Smith v. Vineyard’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 federal appellate · 11 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 12 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““This enabling provision of our statute Iras many times been passed upon by this court. At first glance there seems to be an apparent conflict in our decisions, as to the extent of the power of a court of equity to pass upon conflicting claims to real estate in a partition suit, which upon closer examination disappears. Our earlier cases appear to give a very broad interpretation to the statute in this regard. In Hudson v. Putney, 14 W. Va. 561 , it was said that under this section, when the title is doubtful, a court of equity should decide it, observing the general rules of practice in equity for ascertaining facts, either by a jury or otherwise, as may be most proper. In Moore v. Harper, 27 W. Va. 362 , it was said that, under this section, a court of equity in a suit for the partition of lands may take cognizance of all questions of law affecting the legal title that may arise in the proceedings, such as removing a cloud from the title or passing upon an adverse claim to the land. These eases seem broad enough to enable a court of equity to pass on and determine the claim of a stranger holding a wholly adverse and hostile title, but our later cases, reviewing the former decisions, have not so construed them. Carberry et al. v. W. Va. & P. R. Co., 44 W. Va. 260 [ 28 S. E. 694 ]; Cecil et al. v. Clark et al., 44 W. Va. 659 [ 30 S. E. 216 ]. In the latter case Judge Brannon, delivering the opinion of the court, said, in relation to the construction given the statute by the c”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Harrison v. Gillespie

2. ““If it appears, as a jurisdictional fact, in a suit in equity for partition, that the party or parties asking partition, and the party or parties against whom partition is asked, are tenants in common, joint tenants or coparceners in the real estate sought to be partitioned, and as such compellable under the statute to make- partition, the circuit court has power incident to its jurisdiction, to pass upon all conflicting claims to the title to such real estate of the parties so compellable to make partition, arising in the suit. If the jurisdictional fact, viz: the existence of one of the forms of co-tenancy mentioned appears, the jurisdiction of the court is not defeated by the claim of one or more of the defendants that the fact does not exist. One of the defendants may claim the whole of the real estate sought to be partitioned, and may-claim to have ousted the other and to be in sole possession, yet if the fact appears that one of the forms of co-tenancy mentioned actually exists, the court may pass upon the conflicting- claims to title of the co-tenants as long as the plaintiff’s right of entry is not barred by the statute of limitations. Cecil et al. v. Clark et al., supra; Hudson v. Putney, supra; Carberry et al. v. W. Va. & P. R. Co., supra; Davis v. Settle, 43 W. Va. 17 ; Pillow v. Southwest Improvement Co., 92 Va. 144 ( 23 S. E. Rep. 32 ); Code, chapter 79, section 1.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 100 W. Va. 639 - Woodrum v. Price