v.
Henry Kramer, and Gus J. Miller v. Henry Kramer
When the case was first before us, nearly every question of law was disposed of, and reference to the opinion there filed will disclose the issues in the main case. The law thus announced is controlling on this appeal, no matter whether right or wrong. After remand to the district court, defendants filed a substituted answer; but this did not in any manner change the issues or avoid the ruling made on the former appeal. Plaintiff filed a reply to this substituted answer, in which he averred:
And therein prayed that the court partition the said realty between the plaintiff and the defendants therein; that a demurrer of the defendants therein was sustained by the court to the said petition, and thereupon the plaintiff therein filed an amended and substituted petition in which he claimed that he had purchased the tract of realty described in ‘Exhibit A’ thereto, and asked for a decree of specific performance against the defendants of the instrument which is set out in his answer in this ease as ‘Exhibit D,’ to which the defendants filed a demurrer which was sustained by the court, and, upon the plaintiff standing [*525] •upon, liis pleadings a final entry, judgment and decree by the court was made upon the record; that the plaintiffs herein hereby refer to the original petition in equity for partition, and. the amended and substituted petition therein, asking for specific performance, and to Exhibit A thereof, and the record entries of the court entered upon the said pleadings are hereby referred to in support of this plea of election, a prior adjudication, estoppel of record, and abandonment by defendant of any right to maintain an application under section 2028 and section 2029 .of the Code of Iowa and Supplement of 1907 to the Code; . . . that, by the filing and maintaining of the said suit and the filing of the several petitions therein, he elected, asserted, and claimed the right of way over and across the tract of realty owned by the plaintiffs in this action by virtue of Exhibit D [this Exhibit D is the contract between plaintiff, Gus Miller, and the defendant Kramer, referred to in 148 Iowa under the same designation] attached to his answer herein; that he is now es-topped of record by his said institution of the said proceedings and by the adjudication of this court .therein from seeking to again litigate the said matters in this action.
It is claimed for the pleading that it showed an election on the part of defendant Kramer to rely upon a contract, and that he is estopped by the judgment in the partition proceedings from further prosecuting this proceeding. A sufficient answer to this contention, we think, is that the proceedings to establish the road were pending when the partition suit was brought. The proceedings to establish the road were never abandoned, but were delayed because of the temporary injunction issued in this ease. If there was any election at all, it was to establish the way over the land, for this was the first proceeding begun, and, if a defense anywhere, it might have been pleaded as such to the partition suit; but this was not done. Moreover, we do not think the judgment in the partition suit is a bar to this action. Defendant may have no right of partition or to enforce bis contract with plaintiff, and yet be entitled to the road, and, if he owned the land and was entitled to [*526] use it, plaintiff had no right to enjoin the use thereof by defendant. We do not think this reply tendered any valid defense to defendant’s answer and cross-petition.
The only questions touching the merits, in view of the law announced on the former appeal, are these: First. Has the defendant, or had he at the beginning of this action, a public or private way to his land? Second. Is the proposed road on the division line or immediately adjacent thereto?
The trial court answered the first of these questions in the negative and the second in the affirmative, and, after considering all the testimony, we think its conclusions are correct. The testimony .amply sustains both findings and the decree dismissing plaintiffs’ petition in the main case, unless it be for some other proposition argued.
Plaintiffs brought this action against the defendant to enjoin him from, proceeding to establish a way over their lands under the provisions of sections 2028 et seq. of the Code. To this action the parties over whose land it is claimed defendant Kramer had or was entitled to a right of way were neither necessary nor proper parties. Defendant Kramer was not claiming that he had any right of way over the lands of these parties; hence it was not necessary to bring them into the case. "Whether he had such right or no and whether such right, even if it existed, was of any value, was an issue in the case, and no other parties were necessary to a determination of that issue than those who were made parties. This matter was fully considered on the former appeal, as will be observed from reading the opinion in 148 Iowa.
One other question argued by appellant’s counsel was not made an issue in the court below, and, of course, can not be considered here. It appears from the record that the trial court exercised unusual care in the hearing of this case. He not only listened patiently to the testimony, but with counsel personally went over the ground and examined conditions for himself, and filed a written opinion which has been of great assistance to us. in considering the merits of the appeal. We are content with the result reached, and the first case should unquestionably be affirmed.
The second case is a certiorari proceeding, commenced on January 25,' 1911, which was after the decree rendered in the court below in the first case here disposed of. The parties to this case are the same as in the original case, save that a new sheriff has been elected in place of Datin, ¡who was a party to the original case, and L. Gr. Jones [*529] is made a party in the case, instead of Ernest Beach; the reason for the change being that Beach was one of the members of the original sheriff’s jury, but, when a new jury was called, after the decree in the main case was entered, Jones was selected in his stead. While, as we have said, this second proceeding is a certiorari action, no one is made a party, save the defendant Kramer, the then sheriff of Lee county, and the then appointed commissioners, or sheriff’s jury, it is alleged that plaintiff had an action pending, being the first one considered in this opinion, against the defendants therein mentioned; that a temporary writ of injunction was issued in said case, which was afterwards made permanent against all the defendants save Kramer; that the said case is now pending on appeal in the Supreme Court of Iowa; that the said appeal and the rights asserted by the defendants herein have not been finally adjudicated in their'favor in said action still pending on appeal; that the said defendant, Henry Kramer, in his answer in said action pending has alleged facts showing that he was not and is not entitled to maintain the proceedings before the said sheriff and is thereby estopped of record; that this court and the Supreme Court of Iowa have assumed and taken jurisdiction of the rights of the respective parties therein in said action, and have determined some of the issues in favor of these plaintiffs, and others are still pending on appeal, and not finally adjudicated; that the said defendant John J. Crimmins, as sheriff of Lee county, Iowa, -has not jurisdiction of the said proceedings, and is proceeding in violation of the rights of these plaintiffs; that the said Henry Kramer is in contempt in violating the orders of this court, and the defendants IT. J. Schroeder, C. J. Hyde, Julius Eichorn, Ernest Beach, J. B. Helling, and Adolph Buechel are about to violate the order of this court, and trespass upon the rights of these plaintiffs, unless summoned in this proceeding under a writ of certiorari to [*530] answer to this court in the premises. A writ of certiorari was asked, commanding defendants to certify all the records with reference to the establishment of the highway in question in order that the present proceedings with reference to the establishment of the highway might be annuled and set aside. In response to this, the then acting sheriff made a return of ihis proceedings, which return shows that they were in accord with section 2028 et seq. and! other provisions of the Code with reference to the establishment of rights of way, down 'to and including the award of damages made by the commisioners to the plaintiffs for the establishment of the proposed road. Upon the coming in of this return, defendants moved to discharge -the wrlit, and to dismiss the case for various reasons, some of which will be hereinafter referred to.
A long amendment was 'then filed to the plaintiffs’ petition, alleging as grounds for the writ that defendant Kramer was not entitled to the road for practically the same reasons as set out in his petition in the main ease, which we have disposed of in the first branch of this opinion. The case then went to hearing, and a great amount of testimony was taken; the result of the whole matter being a decree dismissing plaintiffs’ petition at their costs. The trial court found that all the proceedings in the main case and by the sheriff and the commissioners appointed by him were regular -and in accordance with law, and the defendants’ motion to discharge the writ and to dismiss the petition, which was submitted with the case, was sustained and plaintiffs ordered to p'ay the cost of the proceedings. The appeal is from these rulings.
It is perfectly manifest that nothing could be considered by the trial court upon the bearing of this second case, save, perhaps, the regularity of the proceedings had after the decree in the main case had been entered. Appellants have filed a long brief covering almost every conceivable question growing out of the controversy between the parties. Counsel have asked us on the appeal in this case to consider every question heretofore presented, when the appeal was first before us, every issue raised in the main case which has been disposed of in the first branch of this opinion, and some other questions which they claim are especially raised on the appeal of this certiorari proceeding. Manifestly this can not be done, even if this proceeding 'in certiorari were a proper one. The claim that there was and is a permanent injunction against some of the defendants in this case by reason of the proceedings in the main case has already been answered in the opinion here [*532] filed in the main case, and need not be- again considered. Indeed, they could not be again reviewed in a certiorari proceeding. If there be anything in the claim o-f former adjudication it is against the plaintiffs, for the adjudication in the count below was against them. The only poip-t, if there 'be one, is that the trial court acted illegally in not giving effect to the claimed decree of permanent injunction against some of the defendants to this case. There is a two-fold answer to this: First, neither the trial judge nor the court which it is claimed acted illegally was made a party to the certiorari proceedings; and, second, there was no permanent injunction against any of these defendants. This will appear from the opinion now filed in the main case. It is useless to cite authorities to the effect that the decree entered by the trial court in the main case is an adjudication and final until reversed by this court, even though there be an appeal pending, for this is elementary law. Some claim is made that the statutes involved in the main case, and the proceedings had thereunder are unconstitutional, but no such issue is presented by the pleadings and of course it will not be considered.
Again, at is said that, as the sheriff was a party to the original proceedings and interested therein, he could not appoint commissioners to award the damages because of his interest. The proposition upon which this argument is based is untrue in fact. One Datin, the then sheriff of- the county, was .a party to the main case, but he is not a party here, nor was he called upon to take any action. After the petition in the main case was dismissed Kramer called upon the then sheriff, Crummins, who is a party to this action, but who was in no manner interested in the main case, to summon commissioners to award the damage to plaintiffs. There is absolutely no reason why he should not comply [*533] with, this request. He was neither interested, nor was he a party to the main suit.
Again, it is salid that the court. erred in rejecting certain testimony offered in the main ease. But this is not ground for the issuance of a writ of certiorari.
Enough of this. We have already given the case more consideration than it warrants. There is no basis whatever for the claim that the sheriff or any of the commissioners appointed by him have acted illegally or without jurisdiction, and the other propositions are simply a rehash of the arguments made in the main case, which can not, of course, be considered in this certiorari proceeding. The certiorari proceeding is absolutely without merit, and the trial court was right in sustaining the motion to dismiss the same, and in taxing the costs to plaintiffs. It is unfortunate that they will have to pay not only these costs but a large bill of costs in this court; and we can hardly conceive of any excuse for bringing this certiorari proceeding. Consideration’ of the most elementary rules with reference to such proceedings would have suggested the absolute futility and certain defeat of such an action. It was quite enough of a burden to appeal [*534] tbe main case, in. view of tiie decision mad© when the case was first before us, without subjecting the client to such a large bill of costs as have been occasioned by these certiorari proceedings. More consideration has been given to this prolonged litigation than it is entitled to and it is tc be hoped that this is the last chapter.
The result is that the orders, judgments, decrees, and rulings made and entered in each case are affirmed.