jury. Bradley v. Aldrich, 40 N. Y. 504, 511,100 Am. Dec. 528. An analysis of the complaint and answer indicates as it seems to me, as clearly as words can, that the main issue to be tried is the title to the 29-foot strip. The plaintiff alleges it has title and its right to immediate possession. Appellant denies that plaintiff has title and alleges he has the title and that he is rightfully in possession. The fact that plaintiff has, as an incident to the main question to be determined, asked for equitable relief, does not change the form of the action. The court looks to substance and not to form. It determines from the allegations of the complaint and answer the issue to be tried. The form of the action, however it may be disguised by words, allegations, or the prayer for judgment, will not be permitted to mislead the court or divert its attention from the main issue to be determined. The prayer for judgment is not decisive and does not control the nature of the action. Wright v. Wright, 54 N. Y. 437;Williams v. Slote, 70 N. Y. 601;Wetmore v. Porter, 2 N. Y. 76;Leary v. Geller, 224 N. Y. 56, 120 N. E. 31.
No matter what may be said, the action is to determine and settle the title to the 29-foot strip. This being so, the action is brought within the statutory definition of an ‘action in ejectment,’ which is, ‘An action to recover the immediate possession of real property.’ Code of Civil Procedure, § 3343, subd. 20; Civil Practice Act, § 7, subd. 8. The action being in ejectment, the appellant had a legal right to have the issues tried by a jury. The statute so provides. Code of Civil Procedure, § 968, subd. 2; Civil Practice Act, § 425, subd. 2. The Constitution provides that the right of trial by jury in all cases in which it has been heretofore used shall remain inviolate. Article 1, § 2. An action to recover the possession of land, where the title thereto is disputed, has, so far as I am aware, always been triable by a jury, and a defendant cannot be deprived of that right by allegations in a complaint that the plaintiff, if he establishes his title, is entitled to certain equitable relief. Bryan v. McGurk, 200 N. Y. 332, 337,93 N. E. 989. If the plaintiff succeeds upon the trial in establishing its title to the land in question, then the deed from Church and wife, and the mortgages given upon such strip, necessarily fall. In that event it requires no judicial decree to bring about such result. The judgment awarding plaintiff possession and decreeing that it has title is all that is necessary.
[4] It is contended that the real issue between the parties is the true location of the boundary line between adjoining owners; that is, between South Salina street and appellant's lot. But assuming this to be so, it does not deprive the defendant of a jury trial. This court stated in Leprell v. Kleinschmidt, 112 N. Y. 364, 19 N. E. 812, that it was not aware of any rule by which a dispute as to the true location of a boundary line between adjoining owners did not involve a question of title to real estate or constitute an exception to the characteristics of an action of ejectment or the remedies which that action affords.
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