Holt v. Follett

Citations

• 65 Tex. 550
• 1886 Tex. LEXIS 705

Syllabus

<p>1. Oysters—Oyster-beds—Rights of riparian owner—Act of March 8, 1879— Under the act of March 8, 1879, for the preservation of oysters and oyster-beds, and for protecting the rights of persons to the same, etc., the owner of land bordering on any unnavigable creek, lake, bayou or cove is also the true and legal owner of the oyster-beds along the entire front of his land, from low-water mark to the center of such creek, lake, bayou or cove ; or if the lake, bayou or cove, upon which his land borders, is public, navigable water, then the owner of the land is the owner of the oyster-beds along the entire front of the land, and extending out from low-water mark into such lake, bayou or cove, for a distance of one hundred yards.</p> <p>2. Same—Trespasser—Riparian owner—Act of March 8, 1879, construed—So long as the owner of the land is content with what the law gives him by virtue of his riparian ownership, he is protected by the imaginary line running at a distance of one hundred yards from low-water mark along the entire front of his shore ; and, to constitute one a trespasser, in the meaning of the law, who, without the consent of the owner of the land, takes oysters within such space, it is not necessary that the owner shall have first designated it by staking it off. That provision of the act of March 8, 1879, which requires one’s location to be designated by stakes planted at its four corners, applies only to those cases where the riparian owner, or other person, wishes to secure a right beyond these limits.</p> <p>8. Suit for malicious prosecution—Probable cause—Malice—Latter not a legal inference—In order to sustain a suit for malicious prosecution, both malice and want of probable cause must combine. The former may be inferred from the latter, but it is not a legal inference.</p> <p>4. Same—Probable cause—Malice—Proof—When want of probable cause is first shown, then malice may be established by proof that the prosecution was not commenced for any other purpose