Philpot v. State

• Decision Date: 14 June 2002
• Parties: Caroline Chapman PHILPOT et al. v. STATE of Alabama et al.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

843 So.2d 122

Caroline Chapman PHILPOT et al. v. STATE of Alabama et al.

1002116.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

June 14, 2002.

Rehearing Denied August 30, 2002.

George K. Williams of Watson, Jimmerson, Givhan & Martin, P.C., Huntsville; and Thomas K. Jefferson, Huntsville, for appellants.

John F. Porter III, Scottsboro, for appellee Jacobs Bank.

J.R. Brooks, William B. Tatum, and Jeffrey T. Kelley of Lanier Ford Shaver & Payne, P.C., Huntsville, for appellee RBC Limited Partnership. HOUSTON, Justice.

This action was originally brought by the State of Alabama in the Probate Court of Madison County as a petition to condemn a strip of land that abuts U.S. Highway 72 East in Huntsville. Caroline Chapman Philpot, individually and as trustee under the last will and testament of Elizabeth H. Chapman; Rosalie Pettus Price; Reuben Chapman V; and Erle Pettus, Jr., individually and as trustee under the last will and testament of Reuben Chapman IV (hereinafter collectively referred to as "the Chapman heirs";¹ where appropriate, the Chapman heirs shall include their predecessors and the decedents whose estates are represented) and RBC Limited Partnership were made parties to the condemnation action.² The probate court granted the petition to condemn the property. The State of Alabama, the Chapman heirs, and RBC Limited appealed to the Madison Circuit Court.

In the circuit court, Jacobs Bank and Henson, Inc., were allowed to intervene as defendants based on their claims that they owned portions of the strip of land. The Chapman heirs then brought as a cross-claim a declaratory-judgment action against RBC Limited, Jacobs Bank, and Henson, Inc. (hereinafter collectively referred to as "the defendants"), to determine who actually owned the land. After an evidentiary hearing, the circuit court found that the defendants owned the land in fee simple absolute. The Chapman heirs filed a motion for a new trial, or in the alternative, a motion to alter, amend, or vacate the judgment. The motion was denied, and after the trial court certified its judgment as final pursuant to Rule 54(b), Ala. R. Civ. P., the Chapman heirs appealed. We reverse and remand.

In 1932, the Chapman heirs conveyed to Madison County an 80-foot wide by 6,100-foot long strip of land; U.S. Highway 72 was later constructed on that strip of land. In 1936, the Chapman heirs conveyed to Madison County two additional 60-foot strips of land on either side of the original 80-foot strip. However, the 1936 deed, unlike the 1932 deed, contained a reversion clause; that clause states:

"PROVIDED, HOWEVER, it is understood that the lands herein conveyed and granted from the grantors herein to Madison County, Alabama, is to be used for the purpose of roadside improvements, including grading, constructing of slopes and ditches, planting, beautifying, maintaining and tending; and in the event Madison County or its assigns or the State of Alabama, or its assigns, shall cease to use and maintain the lands herein conveyed as herein provided, and as originally used and maintained hereunder the right of the grantee or its assigns shall cease and determine, and the title to the lands herein conveyed shall revert to the grantors, their heirs or assigns."

In 1963, the Chapman heirs conveyed by a fee simple warranty deed 18 acres of land that abutted the 60-foot strip on the south side of U.S. Highway 72 (the south-side 60-foot strip is hereinafter referred to as "the south strip") to Wikle Enterprises, Inc. Subsequently, through various conveyances, Wikle Enterprises conveyed all of its interest in the 18 acres to the defendants, each of whom became the owner of a separate portion of the land. None of these conveyances are in dispute.

The sole issue on appeal is whether the 1963 deed conveying the 18 acres to Wikle Enterprises also conveyed the south strip to the defendants. Typically, when a trial court hears ore tenus testimony, its findings on disputed facts are presumed correct and its judgment based on those findings will not be reversed unless the judgment is palpably erroneous or manifestly unjust. Bearden v. Ellison, 560 So.2d 1042, 1043 (Ala.1990). However, in this case, although the trial court heard ore tenus testimony, the heightened deference commanded by the ore tenus rule does not govern our review. The ore tenus rule does not apply to cases involving undisputed facts, see Stiles v. Brown, 380 So.2d 792, 794 (Ala.1980), and while the evidence before the trial court in this case may indicate a dispute concerning what land the parties "thought" they owned, the evidence indicates no material dispute as to what the 1963 deed actually conveyed. Therefore, our review is de novo. See Stiles, 380 So.2d at 794.

A court must fix a boundary at the location called for in the deed unless there is some claim of relocation by other means (e.g., adverse possession). Jesse P. Evans III, Alabama Property Rights and Remedies § 12.5(d) (2d ed.1998). It is well-settled that when there is no ambiguity in the language of a deed, a court must give effect to the clear and plain terms. African Methodist Episcopal Church v. Saint Paul Methodist Church of Selmont, 362 So.2d 868, 871 (Ala.1978). Furthermore, "[w]here the language in a deed is plain and certain, acts and declarations of the parties cannot be resorted to to aid a construction." Kennedy v. Henley, 293 Ala. 657, 662, 309 So.2d 435, 439 (1975).

Therefore, the 1963 deed is the beginning point of the inquiry in determining which party owned the south strip. The description in the deed is as follows:

"All that part of the Southeast quarter of Section 19, Township 3 South, Range 1 East in the City of Huntsville, Madison County, Alabama, particularly described as beginning at the intersection of the East margin of Maysville Road and the South margin of U.S. Highway # 72 East, said point being located North 50 degrees 06 minutes East 144.0 feet from the most Northerly corner of Lot 23, Block 11 of the Chapman Heights Eighth Addition to the City of Huntsville as of record in Plat Book 3, Page 153 of the Probate records, Madison County, Alabama; said point is further described as being North 1 degree 00 minutes West 1235.0 feet North 49 degrees 42 minutes East 929.75 feet, North 50 degrees 45 minutes East 2391.50 feet and North 50 degree 06 minutes East 144.0 feet from the center of the West boundary of Section 30, Township 3 South, Range 1 East; thence from the place of beginning North 50 degrees 31 minutes East along the South margin of U.S. Highway # 72 East 1310.05 feet to a 6 inch × 6 inch concrete R.O.W. marker; thence North 38 degrees 26 minutes West 59.65 feet to a 6 inch × 6 inch concrete R.O.W. marker on the South margin of U.S. Highway #

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