112 P. 909 | Cal. Ct. App. | 1910
[EDITORS' NOTE: THIS PAGE CONTAINS HEADNOTES. HEADNOTES ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE COURT, THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT DISPLAYED.] *644 This is an application for a writ of prohibition to restrain the judge of said superior court from proceeding with the trial of the action of James V. Coleman, plaintiff, v. Lightner Mining Company, defendant, until the final determination by the land department of the United States of an application for a patent to the land involved in the controversy. Among other facts it appears that the complaint in said action was filed in 1903. Therein it was alleged that "plaintiff for more than fifteen years last past has been and now is the owner and in the possession and entitled to the possession of all that certain quartz mine, mining property situate, lying and being in the Altaville townsite, in the county of Calaveras, known as and called the 'Billings' quartz mine." Then follows a particular description of the property. "That within the surface lines of the said Billings quartz mine extended downward vertically are certain lodes, ledges and veins of quartz and rock in place carrying gold and other valuable minerals. That the said Billings quartz mine is contiguous to and adjoins on the east the so-called Lightner quartz mine owned and operated by the said defendant corporation; that said defendant has sunk upon the said Lightner quartz mine a shaft and within three years last past has by means of said shaft and cross-cuts, levels, drifts, winzes and stopes connected therewith wrongfully and unlawfully and without the consent of plaintiff entered into and upon the said 'Billings' quartz mine and property . . . and has taken out and extracted therefrom and converted to its own use large quantities of quartz and rock carrying gold and other valuable minerals to the value of $150,000." The prayer is for this amount and costs of suit. *645
In the answer the material allegations of the complaint are denied and it is averred that "on the twentieth day of April, 1875, the government of the United States issued a patent to W. B. Norman, county judge of Calaveras county, California, in trust for the several use and benefit of the occupants of the townsite of Altaville in the county and state aforesaid, for the lands therein described. That by mesne conveyances the defendant became and now is the owner of, and it and its grantors for more than forty years last past have been the owners of, in the occupation and possession of and entitled to the possession of lot 13 in block 5 of said Altaville townsite, the north seventy-seven feet of which is within the exterior boundaries of the so-called and alleged Billings quartz mine in the amended complaint described. That on or about the __________ day of __________, 1909, plaintiff made application, through the United States land office at Sacramento, California, for United States patent for the so-called and alleged Billings quartz mine. Thereafter this defendant duly filed in said land office its protest against the issuing of a patent for said alleged Billings quartz mine, and the land department ordered that a hearing be had on the twentieth day of April, 1910, before the register and receiver of the said Sacramento land office, to determine whether at the date of the said Altaville townsite entry the alleged Billings quartz claim was known to be a valid mining claim and as such was excepted by operation of law from the said townsite patent." It was therefore claimed by defendant that the land department of the United States has the exclusive power to determine whether the alleged Billings quartz mine was known to be a valid mining claim at the date of said Altaville townsite entry, and that the trial of the case should be stayed until the determination of that question by said department. A motion was made to that effect in the court below. It was heard upon affidavits and denied, and the case was set down for trial. That was the occasion for this application. In response to the order to show cause a demurrer and an answer have been presented by the trial judge. It is necessary to consider only the demurrer, and our attention need not extend beyond the ground "That said petition does not state facts sufficient to warrant or authorize the *646 issuance of a writ of prohibition by the above-entitled court against the respondents or either of them."
Two questions are involved herein and these we now proceed to consider. The first is, Does it appear that the court below has exceeded its jurisdiction ? and secondly, If so, is it a proper case for prohibition? The answer to each of these must unquestionably be in favor of respondents.
The office of the writ of prohibition has been so frequently considered by this and other appellate courts and so well settled that no extended discussion of the subject is here required. It is sufficient to refer to the sections of the Code of Civil Procedure (1102 and 1103) wherein it is provided in what instances the writ will issue.
As to the court's jurisdiction to deny the defendant's application for a continuance and to set the case for trial, it is contended by respondents that the court was called upon simply to determine whether certain evidence was required to establish one of the issues made by the pleadings, and in the exercise of its judgment as to this it is difficult to understand why the court did not have the juridical power to reach a wrong as well as a right conclusion. Since admittedly that court has jurisdiction of the parties and of the subject matter of the action, and the issue being properly framed, it had authority to try the cause at any time — so it is claimed — and its refusal to continue the trial was no more in excess of its jurisdiction than would be the denial of a similar motion made upon some other ground. But petitioner does not concede the jurisdiction of the court as to the entire subject matter of the action, although admitting that the parties were properly before it and that it had the authority to grant the relief prayed for. It is insisted, however, that exclusive jurisdiction to determine one of the issues, without which no judgment could be rendered, was vested in another tribunal. Therefore, it is said, the court should have pursued the course pointed out in Potter v. Randolph,
But, viewing the case from a somewhat different point of view, it is clear that the superior court had complete jurisdiction over the entire subject matter of the controversy. The question of jurisdiction must be determined, of course, by the averments of the pleadings. It thereby appears, both by the allegations of the complaint and those of the answer, that there is no issue as to who is entitled to a patent, but it is assumed that a complete title has long since vested and the controversy *648
is as to the ownership of the property, it being averred by plaintiff that he has been for many years and is now the owner, in the possession and entitled to the possession of said property, while, in defendant's answer, we find the equally positive allegation, as before stated, that it is now the owner and it and its grantors for forty years past have been the owners of and in the occupancy and entitled to the possession of said property. Thus is a question of law presented for the determination not of the land department but of a court of competent jurisdiction. This may be made clear by a reference to some of the decisions. InGage v. Gunther,
In Potter v. Randolph,
In Iron Silver Min. Co. v. Campbell,
Again, the writ of prohibition should not issue for the reason that there is a plain, speedy and adequate remedy at law. It is not disputed that the court's action can be reviewed on appeal, and there is no sufficient reason why petitioner should have invoked this extraordinary remedy instead of pursuing the usual course. The determination of causes on appeal is probably not always as speedy as it should be, but that is not the fault of the law. It may be admitted also that as to this question there is some conflict in the decisions, but we think the true rule is declared in the cases cited by respondents.
In Jacobs v. Superior Court,
In Cross v. Superior Court,
In line with the foregoing are other cases cited by respondents: Agassiz v. Superior Court,
The cases cited by petitioner to the contrary involve peculiar features that led the supreme court to determine that an appeal was not an adequate remedy.
In Glide v. Superior Court,
In Dugan v. Superior Court,
The other cases cited will also be found, upon examination, to be clearly distinguishable from the one at bar. Here the court could only render judgment for damages. An appeal would effectively correct any wrong that might be done to petitioner. No harm could possibly result except some delay in affording appropriate relief. The cases seem to be agreed, as stated in Agassiz v. Superior Court,
We think no sufficient reason has been shown for delaying any further the trial of said action in said superior court. The order to show cause is therefore discharged and the writ denied.
Chipman, P. J., and Hart, J., concurred.
A petition to have the cause heard in the supreme court, after judgment in the district court of appeal, was denied by the supreme court on January 16, 1911.