In the 1899 case of Castner v. Coffman, the United States Supreme Court addressed a dispute over land ownership in Colorado. The plaintiff, Castner, claimed that he had acquired title to certain lands through preemption rights under federal law and sought to eject the defendant, Coffman from these lands. However, Coffman argued that he held valid title because his predecessor-in-interest had received a patent for this land from the U.S government before Castner's claim was established. The lower court ruled in favor of Coffman and upon appeal by Castner; the Supreme Court affirmed this decision stating that once a patent has been issued by the government it is conclusive evidence of legal title against all adverse claims unless it is directly or collaterally attacked on grounds such as fraud or mistake.

The dissenting opinion in the case of Castner v. Coffman argued that the majority's decision to uphold a lower court ruling, which found in favor of Coffman, was incorrect. The dissent believed that there were significant errors made during the trial process and these mistakes had unfairly influenced its outcome. Specifically, they pointed out that certain evidence presented by Castner was improperly excluded from consideration by the jury. This evidence could have potentially swayed their verdict if it had been allowed into proceedings as it directly contradicted key aspects of Coffman's claims against him. Furthermore, they disagreed with how some instructions given to jurors were phrased as they felt this language subtly biased them towards finding for Coffman rather than providing an impartial guide on how to interpret and apply law relevant to this case’s facts.