LaVelle v. Fair Oil Co.

• Decision Date: 20 December 1963
• Docket Number: No. 40193,40193
• Citation: 388 P.2d 13
• Parties: Dalsy LaVELLE and Daisy LaVelle, Executrix of the Estate of Bert LaVelle, Deceased, Plaintiffs in Error, v. FAIR OIL COMPANY, Defendant in Error.
• Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court

Page 13

388 P.2d 13

1963 OK 295

Dalsy LaVELLE and Daisy LaVelle, Executrix of the Estate of Bert LaVelle, Deceased, Plaintiffs in Error, v. FAIR OIL COMPANY, Defendant in Error.

No. 40193.

Supreme Court of Oklahoma.

Dec. 20, 1963.

Syllabus by the Court

1. In an action of legal cognizance the jury is the sole judge of the facts and the inferences to be drawn therefrom, and where there is any evidence, or inferences to be drawn therefrom, reasonably tending to sustain a petition stating a cause of action, it is prejudicial error to sustain a demurrer to the evidence.

2. The possession of real property carries with it the presumption of ownership and the open, actual possession of such property gives notice to the world of just such interest as the possessor actually has.

3. Where a plaintiff alleges more than one cause of action against a defendant and the trial court sustains a demurrer to one of the causes of action and does not render judgment thereon, and there remains pending other issues to be determined, the trial court's order sustaining a demurrer to the one cause of action is not a final and appealable order as that term is employed in our statutory provisions relating to the time within which appeals from final orders must be perfected.

Appeal from the Court of Common Pleas of Tulsa County, Rooney McInerney, Judge.

Action by plaintiffs against Fair Oil Co., to recover damages allegedly sustained from the development and operation of a leasehold estate. From judgment of the trial court sustaining a demurrer to plaintiffs' evidence and order overruling plaintiffs' motion for a new trial, plaintiffs appeal. Reversed and remanded with directions.

Johnson, Fisher & LeDonne, Lewis C. Johnson, Ted R. Fisher, Tulsa, for plaintiffs in error.

R. Robert Huff, Tulsa, for defendant in error.

IRWIN, Justice.

Bert LaVelle and Daisy LaVelle, commenced an action against Fair Oil Company to recover damages allegedly sustained from the development and operation of a leasehold estate. Bert LaVelle died during pendency and the cause as to him was revived in the name of the Executrix of his estate.

The petition alleged five causes of action and the trial court sustained defendant's demurrer to the fifth cause. The other four causes were presented to the jury and at the conclusion of plaintiffs' evidence, the trial court sustained defendant's demurrers to plaintiffs' evidence on the grounds that the evidence was insufficient to show that Fair Oil Company was the owner or operator of the leasehold estate during the time the alleged damages were sustained. Plaintiffs perfected this appeal from the order overruling their motion for a new trial.

PROPOSITION I

The first issue to be resolved is whether the trial court erred in sustaining defendant's demurrers to plaintiffs' evidence on the grounds it was insufficient to show that Fair Oil Company was the owner or operator of the leasehold estate during the time the alleged damages were sustained. We will examine the evidence to make this determination and in so doing we should be cognizant of the rule announced in McReynolds v. Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, Okl., 291 P.2d 341, wherein we held:

'In passing upon a demurrer to the evidence, the court does not weigh the evidence. The demurrer admits every fact which the evidence in the slightest degree tends to prove, and all inferences and conclusions that may be reasonably and logically drawn from the same, and, where there is any conflict in the plaintiff's evidence that would make any part of it unfavorable to plaintiff, or sustains the defense, the court, in passing upon such demurrer, should consider such evidence withdrawn.

'The jury is the sole judge of the facts and the inferences to be drawn therefrom, and where there is any evidence, or inferences to be drawn therefrom, reasonably tending to sustain a petition stating a cause of action, it is prejudicial error to sustain a demurrer to the evidence.'

See also Byrd v. Marlin, 208 Okl. 655, 258 P.2d 649.

The record discloses that plaintiffs own the land and had executed an oil and gas lease in favor of William R. Wood, Jr., who drilled a well thereon. The lease was subsequently assigned to R. W. Fair and it was stipulated that R. W. Fair was President of Fair Oil Company. After the lease was assigned to R. W. Fair, Fair Oil Company plugged the well. Plaintiffs received a check from Fair Oil Company in the sum of $150.00 for location damages for the drilling of a second location on the leasehold estate. They also received a check in the sum of $105.00 from Fair Oil Company for damages in laying a salt water line and a check from Fair Operating Company in the sum of $150.00 for plugging two wells.

The evidence further discloses that a portion of the equipment, machinery and trucks used in the development and operation of the leasehold estate had the name 'Fair Oil Company' on them. The name 'Fair Oil Company' was stamped or stenciled on the pump jacks of two wells, and all of plaintiffs' complaints concerning the operation of the lease were made to 'Fair Oil Company'.

Defendant alleged in its answer that '* * * Fair Oil Company, at the time of filing this answer admits that it is the owner of a fractional part of * * * the oil and gas lease; that * * * Fair Oil Company, at the time of filing this answer, is the Unit Operator * * *'; and that '* * * at all times the defendant, Fair Oil Company has been the Unit Operator * * * it has performed its duties, responsibilities and obligations for the unitized management * * * in accordance with the laws of the State of Oklahoma * * *'.

Although the record is silent as to when R. W. Fair assigned his interest or a portion of his interest in the oil and gas lease to Fair Oil Company, by Fair Oil Company's answer, it admits that an assignment had been made or that it had acquired and owned a fractional part of the oil and gas lease. Under Title 16 O.S.1961 § 15, the fact that such assignment may not have been filed for record did not affect the force and effect of such assignment as between R. W. Fair and Fair Oil Company.

In the instant action, we must take as true the evidence that Fair Oil Company issued two checks to plaintiffs, one for location damages and one for laying a salt water pipe line; that plaintiffs made their complaints to Fair Oil Company; that Fair Oil Company brought its equipment, machinery and trucks on the property for the development and operation of the leasehold estate; and that Fair Oil Company had its name stamped or stenciled on the pump jacks of two wells. Therefore, in considering all of the inferences and conclusions which may be logically and reasonably drawn from such facts, there was evidence of possession of, or an interest in, the leasehold estate by Fair Oil Company.

We have held that possession of real property carries with it the presumption of ownership and the open, actual possession of such property gives notice to the world of just such interest as the possessor actually has. See Jones v. Sharp, 183 Okl. 22, 79 P.2d 585; James v. Union Graded School Dist. No. 2, Muskogee County, 201 Okl. 573, 207 P.2d 241; and Welch v. Langley, Okl., 264 P.2d 347.

We...