ROBERT WALKER AND SUSAN ELDER v. CHARLES SMITH V. CLIFFORD BYRNE AND WIFE, CAROL BYRNE - Articles

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ROBERT WALKER AND SUSAN ELDER v. CHARLES SMITH V. CLIFFORD BYRNE AND WIFE, CAROL BYRNE

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Jul 14, 2014

Court: TN Court of Appeals

Attorneys 1:

J. Harvey Cameron, Jasper, Tennessee, for the Defendant/Counter-Plaintiff/Appellant, Charles Smith.

Attorneys 2:

Susanne Lodico and McKinley S. Lundy, Jr., Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the Plaintiffs/Counter-Defendants/Appellees Robert Walker and Susan Elder.

Counter-Defendants/Appellees Clifford Byrne and Carol Byrne, appellees, pro se (no brief filed).

Judge(s): KIRBY

This appeal involves private condemnation of an easement. The plaintiffs and the defendant both owned property on an island in the Tennessee River. There was a causeway or land bridge across the river, connecting the island to the mainland. The trial court rejected the defendant’s claim for private condemnation of an easement on the plaintiffs’ property to enable the defendant to access the causeway. It also enjoined the defendant from using the causeway or from entering onto the plaintiffs’ property to get to the causeway. The defendant appeals. We hold that the causeway is accessible by the public and so vacate the injunction. We reverse the trial court’s decision on the defendant’s private condemnation claim and hold that the defendant is entitled to condemnation of an appropriate easement under the facts of this case.

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