Weaver v. Stafford

• Decision Date: 14 July 2000
• Docket Number: No. 25238.,25238.
• Citation: 8 P.3d 1234,134 Idaho 691
• Parties: Max WEAVER, an individual, Plaintiff-Counterdefendant-Respondant, v. Frank D. STAFFORD, Sr., Defendant-Counterclaimant-Appellant, and Owyhee Village, Inc., an Idaho corporation, Defendant-Respondent. Owyhee Village, Inc., an Idaho corporation, Cross-Claimant, v. Frank D. Stafford, Sr., Cross-Defendant.
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

8 P.3d 1234

134 Idaho 691

Max WEAVER, an individual, Plaintiff-Counterdefendant-Respondant, v. Frank D. STAFFORD, Sr., Defendant-Counterclaimant-Appellant, and Owyhee Village, Inc., an Idaho corporation, Defendant-Respondent.

Owyhee Village, Inc., an Idaho corporation, Cross-Claimant, v. Frank D. Stafford, Sr., Cross-Defendant.

No. 25238.

Supreme Court of Idaho, Boise, March 2000 Term.

July 14, 2000.

Rehearing Denied September 22, 2000.

Lawrence G. Sirhall, Jr., Boise, for appellant, argued.

Uranga & Uranga, Boise, for respondent Max Weaver. Louis L. Uranga argued.

Randolph E. Farber, Nampa, for respondent Owyhee Village, Inc., argued.

TROUT, Chief Justice.

This case involves an action for trespass, breach of warranty of title, negligent interference with appropriative water rights and slander of title. Frank Stafford (Stafford) appeals from the district judge's decision that he trespassed upon Max Weaver's (Weaver) property and slandered the title of Owyhee Village, Inc.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Three parcels of real property are involved in this dispute. Stafford purchased the parcel at 4912 Laster Lane (the Stafford property) consisting of 1.39 acres on October 11, 1994. At the time Stafford purchased the Stafford property, Max Weaver (Weaver) owned the parcel at 4920 Laster Lane (the Weaver Laster Lane property). The Weaver Laster Lane property is southeast of the Stafford property and is approximately 4.26 acres in size. On October 1, 1996, Weaver acquired the parcel referred to as Lot 16, located southwest of the Stafford property, by a warranty deed subject to a deed of trust in favor of Owyhee Village, Inc. Lot 16 is approximately 5.25 acres in size.

A cement irrigation ditch (the cement irrigation ditch) runs along the northeast side of Lot 16 and parallel to the boundary between Lot 16 and the Stafford property. The cement irrigation ditch has been in place for many years and was previously used to irrigate the beet field which existed on Lot 16 prior to 1969.

Before Stafford and Weaver acquired their respective parcels, there was both a fence and a dirt irrigation ditch (the original dirt ditch) running northeast of the cement ditch. While Stafford believed the original fence was the boundary between Lot 16 and the Stafford property, there was never any conversation or agreement with anyone from Owyhee Village to that effect. Stafford removed the original fence and filled in the original dirt ditch sometime in the fall of 1994 or the spring of 1995. During the summer of 1995, Stafford filled in all the irrigation laterals running from the original dirt ditch that serviced his property. Stafford testified at trial that the original dirt ditch was located ten feet northeast of the cement irrigation ditch on Lot 16 and ten feet southwest of the boundary line between Lot 16 and the Stafford property.

David Wilson, who resided at 4920 Laster Lane for approximately twenty-five years prior to Weaver's acquisition of the property, testified that he regarded the original dirt ditch as the boundary line between Lot 16 and the Stafford property. Wilson stated that there was an informal agreement among neighbors, but no recorded easement, concerning a ten foot right-of-way to maintain the original dirt ditch. Dorothy Bright (Bright), owner of the parcel directly east of the Stafford property, also testified that she regarded the original dirt ditch as the boundary between Lot 16 and the Stafford property. Bright testified that the former owners of the Stafford property used the original dirt ditch for irrigation. Greg Skinner (Skinner), a licensed surveyor, testified that the original dirt ditch approximately followed the surveyed boundary between Lot 16 and the Stafford property.

In the fall of 1995, Stafford erected a new fence northeast of and parallel to the cement irrigation ditch on Lot 16. Stafford's testimony about the location of the new fence was not consistent. While on one occasion he testified that he placed the new fence in the location of the original fence, he also testified at trial that he was unsure where he had placed the new fence in relation to the location of the original fence. Stafford also testified that he did not measure the distance from the original fence to the cement irrigation ditch. Weaver regarded Stafford's new fence as an encroachment upon Lot 16 and demanded its removal. Stafford complied in the spring of 1997.

In March 1997, Stafford excavated a new dirt ditch which approximately followed the line of the new fence. Stafford admitted at trial that the new dirt ditch was located on Lot 16 without Weaver's permission. Stafford never used the new ditch.

Stafford's warranty deed contains the following relevant metes and bounds description of the boundary line between Lot 16 and the Stafford property:

South 70° 0' East 366 feet to the center of an irrigation lateral; thence meandering

North 290° 50' West 23 feet;

North 430° 20' West 168.5 feet;

North 710° 20' West 92 feet; and

North 350° 20' West 228.4 feet along the center of an irrigation lateral to a point 36 feet South of the North boundary of the aforesaid Southeast Quarter; thence ...

In April 1995, licensed surveyor Skinner performed a boundary survey on behalf of Stafford and Weaver. Skinner established the boundary between Lot 16 and the Stafford property based on existing monuments. Skinner performed a second survey in November of 1996 for Weaver and established that Stafford's new fence encroached upon Lot 16 from a minimum of 2.17 feet to a maximum of 10.2 feet. On April 13, 1997, Skinner determined that Stafford's new ditch encroached upon Lot 16 by approximately five to ten feet.

Weaver hired Chris Wildt (Wildt) to conduct an archaeological cross-section of the boundary area between Lot 16 and the Stafford property. Stafford hired Dr. Mark Plew (Dr. Plew), a professor of anthropology to evaluate Wildt's report and to perform his own cross-sectional analysis. Dr. Plew dug three cross-sectional trenches starting approximately five feet from the cement irrigation ditch on Lot 16 and extending northeast across the boundary line between Lot 16 and the Stafford property. Dr. Plew discovered two features which were likely ditches. Feature 1 was discovered three meters north of the cement irrigation ditch, which did not appear to have drawn water for any extensive period and may have been used for two years or less. Dr. Plew concluded the second ditch, Feature 2, had been in use for a very long time, was the larger of the two ditches and was older than Feature 1. Dr. Plew testified that Feature 2 was close to the boundary line between Lot 16 and the Stafford property.

Licensed surveyor John T. Eddy (Eddy) also performed a survey of the Stafford property at Stafford's request. Eddy's October 1, 1997 survey established the boundary between Lot 16 and the Stafford property along a meandering dirt ditch, the same as Skinner's November 7, 1996 survey. Eddy testified that Feature 2, as identified in Dr. Plew's report, coincided with the meandering ditch referenced in Stafford's deed.

Water is provided to the Stafford property and the Weaver Laster Lane property by the Pioneer Irrigation District via Pioneer's South Branch Lateral 15.0, Gate 24. Water is provided to Lot 16 via Pioneer's South Branch Lateral 15.6, Gate 23A. Water for the Stafford property and Weaver Laster Lane property historically flowed from Gate 24 in a northwesterly direction to a T-box located near the point where the northwestern corner of the Weaver Laster Lane property meets the southeastern corner of the Stafford property. At the T-box, irrigation water flowed to the Stafford property via the original dirt ditch between the Stafford property and Lot 16 or could be directed to the northeast to irrigate a parcel directly east of the Stafford property. Water from the South Branch Lateral 15.6, Gate 23A flows through the cement ditch in the opposite direction.

Weaver made several changes to the irrigation lateral which began at Gate 24 and continued across the Weaver Laster Lane property. At the end of the lateral, Weaver installed a concrete collection box to replace the T-box, and also installed a concrete slab in the collection box to block the outlet to the Stafford property. That action lead to Stafford filing a misdemeanor criminal charge against Weaver which was dismissed. A condition of the dismissal was that Weaver remove the concrete slab and install a pipe from the collection box to the edge of Stafford's property. Weaver removed the concrete slab and installed a pipe, but Stafford did not excavate a ditch to the pipe.

Tom Eddy testified as an expert in hydrology and stated that changing the grade of the pipe from the collection box to the Stafford property would improve the flow of water to the Stafford property. Tom Eddy also stated that without any change to the elevation of the collection box, water would travel from the collection box to the end of the Stafford property.

During the 1995 and 1996 irrigation seasons, Stafford diverted water from the cement irrigation ditch to irrigate the Stafford property. Stafford had no authorization nor permission to draw water from the cement irrigation ditch or to divert water from that ditch onto his land. Weaver demanded that Stafford cease diverting water from the cement irrigation ditch after purchasing Lot 16 and Stafford complied.

Weaver filed a complaint against Stafford and Owyhee Village, Inc. alleging that Stafford had committed trespass by erecting a fence and subsequently excavating a ditch on Weaver's property. Weaver sought monetary damages, injunctive relief, punitive damages and attorney fees and costs. Stafford denied Weaver's allegation and asserted affirmative defenses, alleging that he was entitled by prescription or boundary by agreement to maintain a fence between the adjoining properties and that a prescriptive irrigation right-of-way...