Court Opinion

ID: 9676958
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 05:39:35.484151+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:52.614005
License: Public Domain

On Rehearing.
COLEMAN, Justice.
On original deliverance, the decree appealed from was affirmed. The dissenting opinion raised questions which had not been discussed or considered in the opinion of the court. To consider the questions raised by the dissenting opinion, the cause was placed on rehearing by application of the writer before the end of the term at which decision was rendered. Appellees have filed a motion to strike the cause from the rehearing docket and have filed a brief in support of the motion.
As we understand the brief, appellees concede that this court, acting by a majority of the justices, may, during the term at which a decision was rendered, place a cause on rehearing, but vigorously assert that a single justice cannot do so.
The opinions indicate that the cause was placed on rehearing by a single justice in the following cases: Alabama Company v. Brown, 207 Ala. 18, 92 So. 490; First National Bank of Brantley v. Standard Chemical Company, 226 Ala. 509, 147 So. 682; Hendley v. First National Bank of Huntsville, 235 Ala. 664, 180 So. 667; Trailmobile, Inc. v. Connell, 268 Ala. 441, 108 So.2d 364.
The docket entry in the instant case recites as follows:
“June 26, 1961 Cause Placed On Rehearing, Coleman, J. * * * ” *27Appellees say the foregoing entry does not evidence action by the court sufficient to place the cause on rehearing.
The corresponding docket entry in Alabama Company v. Brown, supra, found in Appearance Docket, Book 72, page 193, recites :
“Oct 29 1921 Restored to Rehg Docket, order Thomas, J.”
Except for the date and name of the justice, the docket entry is substantially the •same in each of the other three cases last cited above. It appears that the practice of placing a cause on rehearing on application of a single justice has long been followed, although it has been followed sparingly.
We agree that, so far as we are .advised, no order reversing or modifying .a decision of this court can be made by a single justice in the absence of statute or rule so providing. To apply for rehearing is not, as it seems to us, to reverse or modify, and, while a single justice may not reverse or modify, he may, during the term, apply to the court to do so.
So far as we are advised, the authority of a. single justice to apply for rehearing as was done in the case at bar has not before been questioned in this jurisdiction. Precedent of long standing supports the exercise of the authority. We are of opinion that appellees’ motion to strike should be overruled. It is so ordered by the court.
The dissenting opinion advocates a holding to the effect that in a statutory suit to quiet title under Title 7, § 1109 et seq., Code 1940, in the absence of a cross bill resting on an independent equity, the court does not have jurisdiction to declare that respondent has superior title if the evidence fail to support a finding that complainant was in peaceable possession at the •commencement of the suit. The holdings in the cases cited in the dissenting opinion fall into eight categories :
1st. Cases where a decree for complainant was reversed and a decree rendered dismissing the bill of complaint because the evidence showed that complainant’s possession was not peaceable but was disputed or scrambling, to wit: Ladd v. Powell, 144 Ala. 408, 39 So. 46; Holland v. Coleman, 162 Ala. 462, 50 So. 128; Central of Georgia R. Co. v. Rouse, 176 Ala. 138, 57 So. 706; Buchmann Abstract & Investment Co. v. Roberts, 213 Ala. 520, 105 So. 675; McGowin v. Felts, 263 Ala. 504, 83 So.2d 228.
2nd. Cases where a decree quieting title in respondent was reversed and decree rendered dismissing the bill or so much of decree of circuit court as undertook to quiet title in respondent was eliminated from the decree, because the evidence showed that complainant’s possession was scrambling or the evidence failed to show that it was peaceable, to wit: Price v. Robinson, 242 Ala. 626, 7 So.2d 568; Crump v. Knight, 250 Ala. 393, 34 So.2d 593.
3rd. Cases where a decree denying relief to complainant and dismissing bill was reversed and a decree was rendered quieting complainant’s title because the evidence showed that complainant had peaceable possession at the commencement of the suit and also held the better title, to wit: George E. Wood Lumber Co. v. Williams, 157 Ala. 73, 47 So. 202; Walthall v. Yohn, 252 Ala. 262, 40 So.2d 705.
4th. Cases where a cross bill was not sustained as a statutory bill to quiet title because the original bill was a prior suit pending, to wit: Scott v. Scott, 211 Ala. 424, 100 So. 755; Owen v. Montgomery, 230 Ala. 574, 161 So. 816; Floyd v. Andress, 246 Ala. 301, 20 So.2d 331.
5th. Statutory action of ejectment in which the nature of a statutory suit to quiet title is discussed, but which holds that defendant was entitled to the affirmative charge under § 3107, Code 1923; § 295, Title 51, Code 1940; to wit: Grayson v. Muckleroy, 220 Ala. 182, 124 So. 217.
6th. Case holding that plea of res judicata was correctly sustained and that plea *28in abatement was sufficient where amendment to bill and the ruling sustaining the plea worked an entire change of parties complainant, to wit: Ex parte Proctor, 247 Ala. 138, 22 So.2d 896.
7th. Case holding that demurrer to a bill filed by landlord against tenant, to quiet title and redeem from tax sale, was correctly overruled, to wit: Brunson v. Bailey, 245 Ala. 102, 16 So.2d 9.
8th. Case holding that general demurrer for want of equity, to bill filed by executor of landlord against tenant, was correctly overruled, to wit: Shannon v. Long, 180 Ala. 128, 60 So. 273.
The cases in the 1st category are reversals of decrees for complainants. The de-' cree now under review is a decree quieting title in respondents. Because of this difference, the 1st category cases do not control the instant case.
The decisions in the 3rd category rest on an interpretation of evidence to the effect that complainant had proved that he had both peaceable possession and legal title. The evidence in the case at bar does not support such a conclusion.
 The cases in the 4th category hold that a cross bill resting solely on the statute is without equity because the original bill is a pending suit in which the title could be enforced or tested. We do not think a cross bill is necessary for a decree declaring that respondent has superior title or that the cases in the 4th category throw any light on the instant problem.
The case in the 5th category, Grayson v. Muckleroy, supra, contains much discussion of suits to quiet title but the action is ejectment and the decision rests on the short statute of limitations, so that holding is of no assistance here. We do not think the cases in the 6th, 7th, or 8th categories are of any assistance in the instant case.
There remain to be considered the two cases in the 2nd category. Without questioning the soundness of Price v. Robinson, supra, we think it can be dis-, tinguished from the case at bar with respect to the possession shown by the evidence. In Price v. Robinson, the opinion states that the acts of respondents were sufficient to make complainants’ possession a scrambling one. In the case at bar,, the complainants’ possession at the filing of the suit was not scrambling. Complainants simply had no possession at all. The only acts of possession shown to have been done by any of the complainants during the seventeen years next preceding the filing of the bill of complaint in the instant suit were going on the land on the day Suit was filed for about three hours, putting up “No Trespassing” signs, and assisting in a survey. Merely going upon lands which are at the time in the actual possession of another, and claiming title thereto and warning such other off, is not such possession as will maintain or defeat a bill filed under the statute. Jordan v. McClure Lumber Co., 170 Ala. 289, 54 So. 415. The acts done by complainants in the case at bar did not constitute possession by complainants nor oust the possession of respondents. We are of opinion that the evidence supports a finding that respondents were in actual peaceable possession when the instant suit was filed. In that respect the instant case differs from Price v. Robinson, supra, where the possession was scrambling.
In Crump v. Knight, supra, the opinion suggests that the possession may have been scrambling, but does not expressly so state. If the possession was scrambling, then what we have said with respect to Price v. Robinson, supra, applies also to Crump v. Knight. If the possession was not scrambling, then Crump v. Knight is contrary to the instant decision and must be overruled.
The cause of the difficulty is the statement to the effect that failure to prove that complainant was in peaceable possession “destroys the jurisdiction” of the court. Statements to that effect are found in: Buchmann Abstract & Investment Co. *29v. Roberts, supra; Grayson v. Muckleroy, supra; McCaleb v. Worcester, 224 Ala. 360, 363, 140 So. 595; Price v. Robinson supra; Crump v. Knight, supra; McGowin v. Felts, supra; Mettee v. Bolling, 266 Ala. 50, 52, 94 So.2d 191. In only two of these last cited cases, i. e., Price v. Robinson and Crump v. Knight, was a decree quieting title in the respondent reversed. The statement first appears, so far as we are advised, in the Buchmann Abstract case, where this court said:
“The respondent is shown, not only to have claimed the right to possession, but has indicated such claim by possessory acts, as above referred to, and such claim of possession was in fact brought to the knowledge of complainant’s agent. As said in [Geo E.] Wood Lumber Co. v. Williams, supra [157 Ala. 73, 47 So. 202], the way was open for a contest of such possession and claim thereto. In the light of our former decisions, we are constrained to hold that the possessory acts herein indicated on the part of respondent were sufficient as a contest of complainant’s possession so as to destroy the peaceable character thereof and constitute it a disputed, contested or scrambling one. Ladd v. Powell, supra [144 Ala. 408, 39 So. 46] ; Crabtree v. Alabama Land Co., supra [155 Ala. 513, 46 So. 450]; Randle v. Daugh(d)rill, supra [142 Ala. 490, 39 So. 162]; Donohoo v. Smith, 207 Ala. 296, 92 So. 455.
“This conclusion destroys the jurisdiction of the court over the cause at its very threshold, and renders unnecessary a consideration of the questions which constitute any of the issues as to the contest of title. These matters are properly here pretermitted. Ladd v. Powell, supra.” 213 Ala. 520, 521, 105 So. 675, 676.
While it is established that a complainant in a statutory bill to quiet title, who fails to prove his peaceable possession, thereby fails to sustain the equity of his bill and is not entitled to relief, the cases cited in support of the assertion in the Buchmann case do not hold that where complainant fails to prove his peaceable possession the court is without jurisdiction to quiet the title of the respondent. In Ladd v. Powell, the decree appealed from and reversed by this court was a decree declaring that respondents had no title. The decree in Crabtree v. Alabama Land Co., supra, was to the same effect and was also reversed.
The decree appealed from in Randle v. Daughdrill, supra, also was a decree deciding that complainants were entitled to the land. This court reversed as to the respondent who had shown some possessory acts such as would defeat the peaceable possession of complainants, but this court affirmed the decree as to two respondents who had suffered a decree pro confesso to be rendered against them. Apparently, this court did not regard the failure to prove complainants’ peaceable possession as destroying the jurisdiction of the court as to those two respondents because the decree was affirmed as to them, and to affirm a decree is to hold that it is not void. Vaughan v. Vaughan, 267 Ala. 117, 100 So.2d 1; Capps v. Norden, 261 Ala. 676, 75 So.2d 915.
In Donohoo v. Smith, supra, this court affirmed a decree dismissing the bill and denying relief to complainant.
The cases cited in the Buchmann case do support the proposition that a complainant who fails to prove his peaceable possession is not entitled to have his title declared superior to that of respondent, but the cited cases do not hold that the title of a respondent shown to be in peaceable possession cannot be quieted in him, or that the court lacks jurisdiction to render a decree declaring that respondent has superior title. The Buchmann case itself does not hold that the court lacks jurisdiction to render a decree declaring that a respondent shown to be in peaceable possession has superior title. The Buchmann case holds merely, in accord with the cases there cited, that a complainant who fails to prove his peace*30able possession is not entitled to a decree quieting the title in him.
As noted in Adler v. Sullivan, 115 Ala. 582, 22 So. 87, the Alabama statute, Title 7, § 1109 et seq., was taken from a similar statute in New Jersey. The procedure in Alabama, however, has developed along lines different from those followed in New Jersey. It appears that in New Jersey, where respondent denies “the jurisdictional facts of peaceable possession by the complainant * * the settled practice is that the court “will try in the first instance the issue of jurisdiction thus presented, and will not go into the question of the respective titles of the parties until the jurisdictional question has been decided,” and “If the court decided the issue so presented in favor of the defendant, that would be the end of the controversy. If the court, however, found against the defendant on this issue * * * the defendant would file his affirmative pleading * * * setting forth his title or claim, and thereafter the proceeding would follow as above indicated.” Under the New Jersey practice, respondent’s answer is split in two. The court first tries the “jurisdictional question” and if the result is not adverse to complainant, the court holds a further final hearing in which that part of the answer which sets up the title of respondent is for the first time noticed and disposed of. Fittichauer v. Metropolitan Fire Proofing Co., 70 N.J.Eq. 429, 61 A. 746, 747. In Alabama the question of complainant’s peaceable possession, if denied by respondent, and also the issue of which party has superior title, are presented together in one trial.
There are at least two Alabama cases which indicate that respondent’s title may be declared superior, although the evidence failed to support the “jurisdictional” averment that complainant was in peaceable possession when the suit was commenced. Those two cases are the two next cited.
In Vandegrift v. Southern Mineral Land Co., 166 Ala. 312, 51 So. 983, 984, the trial court rendered a decree adjudging that complainant owned the mineral and that respondents owned a mere surface interest. There was no cross bill. The opinion, citing Randle v. Daughdrill, supra, recognized the rule that under the statute, complainant must have peaceable as distinguished from scrambling possession. The opinion states 'that complainant did not show actual possession, that the evidence shows that respondents were in actual possession of the land when the bill was filed, and that the presumption is that one who has possession of the surface has possession of the subsoil also. The opinion states: “The complainant cannot maintain this bill as to the land in question, for the reason that it was not in possession of the surface or the mineral when the bill was filed.” This court, however, proceeded to reverse the decree in so far as it adjudged complainant owner of the minerals and to render a decree adjudging the respondents the absolute owners, as against complainant, of all the lands in which they were decreed to have a mere surface interest. It is difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile the Vandegrift decision with the proposition that lack of peaceable possession in complainant deprives the court of jurisdiction to declare that a respondent in peaceable possession has a title superior to that of a complainant who had no possession.
In Rucker v. Jackson, 180 Ala. 109, 60 So. 139, the bill of complaint alleged that complainants owned the land and were in possession of same. Respondent, by his answer, claimed the minerals and denied that complainants owned or were in possession of the land. There was no cross bill. The trial court rendered a decree declaring that respondent had no title to the minerals and that the minerals were the property of complainants. On appeal, the decree was reversed and a decree rendered declaring that title to the minerals was in the respondent. The opinion states:
“The statute authorizes a bill like this to be filed by any person in the peaceable possession of lands, whether actual or constructive, claiming to own the same. Where neither party has actual *31possession, necessarily the issue becomes one of title, drawing to it constructive possession, and with the burden upon complainant to show title in order to maintain his bill, and this rule applies in this case, for, when the bill was filed, no one was in possession of the land. Nor has there ever been any such actual possession as would affect the title. The witnesses with one accord say that the property has never been occupied, cultivated, or improved; that it is and has been a wild woodland.” 180 Ala. 109, 114, 60 So. 139, 140.
Thus it appears that complainants’ lack of both actual and constructive peaceable possession of the minerals did not deprive the court of jurisdiction to declare that respondent had superior title to the minerals.
The doctrine of estoppel suggests another reason why we should not hold that lack of evidence of peaceable possession in complainant requires reversal of a decree declaring that respondent has superior title. Complainant has chosen the arena in which to contest the rights of respondent and has represented to the court that he, the complainant, has peaceable possession. By making this representation he has given equity to his bill and has compelled respondent to prove his claim. It would be inequitable to permit complainant, after he has lost in the trial court, to assume an inconsistent position on appeal and say that because he lacked peaceable possession the decree against him cannot stand. In fairness to the instant complainants, we note here that they have not attempted to take such an inconsistent position. It would further appear that the appellate court should not be compelled, on its own motion, to give complainant the benefit of an inconsistent position which, in equity, he ought not to be permitted to assume for himself.
No question of disputed or scrambling possession is presented in the instant case. Because it is unnecessary, we do not decide what the result should be where the decree quiets title in respondent and the possession is shown by the proof to be scrambling. See: Chestang v. Tensaw Land & Timber Co., Inc., ante, p. 8, 134 So.2d 159.
We do decide that when the evidence shows, as it does here, that respondent has peaceable possession and also has superior title, a decree so declaring, which is rendered on a statutory bill and answer, will not be reversed on the ground that the court lacked jurisdiction to render the decree. Anything to the contrary which may be found in Price v. Robinson, Crump v. Knight, or other cases, is disapproved and will not be followed.
The decree here appealed from dismissed the bill and granted the relief prayed for in the cross bill. The cross bill was unnecessary because respondents could have their title determined on the bill and answer. Collier v. Alexander, 138 Ala. 245, 36 So. 367; Vandegrift v. Southern Mineral Land Co., supra; Hinds v. Federal Land Bank of New Orleans, 235 Ala. 360, 179 So. 194. Moreover, the cross bill contains no independent equity, fails to allege that cross-complainants are in peaceable possession, and fails to allege that no suit is pending to test the title. As in Collier v. Alexander, supra, the decree, in ordering a dismissal of complainants’ bill, was irregular, and in this respect will be corrected. It is upon bill and answer that the decree fixing the status of the title is based. The decree as corrected will be affirmed.
Motion overruled.
Opinion extended.
Rehearing overruled.
LAWSON, SIMPSON, STAKELY and MERRILL, JJ., concur.
LIVINGSTON, C. J., and GOODWYN, J., concur in overruling the motion to strike, but dissent as indicated in the opinions of GOODWYN, J.