PROPERTY OUTLINE
I. CHAPTER 1: FIRST POSSESSION: Nobody has owned the thing before
ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY BY: 1. Discovery, 2. Capture AND 3. Creation
Acquisition BY DISCOVERY – it’s something nobody has seen before
Acquisition BY CAPTURE – chase of wild animal or natural resources
Pierson v. Post: Post had to be in ‘hot pursuit’; this was enough
– It was open and unoccupied land (wasteland)
– Wild animals – no one has 1st possession
– In this case, the court thought the fox was a ‘ferocious beast’ and they wanted elimination of the fox
– The facts may change over time but the principles don’t change* (Today, we want return of the fox)
Court used precedent and policy to decide the outcome.
a. Precedent – What has worked before? Courts look to: analogous cases, statutes, law articles, scholars
b. Policy – minimization of disputes, certainty, reward good
behavior
To achieve 1st possession of wild animal:
a. Kill
b. Capture – trapped, cornered, within your control, and it has not escaped immediately, which means time has to elapse
c. Mortally Wound
Ghen v. Rich: Admiralty – Law of high seas
– custom of the fishermen was – if you find it, you report it, you get a reward and they get the whale
– we reward the whaler and not the finder in this case
– none of the fishermen would engage in their labor if they new the ‘chance finder’ could acquire the whale
Keeble v. Hickeringill: Pl had decoy ponds; D shot a gun to distract
a. Land owners are prior possessors of any animals. Land owners have rights until the animal takes off.
b. Public Policy – Both have the right to make a decoy; good competition is socially desirable. But malicious interference of business or trade is not tolerated. We want society to benefit from economics, though it must still be regulated to prevent a monopoly.
c. Ducks sitting on the pond are not captured
d. Animus Revertendi – If there’s an animal with a tendency to return to someone’s property then no one should interfere with it. Does this apply to deer? Probably not; it app
id – intentionally put there but unintentionally forgotten, or
Abandoned – title owner has abandoned any right to the property
Armory v. Delamirie: Pl is a chimney sweeper and he found a jewel while conducting his job. He took it to the shop, gave it to the apprentice; he took out the stones and weighed it. The chimney sweeper was offered the money for it, but he wanted the whole thing back. He was only given the socket without the stones. The chimney sweeper sued in trover.
Trover = a common law action for money damages resulting from the D’s conversion to his own use of a chattel owned or possessed by the Pl.
First Possession – “the title of the finder is good against the whole world but the true owner (or anyone who has better title)
Unless the D could produce the jewel, the measure of the damages is the value of the best jewels that would fit.
