In the 1912 case of Veve v. Sanchez, the United States Supreme Court dealt with a dispute over property rights in Puerto Rico. The plaintiff, Veve, claimed ownership of certain lands based on a Spanish royal grant made to his ancestors in 1811. However, the defendant Sanchez argued that he had acquired these lands through adverse possession - a legal doctrine that allows someone who has been occupying or using another's property for an extended period without challenge from the owner to claim title to it. The lower court ruled in favor of Sanchez and dismissed Veve's claim due to lack of evidence supporting his assertion about the original land grant. On appeal, however, this decision was reversed by the U.S Supreme Court which held that under Spanish law (which still applied since Puerto Rico was formerly a Spanish colony), proof of uninterrupted possession for twenty years established presumptive ownership unless contradicted by other evidence. Therefore, because there were no records contradicting Veve’s claims about his family’s long-standing possession prior to Sanchez’s occupation and because such longstanding use could create presumption of rightful ownership under applicable laws at that time; thus making it unnecessary for him to prove details about ancient grants –the case was sent back down for further proceedings consistent with this ruling.

The VEVE v. SANCHEZ, 1912 case does not have a publicly available dissenting opinion to summarize. This could be due to the unanimous decision of the court or because no written dissent was provided by any justice who disagreed with the majority ruling.