Dethloff v. Zeigler Coal Co.

On June 29, 1976, Phillip and Dorothy Dethloff filed a complaint in the circuit court of Douglas County alleging that the defendant, the Zeigler Coal Company (Zeigler), had unlawfully entered the plaintiffs’ land in January of 1976 and mined coal which it later converted. Counts I and II of the complaint asked for compensatory and punitive damages for trespass and conversion. Count III sought a declaratory judgment that the leasing agreement entered into by each party’s predecessor in title and interest had expired by its terms on June 20, 1970. The trial court held in the plaintiffs’ favor…