4 Indian Terr. 376 | Ct. App. Ind. Terr. | 1902
Appellant as his first assignment of error, says: “ (1) The court erred in not giving peremptory instructions for the plaintiff as requested.” The court certainly committed no error in .refusing to give the jury a peremptory instruction for plaintiff, as the evidence upon the trial in this case nowhere warrants such an instruction, as will be seen from the following testimony of the plaintiff, who testified in his own behalf as follows: “Cross-examination by Mr. McClure (attorney for defendants): Q. Mr. Riley, hadn't'you and Mr. Catron been living together in the same house out there for more than a month before this suit was brought? .A. Which suit? Q. This one here? A. We lived there some before the suit was brought.
Appellant’s second specification of error is as follows: “ (2) The court erred in refusing to instruct the jury as requested by the plaintiff, as follows: You are instructed that if you believe from the evidence that the defendants entered the premises without the consent of the plaintiff, who was in the possession of the premises, and afterward the defendants hel(| possession of the premises with force and strong hand, you .will find for the plaintiff.” The court refused to give the above instruction requested by plaintiff, and gave in lieu thereof the following: “* * * . it ¿oes not give the defendant any right to enter by force, but if he went into possession as owner, peaceably, he has a right to remain in possession. If he went in by force, the judgment should be for the plaintiff. In other words, in this action it is an action of forcible entry and detainer, and where
Appellant, as his third specification of error, says: “(3) The court erred in giving the following instructions, which were objected to by plaintiff at the time: ‘If he used no force, but got possession as owner, peaceably, then the verdict should be for the defendant. The action of forcible entry is a tort, pure and simple. Force is the gist of the action, and it must be actual and hostile.’” In Hall vs Trucks, 38 Ark. 257, the court held that “force is the gist of the action for a forcible entry and detainer; but implied force, as when the defendant entered peaceably, though unlawfully, is not sufficient. It must be actual and hostile.” And it has been substantially held by the supreme court of Arkansas, in Johnson vs West, 41 Ark. 535, that implied force, as when the defendant enters peaceably, though unlawfully, is not sufficient, but that the original entry or subsequent holding of possession must be shown to have been with force and strong hand.
We think the above-cited cases correctly state the law and, as the court’s instructions seem to have been based upon