Lindsey v. Aldridge

• Decision Date: 07 September 2012
• Docket Number: 2100491.
• Citation: 104 So.3d 208
• Parties: Wanda Sue LINDSEY and Diedri Kay Lindsey v. Amos ALDRIDGE et al.
• Court: Alabama Court of Civil Appeals

104 So.3d 208

Wanda Sue LINDSEY and Diedri Kay Lindsey

v.Amos ALDRIDGE et al.

2100491.

Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama.

July 20, 2012.

Certiorari Denied Sept. 7, 2012

Alabama Supreme Court 1111447.

Charles A. Langley of Holder, Moore, Lawrence & Langley, P.C., Fayette, for appellants.

Clatus Junkin and Charles E. Harrison of Junkin, Pearson, Harrison, Junkin & Pate, LLC, Tuscaloosa, for appellees.

On Application for Rehearing

BRYAN, Judge.¹

This court's opinion of February 10, 2012, is withdrawn, and the following is substituted therefor.

Wanda Sue Lindsey (“Wanda Sue”) and Diedri Kay Lindsey ² (“Diedri”) appeal from a judgment in favor of Amos Aldridge, Syble Aldridge, Sharon Holliman, Stanley Crowell, Carl White, Mary White, and Louella Nelson (collectively referred to as “the defendants”) in a land dispute. We dismiss the appeal with respect to Diedri and affirm the judgment.

On January 16, 2008, Wanda Sue and Diedri, who are sisters, sued the defendants in Fayette Circuit Court, alleging that they jointly owned land that was coterminous with lands owned by the defendants, stating a claim seeking a determination of the location of a boundary line separating their land from the lands of the defendants, and stating a claim seeking an injunction enjoining the defendants from trespassing on land Wanda Sue and Diedri claimed to own.

Although he was not mentioned in the complaint, Jessie Curtis Lindsey (“Jessie”), a relative of Wanda Sue and Diedri, was also a joint owner of Wanda Sue and Diedri's land when the action was filed. However, on May 7, 2009, Wanda Sue, Diedri, and Jessie executed deeds conveying to each of them sole ownership of a portion of their jointly owned land.

The parcel conveyed to Wanda Sue abuts the north boundary of all the parcels owned by the defendants and abuts the west boundary of the parcel owned by the Aldridges, Holliman, and Crowell, which we will refer to as “parcel 1.” Diedri's parcel abuts the south boundary of parcel 1, but it does not abut either the parcel owned by the Whites, which we will refer to as “parcel 2,” or the parcel owned by Nelson, which we will refer to as “parcel 3.” Jessie's parcel is not coterminous with any of the defendants' parcels.

Parcel 1 is bounded on the east by the west right-of-way of County Road 100, a paved road that runs generally north and south. Parcel 2 is bounded on the west by the east right-of-way of County Road 100 and is bounded on the east by parcel 3. In addition to separating parcels 1 and 2, County Road 100 bisects the portion of Wanda Sue's parcel that abuts the north boundaries of parcels 1, 2, and 3.

The common boundary line separating Wanda Sue's parcel from parcels 1, 2, and 3 (i.e., the north boundaries of parcels 1, 2, and 3) is described in the deeds in Wanda Sue's chain of title and in the deeds in the chains of title of parcels 1, 2, and 3 as the quarter-quarter section line separating the northwest quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 12 in Fayette County from the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 12 (“the quarter-quarter section line”). However, Wanda Sue claims that, by virtue of the hybrid form of adverse possession applicable in boundary-line disputes, most of the common boundary line separating her parcel from parcels 1, 2, and 3 is now south of the quarter-quarter section line. The defendants all contend that the quarter-quarter section line is still the common boundary line separating Wanda Sue's parcel from parcels 1, 2, and 3.

On May 8, 2009, the day after Wanda Sue, Diedri, and Jessie had executed deeds conveying to each of them sole ownership of a portion of their jointly owned land, the trial of the action began. The action was tried before the trial judge sitting without a jury, and the trial judge received evidence ore tenus. In addition, at the request of the parties, the trial judge viewed the land. During the trial, Wanda Sue and Diedri moved, pursuant to Rule 15(b), Ala. R. Civ. P., for leave to amend their complaint to add a claim of adverse possession by prescription, and the trial judge granted that motion.

At trial, the evidence established that Horace Greeley Nelson, a common ancestor of Wanda Sue, Diedri, Jessie, and the defendants, had owned Wanda Sue's parcel, Diedri's parcel, Jessie's parcel, and parcels 1, 2, and 3. The evidence further established that, in 1951, Horace Greeley Nelson subdivided his land and conveyed it to his children. The evidence also established that, before Horace Greeley Nelson subdivided his land and conveyed it to his children, he had fenced in an area on what is now parcel 1 to use as a cow pasture (“the cow pasture”).

Wanda Sue and her witnesses testified that, after her and Diedri's father, Rudolph Lindsey, acquired title to the parcel now owned by Wanda Sue in 1957, he made exclusive use of the cow pasture for pasturing his cows until he died in 1992. However, Holliman, one of the owners of parcel 1, testified that her grandfather had also used the cow pasture for pasturing cows until the 1960's, and Mary White, one of the owners of parcel 2, testified that her family had also used the cow pasture for pasturing livestock until 1974. Moreover, Holliman testified that, despite Wanda Sue's father's use of the cow pasture, her family considered the cow pasture to be their land and that they had not told Wanda Sue's father to remove his cows from the cow pasture “because everybody just worked together.” Holliman further testified that, upon Rudolph Lindsey's death in 1992, his family removed his cows from the cow pasture and that his family had not made continuous use of the cow pasture thereafter. Wanda Sue contended at trial and contends before this court that, by virtue of the hybrid form of adverse possession applicable in boundary-line disputes, her father acquired ownership of the cow pasture by making exclusive use of it for 10 years. Thus, according to Wanda Sue, the southern and western fence lines of the cow pasture now constitute a portion of the common boundary line separating her parcel from parcel 1. The owners of parcel 1 contend that Rudolph Lindsey did not adversely possess the cow pasture and that the quarter-quarter section line still constitutes the entire common boundary line separating Wanda Sue's parcel from parcel 1.

A gravel road runs southwestward across the cow pasture from County Road 100 to Diedri's parcel, which is located south of parcel 1. Diedri began using the gravel road as a driveway approximately 4 years before trial. When the complaint commencing this action was filed, she was a joint owner of the parcel now owned by Wanda Sue and, like Wanda Sue, claimed to own the cow pasture by virtue of her father's alleged adverse possession of it. However, when she conveyed her interest in the parcel abutting the north boundary of parcel 1 to Wanda Sue on May 7, 2009, Diedri conveyed to Wanda Sue any right Diedri might have had to ownership of the cow pasture by adverse possession, and she did not plead a separate claim seeking a determination that she had a right to use the gravel road that runs across the cow pasture from County Road 100 to her parcel.

Wanda Sue contended at trial that the common boundary line separating her parcel from parcels 2 and 3 had been moved from the quarter-quarter section line to 1 of 3 alternative locations by virtue of the hybrid form of adverse possession applicable in boundary-line disputes. First, she contended that the common boundary line had been moved to a line we will refer to as “the pea-patch line.” Wanda Sue contended that the common boundary line had been moved to the pea-patch line by virtue of her family's allegedly making exclusive use of the portions of parcel 2 and 3 located north of the pea-patch line for growing peas for more than 10 years. Although Wanda Sue introduced evidence indicating that the pea-patch line was located close to the Whites' house, which was located near the south boundary of parcel 2, she did not introduce evidence establishing the precise location of the pea-patch line. Moreover, Mary White testified that her family had also grown peas in the portion of parcel 2 where Wanda Sue and her witnesses testified that Wanda Sue's family had made exclusive use of the pea patches. In addition, Mary White testified that there were periods when mobile homes were located in that portion of parcel 2 and that no one grew peas in that portion of parcel 2 when the mobile homes were present.

Second, Wanda Sue contended that the common boundary line could be determined by projecting an imaginary line (“the projected imaginary line”) across parcels 2 and 3 on the same bearing as the south fence of the cow pasture, which is located on parcel 1 and is on the other side of County Road 100. However, she did not introduce any evidence indicating that the projected imaginary line coincided with any landmarks or the demarcation line of any use her family had made of parcels 2 and 3.

Third, Wanda Sue contended that her mother had fenced in an area on parcels 2 and 3 in 1993 and had made exclusive use of that area as a horse pasture (“the horse pasture”) since then and, therefore, that the south fence line of the horse pasture (“the horse-pasture line”) had become the common boundary line separating her parcel from parcels 2 and 3 by virtue of the hybrid form of adverse possession applicable in boundary-line disputes.

When Diedri conveyed her interest in the parcel abutting the north boundaries of parcels 2 and 3 to Wanda Sue on May 7, 2009, she conveyed to Wanda Sue any right Diedri might have had to ownership of any portion of parcels 2 and 3 by adverse possession.

Following the trial and his view of the land, the trial judge, on November 12, 2010, entered a judgment ruling:

“1. That the Court finds all issues in favor of the Defendants and against [Wanda Sue and Diedri].

“2. That the true boundary lines between the property of Defendants Amos...