Opinion ID: 1142497
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 19

Heading: did the chancellor apply the wrong measure of damages for timber harvested from the commonly owned property?

Text: Reduced to its essence, ... [this issue deals with] the value of converted timber. Bay Springs Forest Products, Inc. v. Wade, 435 So.2d 690, 694 (Miss. 1983). Conversion requires the intent to exercise dominion or control over goods inconsistent with the true owner's rights and is a result of conduct intended to affect property. Masonite Corp. v. Williamson, 404 So.2d 565, 567 (Miss. 1981). In Masonite, the appellant was found to have converted timber when she contracted for the cutting and received payments for timber on her land as well as on land belonging to others. Id. at 567-68. The Greenlees likewise converted the timber belonging to the Mitchell/Millers when they gave a timber warranty deed to Weyerhaeuser. The measure of damages for conversion is the value of the property at the time and place of its conversion. Masonite, 404 So.2d at 568, citing Phillips Distributors, Inc. v. Texaco, Inc., 190 So.2d 840 (Miss. 1966). Interest is also awarded from the date of the conversion. Phillips, 190 So.2d at 842. The purchaser of converted timber (Weyerhaeuser) acquires no title and remains liable to the true owner (Mitchell/Millers) for the value of the timber. Bay Springs, 435 So.2d at 694. Where an innocent party purchases converted timber, the appropriate measure of damages is the delivered value. Id. at 696; Masonite, 404 So.2d at 568-69. The delivered value is computed by adding the stumpage price and logging costs of the converted timber. Bay Springs, 435 So.2d at 695. Although Mississippi Code Annotated § 95-5-10 (Supp. 1991) sets out an exclusive remedy for cutting trees without consent of the owner, it applies only to causes of action accruing on or after July 1, 1989, which is after the accrual of this cause of action. The chancellor found that Weyerhaeuser acted in good faith and was not liable for statutory damages, awarding one-half (1/2) the purchase price of the timber, twenty-one thousand three hundred seventy-six dollars ($21,376.00), to the Mitchell/Millers to be paid jointly and severally by the Greenlees and Weyerhaeuser Company. However, the chancellor failed to reveal what measure of damages was applied. The proper amount of damages chargeable to the Greenlees for conversion is the value of the property at the time and place of conversion plus interest from the date of conversion. The only evidence in the record which places a value on the property at the time and place of conversion is the amount paid by Weyerhaeuser for the timber, or twenty-one thousand three hundred seventy-six dollars ($21,376.00) for the converted portion. Although this figure includes logging costs and stumpage price, it represents the actual value to the owner in this instance. Interest must be calculated on this amount from the date of conversion pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. § 75-17-7 (Supp. 1988), which was in effect on the date judgment was rendered in the chancery court. The statute provided an interest rate of eight per centum (8%) per annum for judgments or decrees without a contract evidencing the interest rate. The proper amount of damages chargeable to Weyerhaeuser for the innocent purchase of converted timber is the delivered value, computed by adding the stumpage price and logging costs of the converted timber. Weyerhaeuser's bid price, forty-two thousand seven hundred fifty-two dollars ($42,752.00), reflected reasonable estimates of stumpage value and logging costs, according to testimony of Weyerhaeuser's operations manager. It follows that the appropriate amount of damages for which Weyerhaeuser is responsible is twenty-one thousand three hundred seventy-six dollars ($21,376.00). We remand to the chancery court on this issue for a determination of damages not inconsistent with our findings.