Upon the agreement of the parties the cases were consolidated for a bench trial. The trial court ruled the lease was a tenancy for years and enforceable against both plaintiffs and defendants for the duration of the leasehold.
Defendants appeal the judgment and certain evidentiary rulings rendered by the trial court.
A term in the lease provided that the lessees were to submit annual reports to the lessor on forms provided by the lessor. At trial, plaintiff Stephen testified he had farmed the realty under an oral lease agreement with John Mann since 1980. During cross-examination, Stephen was asked why he and his father decided to execute a written lease after farming the realty under an oral lease for 13 years. Plaintiffs' counsel objected on the basis of relevancy and defendants argued the answer was relevant to construing John Mann's intent in executing the lease and deed two. The trial court sustained the objection.