Taylor v. Peterson, 17713
| Citation | 293 P.2d 297 |
| Decision Date | 06 February 1956 |
| Docket Number | No. 17713,17713 |
| Parties | Dudley F. TAYLOR, Plaintiff in Error, v. Edna E. PETERSON, Kathleen Carey Cykler, as sole heir of Albin B. Cykler, sometimes known as Albion B. Cykler, George M. Cykler, Rose M. Farrell, also known as Rose M. Johnson, also known as Rosa M. Johnson, also known as Rose J. Johnson, also known as Rosa J. Johnson, and Lillie Veith, formerly Lillie Christensen, Defendants in Error. |
| Court | Colorado Supreme Court |
Galligan & Foley, Denver, for plaintiff in error.
Emory L. O'Connell, Denver, for defendant in error Edna E. Peterson.
In the trial court plaintiff in error Taylor was one of two defendants in an action to quiet title to certain real property in Jefferson County, Colorado. Defendant in error, Edna E. Peterson, was plaintiff in said action. The action as to the other defendant, D. Barney Baird, was by the parties dismissed prior to trial of the case. We shall refer to the parties as they appeared in the trial court, or by name.
Plaintiff Peterson sought a decree quieting her title to and possession of small irregular shaped tracts of land lying between the south line of Sections 31 and 36 in Township four south, Range sixty-nine west, Jefferson County, Colorado, and the southerly right-of-way line of what is familiarly known as the Morrison Highway.
The other defendants in error (hereafter referred to as the Cyklers) were brought into the case as third-party defendants by Dudley F. Taylor. None of the third-party defendants appeared in the action and no judgment was entered against any of them.
After trial, judgment and decree was entered in favor of plaintiff Peterson, and Taylor brings the case here on writ of error. No appearance has been entered in this court for any of the other parties and the proceedings on error are confined to the controversy between Peterson and Taylor.
On January 20, 1943 Albion B. Cykler and others executed a warranty deed conveying a part of the so-called Cykler ranch in Jefferson County, Colorado to D. Barney Baird. This deed described the land conveyed by governmental subdivisions and no mention was made of the Morrison Road, which ran thru the Cykler property. Later, and on May 14, 1943, the same grantors conveyed another part of the Cykler ranch to Arthur C. Peterson and Edna E. Peterson. This deed described the land conveyed by governmental subdivisions, and no reference was made to any road or highway. The record discloses that the Morrison road does not follow section lines and the portion of this road which is within the boundaries of the original Cykler ranch has several curves. As above stated, the plaintiff's action was to quiet title to areas included in the Cykler-Peterson deed which lay south of the highway. Plaintiff Peterson by reason of the death of her husband, she being his sole heir, became owner of his interest in the property.
Defendant Taylor filed an answer and counterclaim in which he prayed for reformation of the Peterson and Baird deeds, the effect of which if granted would be to vest Baird with all land south of the Morrison Road, and Peterson with title to all land north of that highway.
Defendant Baird filed a pleading which was denominated 'Answer, Counterclaim and Cross-Claim'. In it he sought no relief by way of reformation of the Cykler deed. Because defendant Taylor had acquired all of the Baird interest in the land, the complaint as to him was dismissed and his counterclaim was dismissed at the time of the pre-trial in said action. Baird no longer appeared in the action.
Taylor in an ex parte proceeding obtained leave of court to file a third-party complaint against various members of the Cykler family, the original grantor Albion B. Cykler having departed this life. They were made third-party defendant in the action and Taylor sought reformation of the Cykler deeds.
The record in this case is voluminous, and more than 180 folios thereof are devoted to the pleadings in the case.
Rule 14, R.C.P. Colo. provides that a defendant may bring in a third-party 'who is or may be liable to him for all or part of the plaintiff's claim against him.' The Cykler heirs who were made third-party defendants were not parties who were liable to the defendant Taylor for any part of plaintiff's claim. The prayer for a reformation of the deeds was based on alleged mutual mistake, but no claim for damages in the event Taylor lost the land was asserted or even suggested. If the Cykler-Peterson deed had been reformed the effect ...
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