Dartnell v. Bidwell

115 Me. 227, 98 A. 743, 5 A.L.R. 1320 (1916)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D had a right of way over P's land which had been established by a grant between the parties' predecessors in interest. D built a road over the right of way which exceeded the boundaries described in the grant. At some point thereafter, P wrote a letter to D stating that the land over which he had made the road was her property and that he had no right to build the road or cross over the land on which it was built. P further demanded that D return to using the road established in the earlier grant. P later sued in trespass. D asserted as a defense that he had a right of way both by deed and by prescription and that his entry onto P's land was for the purpose of making reasonable and necessary repairs to the road. The trial court found for D. P appeals, arguing that the letter, which she sent P while his claimed easement by prescription was still inchoate, interrupted the continuity of his possession of the easement, and therefore precluded establishment of an easement by prescription.