Minor's Heirs v. City of New Orleans

Citations

• 115 La. 302
• 38 So. 999
• 1905 La. LEXIS 656

Syllabus

<p>BATTURE ACCRETIONS — DEEDS — RESERVATIONS — VALIDITY — PRESCRIPTION — EMINENT DOMAIN — CONFLICTING JUDGMENTS — RES JUDI-CATA.</p> <p>1. Where the owner of an interest in a parcel of land fronting the Mississippi river sold said interest to the city of New Orleans in the year 1854, excepting and reserving, however, his interest in all future batture accretions, held, that such a stipulation is a lawful agreement, and should be enforced.</p> <p>2. Where there are two conflicting judgments in the same case, the later in point of time must prevail. Where the first was a consent judgment between plaintiff and defendant, and was vacated by their consent before the rendition of the final judgment on the merits, a warrantor, no party to the consent proceedings, is bound by the last judgment, and cannot plead the consent decree as res judicata.</p> <p>3. Prescription does not run against a riparian owner in respect to batture while administered by a city for public uses.</p> <p>4. The term “river” includes the bed of tbe stream up to its state of ordinary high water.-</p> <p>5. Where batture is formed within tbe limits of incorporated towns and cities of this state, the ownership of tbe riparian proprietors is subject to tbe right of tbe corporation to reserve and use a sufficient portion thereof as may be necessary for navigation, commerce, public highway, and streets. There is, however, no public servitude over such batture in favor of railroads.</p> <p>6. The right of the riparian owner to recover such portion of the batture which has been formed in front of his land as may not be necessary for public use is specially conferred by section 318 of the Revised Statutes of 1870, which imposes on the courts the duty to de-, termine what portions of the batture are not necessary for the purposes of navigation, commerce, and other public uses.</p> <p>(Syllabus by the Court.)</p>