Debert v. Isaacs
Plaintiff Charlene DeBert sued neighboring property owners Robert Isaacs, Colleene Isaacs, and Green Mountain Water Company (Green Mountain) for quiet title and related causes of action. She sought to establish a roadway easement. She and Green Mountain settled via a judicially supervised stipulated judgment in which Green Mountain agreed to grant plaintiff a nonexclusive ingress and egress easement over an existing dirt road on its property. The judgment contemplated that the existing road would be surveyed by a neutral licensed surveyor agreed to by the parties or, absent agreement, appointed by the trial court. Plaintiff disagreed with the surveyed description and filed a motion to set aside or modify the judgment grounded upon surprise, which was created by a serious blunder on the part of a neutral expert [the land surveyor]. The trial court denied the motion. It later granted Green Mountains motion for attorney fees incurred in defending the motion, which was based upon an attorney-fee provision in the stipulated judgment. Plaintiff appeals from the order denying her motion and the order granting Green Mountains motion. Both appeals are untimely. We therefore dismiss them. After a court trial, the trial court granted plaintiffs motion to amend the pleadings to conform to proof. At trial, plaintiff had advanced the theory that she held an express easement over the Isaacses property via a 1988 deed from the Isaacses granting a public road easement to Santa Clara County as part of a homesite-approval process. She also had sought reformation of the deed as a remedy. The trial court rendered judgment for the Isaacses. On appeal, plaintiff misstates the scope of review and, through that window, presents a one-sided repetition of her case. Court therefore affirm the judgment.
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