Opinion ID: 357119
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the evidentiary questions

Text: 11 The government's statistical survey was inadmissible. It was offered and admitted to prove the true prices paid for land in the county, not as the basis for an expert opinion under Rule 703 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. The deeds were not introduced into evidence, nor was any other effort made to verify or authenticate the data in accordance with Rule 901. The evidence therefore did not come within the exception to the hearsay rule admitting deeds and public records, Rule 803(8), (14), (15), or any other exception to the hearsay rule. There was no way for the landowner to test the accuracy or reliability of the data. Moreover, the survey data was not relevant to prove the agricultural value of the Cook's farm because no effort was made to show that the unidentified properties covered by the survey were comparable. 12 The government argues that even if the survey was not admissible to show the actual value of comparable farms in the county it was admissible at least to refute the landowner's contention that there was a demand for home sites in the southern part of the county. The District Court ruled, however, that all of the landowner's evidence showing the potential of his land for home site development was inadmissible. If the landowner's evidence on this subject was irrelevant, it would appear that the government's evidence offered to refute this contention was also irrelevant.
13 We would not be inclined to remand for a new trial on this ground alone, however, had the lower court admitted the landowner's evidence of value based on the development of home sites along the road at the front of the Cook's farm. The district judge properly excluded evidence that the whole farm or a substantial portion of it could be subdivided in the near future. The landowner offered no credible evidence of any current demand or potential for subdivisions in the neighborhood of the Cook's farm, and there was no credible evidence concerning the costs of subdividing the property or evidence that the Cooks had a plan to subdivide it. But the landowner did show that there was a growing demand for strip development along rural roads in the county. The Cooks had sold off one lot for this purpose themselves on another farm they owned nearby, and a number of farmers in the community were selling off lots for this purpose. 14 There was sufficient evidence to support a finding by the jury that the property is adaptable and needed or likely to be needed in the reasonably near future for home site development along the road. The quoted language is part of the test of admissibility applied in Olson v. United States, 292 U.S. 246, 255-56, 54 S.Ct. 704, 708-709, 78 L.Ed. 1236 (1934), United States v. 1,291.83 Acres of Land, 411 F.2d 1081, 1086 (6th Cir., 1969), and in analogous cases. Admissibility does not hinge on a finding of substantial current demand, the test which the District Court seems to have applied. 15
16 The trial judge must make a preliminary determination that there is factual support for a finding by the jury that the property is adaptable and needed or likely to be needed in the reasonably near future for the proposed use. Having found that there is evidence sufficient to support such a finding by the jury, the Court should then leave the question of adaptability and potential development to the jury. He need not be convinced that the landowner has established the development potential of the property for the proposed use by a preponderance of the evidence but only that the evidence is such that a jury could reasonably so find. 17 This method of handling such jury issues in condemnation cases follows Federal Evidence Rule 104(b) which provides, When the relevancy of evidence depends upon the fulfillment of a condition of fact, the court shall admit it upon, or subject to, the introduction of evidence sufficient to support a finding of the fulfillment of the condition. 18 The draftsmen of the Federal Rules of Evidence stated the reason for this rule as follows: 19 If preliminary questions of conditional relevancy were determined solely by the judge, . . . the functioning of the jury as a trier of fact would be greatly restricted and in some cases virtually destroyed. These are appropriate questions for juries . . . . The judge makes a preliminary determination whether the foundation evidence is sufficient to support a finding of fulfillment of the condition. If so, the item is admitted. If after all the evidence on the issue is in, pro and con, the jury could reasonably conclude that fulfillment of the condition is not established, the issue is for them. If the evidence is not such as to allow a finding, the judge withdraws the matter from their consideration.