12 Colo. 434 | Colo. | 1889
Lead Opinion
delivered the opinion of the court.
The county court was without jurisdiction in the condemnation proceedings, the amount of award being in excess of $2,000. Railroad Co. v. Church, 7 Colo. 143; Railway Co. v. Otis, 7 Colo. 198. A decision had not, however, been rendered in either of the cases cited at the time of the trial in the county court, and the parties to the condemnation proceedings treated the same as valid, the appellant paying and the appellee accepting the amount of the judgment awarded by that court. The appellant shortly thereafter entered into the possession of the lands condemned, and has since occupied the same, with its ditch and reservoir. Under these circumstances it becomes necessary to determine the status of the party under such void proceedings. It is a' familiar principle of the law that a party accepting and retaining the fruits of a void judgment is estopped from assailing the judgment itself. Kile v. Town of Yellowhead, 80 Ill. 208; Town v. Town of Blackberry, 29 Ill. 137; Felch v. Gilman, 22 Vt. 39; Embury v. Conner, 3 N. Y. 511; Hitchcock v. Railroad Co. 25 Conn. 516. In none of the cases, cited, however, did it become necessary to determine the effect of receiving the benefits of a judgment void for the want
It appears from the testimony adduced upon the trial in the district court that a large number of witnesses were examined in the condemnation proceedings in ref
Upon my first examination of this case I was of the opinion, in opposition to the views of the Chief Justice, that there was no error in these instructions; but upon reflection, and after an examination of the authorities, I have concluded that my first impressions were erroneous, and that the rule in reference to the conclusiveness of condemnation proceedings under statutes similar to our own, which is supported by the better considerations and recognized by the strong 'weight of judicial authority, requires us to hold that damages resulting from seepage and leakage from the ditch and reservoir, not resulting from negligent or unskilful construction or use thereof, ought to have been foreseen and allowed in the condemnation proceedings, consequently are not recoverable in this action, no matter whether such damages were, as a matter of fact, allowed or not. It is provided by our statute that in condemnation proceedings the owner or parties interested in the real estate taken shall be awarded damages, not only for the land or property taken, but also the damages, if any, resulting to the residue of such land or property. The reported cases under similar statutes have generally treated of the damages recoverable for the seizure of land under the right of eminent domain, for railroad or highway purposes; and, so far as I have investigated the decisions, I find the general current of authority to be that all the damages, present and prospective, that are the natural, necessary or reasonable incident of the improvement, must be assessed in the condemnation proceedings, not including such as may
An examination of the reported cases shows that there is no substantial difference in the general rules applicable to the assessment of damages in condemnation proceedings, as announced by the courts of last resort, but in the application of such rules to particular cases the same uniformity has-not been observed; still no case has been called to our attention which by any fair construction can be held to be in conflict with the conclusion that damages for seepage and leakage should have been determined in the first proceeding. In Sabin v. Railroad Co. 25 Vt. 363, plaintiff was allowed,to recover for injuries arising from the making and use, in constructing its railroad, of an ordinary cartage road upon plaintiff’s adjoining land by the railroad company. In the case of Railway Co. v. Magruder, 34 Md. 79, the facts were that the right of way for a railroad had been condemned through the farm of M., and in the course of the construction of the railroad the channel of a natural stream was changed by the company so as to divide the water from the rest of the farm. Eor the damages occasioned by such diversion, M.’s action to recover was sustained. Neither the construction of a wagon road over the land not taken nor the diversion of a natural stream from its course is a natural, necessary or reasonable incident of the improvement. In Railway Co. v. Gilleland, 56 Pa. St. 445, and in Railroad Co. v. Daniel, 20 Grat. 349, the specific injuries complained of resulted from the failure to exercise proper care in the construction of the railroads; and in many of the other cases cited by counsel for appellee the injuries for which a recovery was sustained clearly resulted from negligence in the construction of the improvement. On the contrary, it has been
In assessing damages in condemnation proceedings for lands taken for the purpose of constructing a ditch or reservoir thereon, injuries likely to result from seepage and leakage from such canal or reservoir would naturally be among the first items to occur to a jury. And we are- not without direct authority in support of the proposition that, if damages for such injuries are not allowed in the original action, no subsequent recovery’for such injuries can be had. In the case of Canal Co. v. Grove, supra, the court held that, in estimating the value of the land taken for the use of the canal company, the jury of inquest should have allowed for the increased danger of overflow to the lands not taken, and that the owner could not thereafter recover for damages arising from an overflow of his lands resulting from the construction of the canal in the absence of negligence. In the New Jersey cases cited supra, under a statute requiring the jury in a condemnation proceeding “to assess
The remaining questions raised by the assignment of errors are not such as are likely to arise upon a retrial of the case; and I shall not consider the same further than
Reversed.
Dissenting Opinion
{dissenting). Having presided at the trial of this case in the district court, it has been with great reluctance that I have consented to participate in the review of it in this court. But the circumstances attending the case in this court have been peculiar. The honorable commissioners first considered the case and reported a unanimous opinion affirming the judgment, though upon grounds somewhat different from those announced in this opinion. Upon my accession to the bénch, finding the judges divided in opinion in respect to the case, I waited for my Brother Hayt to qualify, hoping he and Chief Justice Helm would be able to decide the case without my intervention. But after patient consideration, they, being unable to agree, have insisted that it is my duty to sit in the case, else the decision might be deferred to the close of my term. Accordingly I have undertaken a re-examination of the case, animated only by a desire to reach a conclusion according to correct legal principles, and impressed with the conviction that the controlling consideration should be, not so much the result in the particular case, as the announcement of correct rules, so far as we are required by the record to announce anv at all.
The evidence on the trial was conflicting as to the in-'
In submitting the case to the jury in the district court the nature of the case, together with the claims and defenses of the respective parties, were set forth at consid
Notwithstanding the record and judgment of the county court were void as a matter of law, yet, inasmuch as the defendant paid and the plaintiff accepted the amount awarded by the jury, the transaction became binding as a matter of fact as to everything actually included in the award. It was as though defendant had, upon a private
Leaving out of consideration the question of negligent, construction, about which no question of law has been presented, it will be observed that by the instructions given in the district court the plaintiff’s right to recover was made to depend upon two conditions: First, that the $1,500 accepted by him did not include the damages sued for; second, that the damages sued for were unforeseen, and could not be fairly anticipated or estimated at the time of the trial in the county court. Whether or not in the construction of canals or reservoirs injury by seepage to adjoining lands not taken is to be considered an element of damage which the improvement may reasonably be expected to produce as an ordinary and probable consequence is a most difficult and vexatious ques
Thus far this opinion was prepared before the majority
Reversed.