F. A. Hihn Co. v. Fleckner

Citations

• 106 Cal. 95
• 39 P. 214
• 1895 Cal. LEXIS 573

Syllabus

<p>m Ejectment—Title and Possession—Admissions in Answer—Absence oe Evidence—Conclusión oe Law.—Where a complaint in ejectment alleges that the plaintiff is seised in fee simple of the demanded premises, and that the defendant is in the unlawful and wrongful possession thereof, and wrongfully withholds the possession from the plaintiff, upon an answer not denying the seisin of the plaintiff or the possession by himself, but merely denying that his possession and withholding is wrongful or unlawful, the conclusion of law follows that the plaintiff is entitled to the possession of the land.</p> <p>Id.—Right of Possession—Affirmative Defense.—A defendant claiming the right to retain possession as against the owner of land must establish such right as matter of affirmative defense.</p> <p>Id.—Omission of Finding—Character of Possession—Failure of Evidence.—Where the record shows that the defendant did not offer any evidence at the trial to show the rightfulness of his possession the failure of the court to make a finding as to whether his possession was rightful or wrongful does not constitute error.</p> <p>Id.—Admission as to Rents and Profits—Computation of Damages.— Where the complaint alleges the annual value of the rents and profits of the land, and no issue is taken upon the allegations, the damage to the plaintiff is properly determined by a computation of the value alleged during the period of the withholding of the land by the defendant, down to the time of rendering judgment.</p> <p>Id.—Denial of Damages—Legal Conclusion.—The denial in the answer that plaintiff had been damaged, without a denial of the alleged value of the rents and profits of the land, raises no issue of fact, and is only the denial of a legal conclusion.</p>