Dominguez v. Botiller

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, and from an order refusing a new trial.

The action was brought to recover possession of certain lands in Los Angeles County. The plaintiff claims title thereto as the daughter and heir at law of Apolonio Dominguez, deceased, who acquired title to the premises by mesne conveyances from Nemesio Dominguez, one of the grantees of the Mexican grant known as “ Las Vírgenes,” dated on the 1st of October, 1834. The defendants are American citizens, in possession of a part of the land claimed, and plead title in the United States. The trial court held that the plaintiff’s predecessors in interest had acquired a perfect title under the Mexican law before the acquisition of California by the United States, and that the failure to present the grant for confirmation to the board of land commissioners did not invalidate or otherwise affect her title. The questions presented by the case are the same as those decided in the case of Phelan v. Poyoreno, ante, p. 448, with the exception that in the present case the juridical possession of the land included in the grant was given prior to the approval of the grant by the departmental assembly. Judgment was rendered in favor of the plaintiff, from which, and from an order refusing a new trial, the defendants appeal.