Case Title: Sleep v. Morrill

Citation: 199 Or. 128, 260 P.2d 487

Docket Number: 

State: oregon

Court: Oregon Supreme Court

Date: 1953-08-12T00:00:00Z

Document:
Reversed August 12, 1953.
John M. Eaton argued the cause for appellant. On the brief were Eaton & Thomas, of North Bend.
*129 William E. Walsh, of Coos Bay, argued the cause and filed a brief for respondent.
Before LATOURETTE, Chief Justice, and WARNER, ROSSMAN, LUSK, TOOZE and PERRY, Justices.
REVERSED.
TOOZE, J.
This is an action for damages for a trespass on real property, brought by Tena Sleep, as plaintiff, against J.L. Morrill, as defendant. The trial resulted in a verdict and judgment in favor of defendant, from which plaintiff appeals.
Plaintiff is the owner of the north one-half of the northeast one-quarter of section ten, township twenty-six south of range thirteen west of the Willamette Meridian, in Coos county, Oregon. In 1949, defendant purchased a tract of land adjoining that of plaintiff, and immediately commenced to clear it of brush and trees. In the process of clearing his land, defendant caused to be deposited upon the lands of plaintiff five fallen trees, together with some tree limbs and other debris. This invasion of plaintiff's property by defendant was against plaintiff's will and without her consent, and is the trespass involved in this litigation.
Upon the trial, the defendant, as a witness, admitted the trespass. There was no evidence to the contrary. Defendant also admitted that it would cost approximately $25 to clear plaintiff's land of the material he had deposited thereon. The estimates of other witnesses as to the cost of removing this material varied from $20 to $600. Plaintiff in her complaint demanded compensatory damages in the sum of $500 and punitive damages in the sum of $1,000.
After both parties had rested on the trial, and before *130 the court instructed the jury, plaintiff moved as follows:
The court instructed the jury as follows:
Plaintiff saved the following exception:
*131 1. Under defendant's own admissions and the undisputed evidence in the case, plaintiff was entitled to a verdict in her favor. The only question in dispute was the amount of the damage. The motion made by the plaintiff upon completion of the testimony was a clear request to the court for a peremptory instruction to that effect. Such an instruction should have been given.
In Treadgold v. Willard, 81 Or 658, 669, 160 P 803, we said:
2. It is well settled that every unauthorized entry on the land of another is a trespass, even if no damage is done. Huber et ex. v. Portland Gas & Coke Co., 128 Or 363, 366, 274 P 509; Kesterson v. California-Oregon Power Co., 114 Or 22, 31, 228 P 1092.
In 63 CJ 1035, Trespass, § 225, the following rules are stated:
3. Although the amount or items of damages will not be presumed, but must be established by proof, nevertheless, where the evidence shows the violation or infringement of a legal right, the law will presume damages sufficient to sustain an action, which damages *132 may be only nominal and not capable of exact measurement.
In 25 CJS 466, Damages, § 9, it is said:
Also see 15 Am Jur 395, Damages, § 8.
The rules stated in 26 RCL 971, § 48, are applicable to the instant case. It is there stated:
Also see 52 Am Jur 872, Trespass, § 47.
4. It seems clear from the evidence in this case that plaintiff's property received no permanent injury from defendant's tortious acts. It appears that the removal of the trees and other debris would eliminate the entire damage caused by the trespass. No contention is made that plaintiff's lands were benefited in any way by the deposit thereon of the material in question, as was the case where earth had been placed upon plaintiff's property, as mentioned in the quotation from 26 RCL, supra. The cost of removing the trees and debris from plaintiff's premises was a proper measure of the damages she sustained because of the trespass. By his own testimony, defendant fixed the cost of such removal in the sum of $25. The lowest estimate of such cost, made by one of defendant's witnesses, was the sum of $20.
In the light of defendant's own admissions and the undisputed evidence in the case, plaintiff was entitled to a judgment in her favor in a sum of at least $20. The evidence conclusively established actual damages as the result of defendant's wrongful acts, and this is not a case involving nominal damages only.
5. The trial court erred in instructing the jury that it might return a verdict for the defendant in the event no damage was found because (1) the evidence conclusively showed some actual damage, and (2) in any event, plaintiff was entitled to nominal damages. Defendant was not entitled to a verdict in any view of the evidence.
The judgment is reversed.