Opinion ID: 700512
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: CMMI's Challenge to the Role Played by the Stichtings

Text: 46 The lease which gave CMMI the right to mine also gave the Stichtings the right to a royalty on mining production. If CMMI obtained an award reflecting the value of minerals it could have mined but for the taking of the 18.22 acres, a portion of the award commensurate with the royalty would belong to the Stichtings. The court allowed the Stichtings to intervene as defendants, understandably without objection. They could have protected their right to an apportionment representing the royalty and could, if they saw fit, have joined in advocating an appropriate award. The district court made it clear that the apportionment would be decided by the court. 47 On motion of the government, the court limited the Stichtings to presentation of evidence relevant to the fair market value of their royalty interest. Later, they were permitted also to prove that they would have feared adverse effects from the mining and would not have consented to the construction of the adit, roadway, and pipeline which would have been involved in reopening the mine from a portal on the 25 acres. Their counsel's cross-examination of witnesses was generally of a sort adverse to an award to CMMI and closing argument to the jury was in a similar vein. Generally, they took a position favorable to the government, although not formally aligned with it. 48 CMMI correctly notes: This was not a quiet title action or a declaratory judgment action by the lessee against the lessor under the lease to challenge the reasonableness of the Royalty Holder's refusal to consent to a specific mining plan. This was an action to determine just compensation. Brief, p. 45. The Stichtings' counsel's rhetoric often sounded as if he were seeking an injunction against a mining operation about to begin. 49 CMMI contends that the Stichtings' double-teaming with the government made a fair trial impossible. 50 We have considerable sympathy with counsel's frustration. It has been difficult for us on appeal to understand the reasoning and approach of the Stichtings' counsel. We think it was an abuse of discretion to permit him to go beyond the limit the court originally set. Nevertheless, we do not agree that CMMI was deprived of a fair trial. The evidence that the Stichtings would not have consented to the adit, pipeline, and roadway was relevant to whether the 25 acres could have been used as a staging area, and doubtless would have been introduced by the government if not by the Stichtings. We see no basis for concluding that the presence of counsel for nominal defendants in addition to counsel for the government, or the fact that he offered evidence or argued against the feasibility of the mining plan unfairly influenced the jury on the issue of highest and best use. 51 As noted, the government had by motion sought to keep the Stichtings' counsel within bounds, and there is no basis for any claim of complicity.