Dougherty v. . Stepp
Supreme Court of North Carolina
This was an action of trespass quare clausum fregit, tried at Buncombe on the last Circuit, before his Honor Judge Martin. The only proof introduced by the plaintiff to establish an act of trespass, was, that the defendant had entered on the unenclosed land of the plaintiff, with a surveyor and chain carriers, and actually surveyed a part of it, claiming it as his own, but without marking trees or cutting bushes.
Read the full summary
This was an action of trespass quare clausum fregit, tried at Buncombe on the last Circuit, before his Honor Judge Martin. The only proof introduced by the plaintiff to establish an act of trespass, was, that the defendant had entered on the unenclosed land of the plaintiff, with a surveyor and chain carriers, and actually surveyed a part of it, claiming it as his own, but without marking trees or cutting bushes. This, his Honor held not to be a trespass, and the jury under his instructions, found a verdict for the defendant, and the plaintiff appealed. Mendenhall for the plaintiff,…
1Opinion of the Court
Ruffin, Chief Justice.
— In the opinion of the Court, there is error in the instructions given to the jury. The amount of damages may depend on the acts done on the land, and the extent of injury to it therefrom. But it is an elementary principle, that every unauthorised, and therefore unlawful entry, into the close of another, is a trespass. From every such entry against the will of the possessor, the law infers some damage; if nothing more, the treading down the grass or the herbage, or as here, the shrubbery. Had the locus in quo been under cultivation or enclosed, there would, have been no…
2Cited by12 opinions
- Matthews v. ForrestSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1952
- Smith v. VonCannonSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1973
- Lee v. . StewartSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1940
- Morrison v. SmithCourt of Appeals of Tennessee · 1988
- State v. CookeSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1957
7 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.