San Juan Fruit Co. v. Carrillo, 1837.

• Decision Date: 07 July 1925
• Docket Number: No. 1837.,1837.
• Citation: 7 F.2d 106
• Parties: SAN JUAN FRUIT CO. v. CARRILLO et al.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

7 F.2d 106 (1925)

SAN JUAN FRUIT CO. v. CARRILLO et al.

No. 1837.

Circuit Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

July 7, 1925.

E. B. Wilcox, of San Juan, Porto Rico, for appellant.

Henry G. Molina, of San Juan, Porto Rico, for appellees.

Before BINGHAM, JOHNSON and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.

BINGHAM, Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal from a decree of the federal District Court for Porto Rico dismissing a bill in equity brought by the San Juan Fruit Company, a New York corporation, against some 48 individual defendants, citizens of the United States resident and domiciled in Porto Rico.

The bill alleges that the plaintiff is the owner in fee and entitled to immediate possession of a tract of land containing 64 acres, more or less, describing it; that this tract is composed of three tracts — one of 52 acres, one of 30 acres, and one of 8 acres, more or less, describing each — which tracts by measurement in fact contain 64 acres; that the plaintiff obtained title to the 64-acre tract October 22, 1902, by notarial deed from Strong and Honer, recorded in Book 14, p. 86, of the Records of Rio Piedras; that Strong and Honer obtained title August 2, 1906, from Newton L. Reed by notarial deed which was recorded; that Reed obtained title August 30, 1904, from the San Juan Fruit & Land Company by notarial deed which was duly recorded; that the San Juan Fruit & Land Company obtained title June 19, 1902, from Eleuterio Landrau by notarial deed, which was recorded in the Records of Bayamon, Book 1, p. 83; that Landrau obtained dominion title June 12, 1902, to the tract in question, together with other land, in the District Court of San Juan; that said 64-acre tract is worth more than $5,000; that the defendants are in wrongful possession of said 64-acre tract without right, title, or interest therein; and claim said tract of land adversely.

That prior to 1897 the 52-acre tract belonged to the Sisterhood of Carmelite Nuns in Porto Rico; that in that year the defendants herein, and others under whom they claim title, having wrongfully entered upon said tract of land and being in occupation thereof, Father Manuel Diaz Canejo, a Roman Catholic priest, as the administrator and representative of the sisterhood, brought action of "Conciliation" in the then Municipal Court of Rio Piedras, the purpose of which was to ascertain whether said persons claimed any ownership in said tract or opposed the ownership of the sisterhood; that said persons appeared and denied that they had any right, title, or interest in the tract and acknowledged the sisterhood to be the owner; that later the sisterhood sold the tract of 52 acres to Eleuterio Landrau, the plaintiff's predecessor in title; that after the determination of the Conciliation suit said persons proposed to pay a monthly rental for living on the tract, which was agreed to by the sisterhood and by Landrau after he had purchased; that later the said persons failed to pay their rent as agreed, and in 1899 Landrau, then the owner, brought a suit of ouster against them and secured a judgment of ejectment; that said persons then having procured Landrau not to execute said judgment promised to pay the rental and were allowed to remain in possession; that this agreement continued in force, and in 1902 Landrau secured a dominion title to the 64-acre tract, which included the 52-acre tract, and sold the same to the San Juan Fruit & Land Company, giving deed therefor as above stated; that the San Juan Fruit & Land Company having made numerous attempts to secure possession, said persons brought suits in the District Court of San Juan against that company in which they sought to have the dominion title obtained by Landrau on June 12, 1902, declared null and void and to have themselves decreed the owners of the 52-acre tract, alleging that they were in possession and were the owners thereof by purchase and inheritance from one Victorian Coto; that said cause was tried upon the merits and judgment rendered in favor of the company, the plaintiff's predecessor in title; that the defendants herein are in possession of said 52-acre tract and living thereon; that on March 25, 1914, the present plaintiff brought a suit in ejectment in the District Court of the United States for Porto Rico against the defendants herein or those under whom they claim title, alleging that it was the owner of the tract of 52 acres and entitled to immediate possession; that on motion of said defendants the suit was dismissed on the ground that the claimed rights of the defendants were several, each claiming a parcel thereof, and not jointly; that the suit was not dismissed on its merits but for mis-joinder of parties; that within a few weeks thereafter certain of the defendants or those under whom they claim title, with knowledge of the foregoing facts, applied to the District Court of San Juan for dominion title of certain small tracts, knowing that the tract described by each in his or her petition for dominion title was within the tract of 52 acres of which the plaintiff had a recorded dominion title, and falsely and fraudulently stated and represented to that court in their petition and sworn testimony that no recorded title to the tract described by each existed and that each had been in peaceful and uninterrupted possession, in some cases, for more than 20 and in others for more than 30 years; that the plaintiff was not aware of the proceedings and from the descriptions given could not know that the respective parcels were included in the 52-acre tract; that the defendants who have recorded dominion titles and deeds of small tracts within the 52-acre tract are: Dolores Nieves, having a tract of land composed of 4.204 acres, describing it; Matea Coto, having a tract of land composed of 5.22 acres, describing it; Salome Carrillo, having a tract of 3.589 acres, describing it; Justino Diaz, having a tract composed of ½ acre, describing it; Maria Ysidora Morales y Morales (also known as "Dolores"), having a tract composed of 10 acres, describing it; Carlos, Juana, Francisca and Nicasio Marin, having a tract composed of 2½ acres, describing it; Santos Mejia Nigaglioni, having a tract composed of 4 acres, describing it; Santos Mejia Nigaglioni, having a tract composed of 2.600 square meters, describing it; and Vicente and Esteban Garcia Diaz, having an undivided interest in the tract composed of 2½ acres previously described as claimed by Carlos, Juana, and Francisca and Nicasio Marin. That as to the defendants other than those herein specially and previously named the plaintiff has no knowledge of the area or bounds of their said holdings, but alleges that all the defendants claim title by inheritance or purchase from the same source, from an unrecorded deed from one Victoriano Coto; that any and all the tracts of land claimed by the defendants lie within the 52-acre tract; that the defendants possessing the tracts particularly named herein obtained...