Dougherty v. Stepp, 18 N.C. 371 (N.C. 1835) is a decision of the North Carolina Supreme Court authored by Chief Justice Thomas Ruffin.
[2] Dougherty then brought suit against Stepp for trespass quare clausum fregit.
[2] Dougherty's lawyer argued that every unwarrantable entering on another's real property constituted a trespass, even if the defendant mistakenly believed that the land belonged to him.
[2] He also argued that every trespass involves some damage to the property, even if it is only the treading down and bruising of the herbage and shrubbery.
[2] In a per curiam decision authored by Chief Justice Ruffin, the Court granted the plaintiff's appeal.