Johnson v. Martin
| Decision Date | 24 November 1982 |
| Parties | Guy JOHNSON v. Billy Joe MARTIN. Civ. 3287. |
| Court | Alabama Court of Civil Appeals |
C.B. Caine, Jr., Moulton, for appellant.
Stephen V. Hammond of Chenault, Chenault & Hammond, Decatur, for appellee.
Isaac P. Espy of Gray & Espy, Tuscaloosa, for amicus curiae Ala. Soc. of Professional Land Surveyors.
The appeal is from a judgment for damages in a trespass action.
Billy Joe Martin sued Guy Johnson, a surveyor, for damages in a three count complaint. The first count was for a negligent survey; the second count was for wantonness in conducting the survey; and the third count was for trespass. The case went to the jury on the trespass count. A verdict was returned for the plaintiff and damages were awarded to him in the amount of $713. Johnson appeals, claiming that the trial court erroneously charged the jury on the measure of damages for this trespass action and that the trial court erred in refusing to give those written requested charges that related to the measure of damages in this trespass action.
The evidence shows that Guy Johnson, a private, licensed surveyor, was employed by an attorney to establish the boundary lines to the property adjoining that owned by Martin. This property owner planned to sell his parcel of property.
Johnson stated that he had never surveyed in that area before, but that he did have a copy of Martin's deed and copies of three previous surveys of this identical property at the time his survey crew made the survey. His survey conformed to these surveys.
Johnson conceded that his surveyor probably stepped over the line he was running onto Martin's property. The disputed strip of land was fourteen feet by eighty feet and had nothing on it. There was no fence or any other visible markers to establish a boundary line.
Martin had a survey made by a different surveyor, which survey did not match Johnson's survey. Martin contended that Johnson's survey established the boundary line fourteen feet over on his property. Martin filed a boundary line case against the former owner and the new owner of the property adjoining his property. Johnson did not testify in this lawsuit nor was his survey introduced in evidence. The court established the boundary line between the two parcels of property in conformity with the line established by Martin's surveyor. This line was different from the one established by Johnson.
Martin then filed suit against Johnson in a three count complaint as set out above. Martin sought damages, not only to his property, but also for the cost of the survey he had made, the costs of the attorney he hired to handle the boundary line dispute, for the time he lost from work during the time the boundary line case was being tried, and for the mental and emotional distress he suffered during the time he was waiting to have the boundary line case tried.
The court charged the jury that a trespass had been committed and that the only question for the jury would be whether Martin had suffered any damages and, if so, how much. The court then instructed the jury on the method to use in arriving at an amount for actual damage to the real and personal property. He further stated that in the absence of actual damages to the property, Martin could collect nominal damages. The court then instructed the jury that Martin could recover consequential damages for the trespass if they found that any had been suffered. The court then told the jury that they must decide if the expenses incurred by Martin to establish the boundary line between his property and the adjoining property resulted from Johnson's trespass. The court further charged the jury that if they found that Johnson's trespass caused Martin to suffer emotional or mental distress, they could award him damages for this suffering. In addition, the court told the jury that if they found that Johnson had trespassed in a rude or insulting manner, they could also award Martin punitive damages.
Johnson argues that the trial court erroneously charged the jury as to the various aspects of damages that they could consider in arriving at a verdict for Martin.
The measure of damage for injury to real property in a trespass action is the difference in the reasonable market value of the property immediately before the injury and the reasonable value of the property immediately after the injury. McCall v. Busey, 244 Ala. 162, 12 So.2d 401 (1943). In the absence of actual damage to property resulting from a trespass, the owner of the property is entitled to nominal damages. Foust v. Kinney, 202 Ala. 392, 80 So. 474 (1918). Damages to personal property may...
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