Jenkins v. Morgan, 7826
| Decision Date | 03 August 1953 |
| Docket Number | No. 7826,7826 |
| Parties | JENKINS et ux. v. MORGAN et al. |
| Court | Utah Supreme Court |
W. D. Beatie, Salt Lake City, for appellants.
J. Rulon Morgan, Provo, Elias Hansen, Salt Lake City, for respondents.
In an action upon a supersedeas bond, plaintiffs appeal from a judgment awarding them $24.00 as damages for the use and occupation of 160 acres of land withheld by defendants, pending their unsuccessful appeal.
In 1944 defendants purchased a tax title and received a quitclaim deed from Utah County to plaintiffs' property. Plaintiffs sued to quiet title and were awarded a decree in their favor based on defects in the tax title proceedings. Defendants appealed and posted a supersedeas bond to stay the trial court's order granting possession to plaintiffs. This court affirmed the decree in an opinion reported at 113 Utah 534, 196 P.2d 871, Jenkins v. Morgan. The present case is a suit for damages caused by the facts of defendants in withholding possession of the property pending the decision on appeal.
The 160 acres here involved lie in Goshen Valley, Utah County. The lands in this valley historically have been used for grazing purposes, and the property was so used during the time that defendants enjoyed possession.
The trial court's decree quieting title in plaintiff's was entered May 20, 1947. Defendants filed notice of appeal in due time and on June 5, a supersedeas bond in the amount of $100.00 was posted staying the order of the trial court which granted possession to plaintiffs. On May 17, 1947, plaintiffs entered into a contract to sell the property to a Mr. Powelson. This contract recited that Powelson was desirous of purchasing the property should plaintiffs be successful in having their title quieted; that Powelson intended to break and cultivate the land and drill for water so he could harvest an irrigated crop in 1948. Plaintiffs were to deliver possession and title to the property on or before September 1, 1947, but in the event he was unable to do so, plaintiffs 'shall cause a lawsuit to be commenced as soon as possible for any damages caused by the delay of being able to deliver possession * * * for loss of the use of the lands * * * for the harvest of the year 1948 and all subsequent years.' During the month of August, 1947, plaintiffs made application to the State Engineer's office to drill a well on the land. They also secured the services of a government soil expert who made extensive soil tests to determine the potential agricultural value. Plaintiffs filed a motion excepting to the amount of the supersedeas bond and on August 27 a hearing was held at which plaintiffs stated to the court that they had contracted to sell the property to Powelson; that they had filed an application with the State Engineer to drill a well and indicated their and/or Powelson's intention of using the land for agricultural purposes. The soil specialist testified at that hearing as to the deep dark loamy type of soil and its potential for raising dry farm wheat. Defendants elected to retain possession of the property pending the appeal and on September 2, 1947 the amount of the bond was raised to $1,000.
On August 16, 1948 this court affirmed the decision of the district court quieting plaintiffs' title. The remittitur was docketed September 11, 1948. On December 6, 1948 plaintiffs conveyed the property to Powelson. Thereafter Powelson cultivated and raised crops as follows. The ground was broken in August, 1949 and in the spring of 1950, 80 acres were planted to dry farm wheat, 47 acres to irrigated wheat and 20 acres in potatoes. The well was drilled in the spring of 1949 and produced approximately one and one-half second feet of water. The 1950 wheat crop amounted to 1,200 bushels from the dry farm (15 bushels per acre) and 1885 bushels from the irrigated land (40 bushels per acre). An undetermined amount of potatoes was harvested.
Prior to the commencement of the instant action Powelson assigned to the plaintiffs any cause of action he might have arising from the delay caused by defendants' retention of possession pending appeal. Plaintiffs' complaint prays for damages in the total amount of $3,500. on the theory that they had been deprived of one and possibly two years' use of the land; that the land was valuable for agricultural purposes which the defendants well knew, having been so informed at the time the supersedeas bond was raised to $1,000. At the trial, plaintiffs produced several witnesses who testified that the reasonable rental value of this 160 acres for farming purposes was $30.00 per acre on the irrigable ground and $10.00 per acre on the non-irrigable.
The trial court sitting without a jury assessed the plaintiffs' damages at $24.00, based on ample testimony that grazing lands in the nearby vicinity rented for $.15 an acre in 1947 ($.15 X 160 acres = $24.00). Thus we have a situation in which land covered with sagebrush was used for grazing purposes only, but once plaintiffs' title was quieted by the trial court's decree, they announced their intention to put the land to agricultural use, and two years after the remittitur on appeal their grantee was successful in harvesting over three thousand bushels of wheat.
In awarding damages based on the rental value of the land as grazing ground rather than agricultural, the trial court made findings of fact to the effect: that when the supersedeas bond was raised to $1,000 the land was uncultivated and undeveloped native pasture land; that the reasonable rental value at that time was fifteen cents per acre; that the defendants were fully appraised as to plaintiffs' contemplation of using the lands for farming; that in consideration of the uncertainties of obtaining water by drilling and of the historic inability of the lands to be successfully cropped without irrigation, loss of use of the land for farming purposes was too speculative and uncertain...
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