Vance v. St. Charles Mesa Water Association

The parties appear here in the same order as in the trial court and will be referred to as plaintiff and defendant. Both parties operate systems which distribute domestic water. The plaintiff sought to establish that the defendant was unlawfully extending its services into the area served by the plaintiff, and on this basis it sought to recover damages and to obtain an injunction. The complaint contained three statements of claim, each of which the defendant moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The district court granted the defendants motion as to the first and third statements of claim, with leave to amend, and denied it with respect to the second statement of claim. The plaintiff elected not to amend. Later the court sustained the defendants motion for a more definite statement or a bill of particulars as to certain matters in the second statement of claim. Plaintiff did not file a more definite statement or bill of particulars and as a result the trial court dismissed the second statement of claim. On oral argument here counsel for the plaintiff stated that he was not pressing alleged error with respect to dismissal of the second statement of claim, and we therefore restrict ourselves to a consideration of the dismissal of the first and third statements of claim. We reverse.