Opinion ID: 1659322
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Improper Construction or Operation

Text: Even though res judicata does not bar the Moyers' inverse condemnation action, the Moyers were still required to prove that their damages resulted from the Airport Authority's improper construction or operation of the airport. See Clary v. State, 171 Neb. 691, 107 N.W.2d 429 (1961). The Airport Authority argues that because the Moyers failed to present any evidence of improper construction or operation, the court erred when it denied the Airport Authority's motions for directed verdict, judgment notwithstanding the verdict, and a new trial. Initially, the Airport Authority argues that to show improper construction or operation of the airport, the Moyers had to show that the Airport Authority violated the law governing diffused surface water. However, the Airport Authority's theory is inconsistent with the position it took at trial. When the Moyers requested a jury instruction on the law governing diffused surface waters, the Airport Authority objected that the instruction was irrelevant. The trial court agreed with the Airport Authority, and no instruction on diffused surface water was given. Generally, a party cannot complain of error which the party has invited the court to commit. Kalkowski v. Kalkowski, 258 Neb. 1035, 607 N.W.2d 517 (2000). Moreover, `[w]hen a theory on any issue is relied upon by a party at the trial as the proper one, it will be adhered to on appeal without regard to its correctness.'  Ballantyne v. Parriott, 172 Neb. 215, 217, 109 N.W.2d 164, 165 (1961). Accordingly, in determining whether the Airport Authority improperly constructed or operated the airport's drainage scheme, we do not consider the law governing diffused surface water. On the redesign of the drainage scheme, it is undisputed that the Airport Authority used the diversion terrace to redirect where diffused surface water entered the drainway. The Moyers' expert testified that the original airport construction and the subsequent runway extension substantially increased the velocity and volume of water flowing through the drainway as it crossed the Moyers' property. This caused erosion to the drainway. According to the Moyer's expert, cost-efficient engineering techniques were available which would have reduced both the volume and velocity of water entering into the natural drainway and thereby reducing the erosion damage to the drainway. The Airport Authority, however, failed to implement these techniques. For the construction of the diversion terrace, the record shows that the diversion terrace could not adequately handle all the water it was designed to carry. Evidence suggested that the diversion terrace was not as high as designed in places and that during heavy rainfalls, the terrace would breach. Moreover, the Moyers presented extensive evidence showing the diversion terrace itself was eroding, and the engineer who redesigned the drainage scheme during the initial construction admitted that if the diversion terrace was operating as designed, this erosion would not be present. The question of improper construction or operation is a factual one to be determined by the jury. See Robinson v. Central Neb. Public Power & Irrigation District, 146 Neb. 534, 20 N.W.2d 509 (1945). We would not characterize the evidence of improper construction and operation offered by the Moyers as overwhelming, and we recognize that the Airport Authority presented conflicting evidence. But it was for the jury, as trier of the facts, to resolve conflicts in the evidence and to determine the weight and credibility to be given to the testimony of the witnesses. Beauford v. Father Flanagan's Boys' Home, 241 Neb. 16, 486 N.W.2d 854 (1992). Based on the totality of the evidence presented at trial, reasonable minds could have reached the conclusion that the erosion damage suffered by the Moyers resulted from improper construction or operation. Accordingly, the Airport Authority was not entitled to a directed verdict or to judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Moreover, we cannot say the jury's determination was so clearly against the weight and reasonableness of the evidence and so disproportionate to the injury proved as to demonstrate that it was the result of passion, prejudice, mistake, or some other means not apparent in the record, or that the jury disregarded the evidence or rules of law. See id. at 20, 486 N.W.2d at 857. The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the Airport Authority a new trial.