Wicker v. Harvey
| Docket Number: | 2005-CA-00596-COA | |
| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 09-12-2006 Opinion Author: CHANDLER, J. Holding: Affirmed |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Real property - Boundary line - Parol evidence - Purchaser in good faith - Adverse possession Judge(s) Concurring: KING, C.J., LEE AND MYERS, P.JJ., SOUTHWICK, IRVING, GRIFFIS, BARNES, ISHEE AND ROBERTS, JJ. Procedural History: Bench Trial Nature of the Case: CIVIL - REAL PROPERTY |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 02-01-2005 Appealed from: WALTHALL COUNTY CHANCERY COURT Judge: W. Hollis McGehee, II Disposition: JAMES FORD HARVEY WAS FOUND TO BE THE RECORD TITLE HOLDER OF SUBJECT PROPERTY OR TO HAVE TITLE TO THE PROPERTY THROUGH ADVERSE POSSESSION. Case Number: 2002-0178 |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | DWIGHT F. WICKER |
IRVING CONRAD MORD |
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| Appellee: | JAMES FORD HARVEY | GENE HORNE |
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Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Real property - Boundary line - Parol evidence - Purchaser in good faith - Adverse possession |
| Summary of the Facts: | James Harvey filed a complaint seeking to enjoin Dwight Wicker from trespassing upon Harvey's property. Harvey prayed for damages and also requested that the court establish the boundaries of the land at issue. Wicker answered and moved to dismiss the complaint, asserting that he was a bona fide purchaser for value without notice. The chancellor found that Harvey owned the property as the record title holder or, alternatively, through adverse possession. Wicker appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | In the lower court, Wicker sought to establish that he was the record title holder of the disputed property by contending that the Smyrna and Leatherwood Creek Gravel Road and the Tylertown-Holmesville Public Road (now Old Holmesville Road) referenced in the two deeds were one and the same road. The chancellor rejected Wicker's one-road theory and held that the evidence was uncontradicted that the red painted line had marked the accepted boundary between the two properties for more than forty years. Wicker argues that the chancellor was bound to accept the parol evidence provided by three witnesses to the effect that the Smyrna and Leatherwood Creek Gravel Road was one and the same as the Tylertown-Holmesville Public Road. Because the Smyrna and Leatherwood Creek Gravel Road was used as a monument in the deeds but could not be located, the deeds were ambiguous. Therefore, Wicker correctly argues that parol evidence was admissible to explain the ambiguity. However, the chancellor was not obligated to accept the parol evidence and to ignore the other extrinsic evidence pertaining to the issue. Moreover, the chancellor's finding that the red painted line was the accepted boundary line between the two properties was supported by substantial evidence. Recognition of, and acquiescence in, a line as the true boundary line, if continued for a sufficient length of time, will afford a conclusive presumption that the line thus acquiesced in is the true boundary line. Wicker argues that he bought the disputed property in good faith and without notice of Harvey's interest. This contention is refuted by substantial evidence in the record. Though Wicker denied having any knowledge of Harvey's claim before his purchase of the property, a witness testified that he advised Wicker to get a survey because an old road, not Old Holmesville Road, might actually be the northern boundary of the property. In addition, the chancellor's alternative finding that Harvey had acquired the disputed property through adverse possession was supported by substantial evidence. |
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