Converse v. Town of Charleston

Plaintiff property owners appeal from a directed verdict, based on res judicata, for defendant Town of Charleston. We reverse and remand to permit plaintiffs to seek damages for the town’s alleged breach of duty to properly maintain the road in question from the date of an earlier action against a neighbor.

Plaintiffs purchased property in Charleston in 1970. A neighbor, believing that he owned the road that provided access to plaintiffs’ property, engaged in various tactics designed to prevent use of the road. Ultimately, the neighbor obliterated the road by creating a pond in its place which…