STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On June 15, 2009, Teodoro Ramirez went to inspect certain real property in

Marvel County, Arkansas, known as the Marvel County Phlogiston Mine. Ab 21.

When he arrived, he found a mailbox with the name “Leopard” at the driveway at

the entrance to the property. Ab 22. He entered the property, and found that the

utility building at the mine was occupied by Mr. Milosz Leopard. The utility

building showed obvious signs of long-term occupancy. Ab 24.

Ramirez informed Leopard that the mine was the property of Bananaberry

Enterprises. Leopard told him that he disagreed, that the property was in fact his

property. Ab 25. He asserted that his grandfather, Ingo Leopard, had been the

owner of the property. In 1942, Ingo Leopard sold the mineral rights to

Bananaberry Phlogiston. All mining operations had ceased by 1980. Leopard

moved onto the property in 1999 upon his return from an extended visit to Finland.

Ab 26.

Ramirez left the mine and went directly to the Marvel County Sheriff’s

Department to seek the Sheriff’s aid in ejecting Leopard. The Sheriff, noting that

Leopard had been on the property for “at least five years” refused to take any

action without a court order. Ab 27, Ab 41.

Bananaberry Enterprises, Inc. instituted this action to quiet title and to eject
Leopard from the property. Add 1-4.

Leopard answered asserting that he was the legal owner of the property, and

that even if he was not, he was the owner by adverse possession. He asserted that

he was the sole surviving heir of Ingo Leopard. He asserted that he was the only

surviving son of Palringo Leopard and Sonja Leopard. Palringo Leopard was the

only son of Ingo Leopard. He further asserted that Ingo Leopard had only

transferred the mineral rights, and that even the mineral rights had been abandoned

through disuse. Add 5-11.

A search of the land records revealed that Ingo Leopard had owned the tract

in question for at least thirty years Ab 66, Add 91-106 when, on January 25, 1942,

he signed a deed granting all mineral rights to the property to Bananaberry

Phlogiston, Inc. Add 197-09. A second deed, to Bananaberry Company, Inc. was

recorded March 22, 1942. Add 110-112. That deed transferred all interests in the

property to Bananaberry Company, Inc. A third deed, dated April 1, 1942, from

Ingo Leopard to Bananaberry Phlogiston, Inc., transferred the mineral interests

from Ingo Leopard to Bananaberry Phlogiston, Inc. Add 113-116. Leopard

asserted that the second and third deeds were forgeries; only the first deed was

genuine. Add 9-10; Ab 77. He further asserted that there was never an entity

called Bananaberry Company, Inc. registered to do business in Arkansas, and if

there was, there is no proof that Bananaberry Enterprises, Inc., Bananaberry

Phlogiston, Inc., or any other corporation or individual affiliated with the plaintiff

was the owner of Bananaberry Company, Inc. Finally, he asserted that he left

Finland and returned to the United States on May 15, 1999. Upon his return, he

occupied the property. He lived in a tent from approximately May 19, 1999 until

September, 1999, when it became too cold. He then moved into the utility shack

where he continued to reside. Leopard counterclaimed for quiet title.

At trial, Bananaberry Enterprises produced business records showing carbon

copies of the first and second deeds. The signatures were not legible on either one.

There was no information at all about the third deed. Bananaberry Enterprises also

produced several documents from its ancient files on which the name

“Bananaberry Company, Inc.” appeared in reference to Bananaberry Phlogiston,

Inc. There were several memoranda introduced to the effect that the name

“Bananaberry Company, Inc.” was being used because even some employees of

the company were unable to consistently spell “phlogiston.”

Teodoro Ramírez testified that he had been employed by Bananaberry

Enterprises since 2002 as quality control manager. He inspects all Bananaberry

Enterprises properties in Arkansas at least once every three years. He testified that

he had inspected the Marvel County Phlogiston Mine in June of 2003 and June of
2006. According to his notes, on each occasion he had found evidence that people

had been present in the utility building, but he did not find anyone present. He also

testified that he did not see a mailbox or any vehicles on either occasion. He

testified that his main concern was the safety of the mine itself, and on no occasion

had there been any sign that anyone had entered the mine.

Milosz Leopard testified that he moved onto the property on May 19, 1999.

He testified that he could be sure of that date, as he had his passport which showed

that he arrived in New York from Finland on May 15, 1999 and it took him four

days to hitchhike to Marvel County. He testified that he survived by hunting,

fishing, gardening, and doing odd jobs, primarily for cash. He testified that he

usually camped out in the summer and lived in the utility building when it got cold,

but that he had resided on the property since 1999. He admitted that he went on

various “vacations” when he would hitchhike for periods of weeks or months, but

he did not have any other permanent residence. Real estate records showed that he

began paying real estate taxes on the property when he arrived, and that he paid

five years of back taxes as well. Leopard testified that he paid five years of taxes

because he was told to do so by the revenue office. He testified that he put the

mailbox up sometime in 2004 or 2005 because he got tired of walking to the post

office. He got a driver’s license and 1980 Plymouth Horizon in 2006. He did not
have—or need—any utilities, except that he did have an iPhone that was “costing

more than I’ve ever spent on anything else in my life.” Ab 66. Leopard produced

testimony of two friends of Ingo Leopard who testified that he always said that he

had sold the mineral rights to Bananaberry and that he intended to return to the

land as soon as the mine “played out.” One of them testified that he knew Ingo

Leopard’s handwriting and that the first deed was signed by Ingo, but the second

and third were not.

Professional document examiner Elizabeth Montgomery over the objection

of Leopard testified that it was impossible to tell whether the signatures on any of

the three deeds were made by the same person. She conceded that none of the

three signatures looked the same, but testified that sometimes people’s signatures

can look different. In the absence of other exemplars of handwriting by the

individual it would be impossible to state with any degree of certainty whether the

signatures were by the same person.

Bananaberry Phlogiston asserted that the record title along with the business

records were adequate to establish good title in the plaintiff and that Leopard failed

to prove that any of the deeds were forgeries. Bananaberry contended that the land

was unimproved because the only buildings on the property were the utility shed

and the mine. The fence around the property has been poorly maintained since
production was discontinued.

The Trial Court denied Bananaberry any relief, quieted title in Leopard in

both the surface and mineral rights, and awarded costs and attorney’s fees to

Leopard. Bananaberry filed a timely notice of appeal.