ANNIE D. LUNGREN, APPELLANT,
v.
M. A. BROWNLIE ET AL., APPELLEES

Fla. | 1886-06-01
22 Fla. 491 Florida Supreme Court (1886) Positive Treatment
Cited by 10 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

In this ejectment action, the Florida Supreme Court reversed a jury verdict for the plaintiffs seeking to recover land based on a patent from the United States, finding the verdict defective because it failed to specify the quantity of estate to which plaintiffs were entitled and because the trial judge failed to charge the jury on relevant law regarding adverse possession.


Holding

The judgment was reversed and a new trial granted because the verdict was defective in failing to state the quantity of estate to which plaintiffs were entitled, and the trial judge erred by failing to charge the jury on the legal effect of the enclosure of the land in connection with the written instrument as it related to adverse possession under the relevant statute.


Key Quotes

“This verdict cannot be sustained and the court erred in rendering a judgment thereon. It does not state the quantity of the estate of the plaintiffs in the land.”

Establishes the defect in the jury verdict—failure to specify the quantity of estate being recovered in an ejectment action.

Previewing 1 of 2 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Plaintiffs M. A. Brownlie and Florence M. J. Groover brought ejectment against Annie D. Lungren for a 40-acre tract in Volusia County. Plaintiffs prod…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court

The Chief Justice delivered the opinion of the court:

M. A. Brownlie, Florence M. J. Groover and J. A. Groover, her husband, brought suit in the Circuit Court of Volusia county against Annie D. Lungren for the recovery of a tract of land lying in said county containing forty acres. The defendant pleaded not guilty. The plaintiffs introduced in evidence a patent to the land from the United States to Mitchel A. Brownlie, dated May 1st, 1855 ; also evidence to prove that said Mitchell A. Brownlie died in the year 1858 or 1859, and that the plaintiffs, M. A. Brownlie and Florence M. J. Groover, were his heirs at law. Suit was instituted December 10, 1888. The evidence in the case showed that one Martin, in the year 1882 or 1853, cleared ten or twelve acres in one corner of the forty acre tract and fenced the same. That he cultivated the portion cleared. That the fence remained around said cleared land until sometime about the year 1873. That during the latter part of the time other persons also cultivated it, but the evidence does not show by whose permission. That said Martin on the 2d of October, 1869, sold the forty acre tract to Henry G. Lungren. There was evidence also tending to show that Brownlie had sold and conveyed the land to Martin, but that the deed was lost. The witness testified that he had seen and inspected a deed from Brownlie to Martin in the year 1858, which was made several years previous to the land in question for a consideration of two hundred dollars, that said deed was in the hands of the Clerk of Volusia county for record, that before recording it the Clerk was arrested for robbing the mails of the United States and put in the penitentiary. That witness had searched the Clerk’s office for it and had failed to find it.

The jury returned a verdict as follows: “ "We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of holding unlawfully the lands described in the declaration, to wit: the SW ¼ of NW ¼ of sec. 26, T. 15, south of R. 28, east, containing 39 56-100 acres, and that the plaintiffs are entitled to the recovery of the same.”

This verdict cannot be sustained and the court erred in rendering a judgment thereon. It does not state the quantity of the estate of the plaintiffs in the land.

The Judge presiding did not charge the jury upon the whole law of the case, as he should have done. He omitted to charge the jury as to the legal effect the enclosure of the ten or twelve acres, taken in connection with the written instrument testified to by Price, had, under the 4th clause of sec. 6, p. 732, Mc’s. Dig., upon the part of the land not enclosed, nor did the counsel for the appellant, after the failure of the Judge to so charge, request any instruction to the jury. In such a case he will not be permitted to assign, such omission as error. Cato vs. State, 9 Fla., 163.

The bill of exceptions does not disclose what connection or relation the defendant, Annie D. Lungren, sustained to the Henry D. Lungren, described in the deed as the grantee-of Martin. Counsel for appellant says in his brief that she, is his executrix.

The record shows nothing on the subject.

Judgment reversed and new trial granted.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Hoodless v. Jernigan, 46 Fla. 213 (Fla. 1903)
    …The judgment awarding possession shall in like manner state the quantity of the estate, and give a description of the land recovered.” That the verdict was defective in failing to find and state the quantity of the estate, see Lungren v. Brownlie, 22 Fla. 491; Elizabethport Cordage Co. v. Whitlock, 37 Fla. 190, 20 South. Rep. 255; Russell v. Marks, 32 Fla. 456, 14 South. Rep. 40; Bartley v. Bingham, 34 Fla. 19, 15 South. Rep. 592; Asia v. Hiser, 22 Fla. 378. See, also, Low v. Settle, 22 West Va. 382. We…
  • Gibbs v. McCoy, 70 Fla. 245 (Fla. 1915)
    …aintiff” as is mandatorily required by the statute. Sec. 1970 Gen. Stats. of 1906; Sec. 1970 Compiled Laws Ann. 1914; Brown v. Hetherington, 65 Fla. 327, 61 South. Rep. 638; Hoodless v. Jernigan, 46 Fla. 213, 35 South. Rep. 656; Lungren v. Brownlie, 22 Fla. 491; Neal v. Spooner, 20 Fla. 38. Because of the failure of the finding and judgment to “state the quantity of the estate of the plaintiff” as is mandatorily required by the statute, the judgment is reversed. Taylor, C. J., and Shackleford, Cockrell a…
  • McKenna v. State, 119 Fla. 576 (Fla. 1934)
    …ed upon the judge’s failure to charge upon any question of law unless the party desiring it shall have requested the desired instruction.” See Carter v. Bennett, 4 Fla. 283; Cato v. State, 9 Fla. 163; Reed v. State, 16 Fla. 564; Lungren v. Brownlie, 22 Fla. 491; Blount v. State, 30 Fla. 287, 11 So. 547; Carr v. State, 45 Fla. 11, 34 Sou. 892; Lindsey v. State, 53 Fla. 56, 43 So. 87; Pugh v. State, 55 Fla. 150, 45 So. 1023; Key West v. Baldwin, 69 Fla. 136, 67 So. 808; Herndon v. State, 73 Fla. 451, 74 So.…

Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw