Durfee v. Duke

Facts

In 1956, Plaintiff, Duke, brought suit against Defendant, Durfee, in Nebraska state court to quiet title land situated on the Missouri River. The main channel of the Mississippi River forms the boundary between Nebraska and Missouri. The Nebraska court had jurisdiction over the subject matter of the controversy only if the land at issue was located in Nebraska. The issue of whether the land was located in Nebraska depended upon whether a shift in the river’s course had ben caused by avulsion or accretion. Durfee appeared in the Nebraska court, was represented by counsel, and fully litigated the issues including subject matter jurisdiction. The Nebraska court found in favor of Duke and ordered that the title to the land be quieted to Duke. Durfee appealed, and the Supreme Court of Nebraska affirmed, specifically finding that the rule of avulsion was applicable and that the land in question was located in Nebraska.

Durfee later brought suit against Duke in a Missouri state court to quiet title the same land. The complaint alleged that the land was in Missouri. The suit was removed to a federal district court, and the district court held that all the issues had already been adjudicated and determined by the Nebraska court. The Court of Appeals reversed, and held that the district court was not required to give full faith and credit to the Nebraska judgment, and that res judicata was not applicable because the controversy involved land and a court in Missouri. The U.S. Supreme Court granted Durfee’s petition for certiorari.