Opinion ID: 3157773
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Lloyd Barrie’s Appraisal

Text: ¶24 WCU argues that the District Court erred in admitting the Barrie appraisal because it was hearsay. Barrie did not testify and his statements made outside of court were offered to prove the value of the Patrick Creek property. Defendants argue that the Barrie appraisal was properly admitted as a hearsay exception because the report, commissioned by WCU, was a “vicarious admission of value made by WCU” through Barrie as its “agent or servant concerning a matter within the scope of the agency or employment,” citing M. R. Evid. 801(d)(2). Alternatively, Defendants argue that the Barrie appraisal was not admitted for its substance or, if error, was harmless. 11 ¶25 Defendant and owner Mary Kay Prindiville testified that she had read the Barrie appraisal and relied on it in forming her own valuation of the property. The Barrie appraisal was admitted into evidence, over WCU’s objection, and, in its Order, the District Court cited and relied upon it: The Court reviewed the appraisals submitted by the various experts . . . . The average of values placed on the property by Barrie, Elm and Lard is $2,366,667 and the Court is persuaded that the appraisals submitted by these experts are more reasoned and based on property which is more similar to the property at issue than the appraisal submitted by the Plaintiff. ¶26 The fact that WCU retained Barrie to appraise the Patrick Creek property does not support Defendants’ contention that Barrie was acting as an agent or servant for WCU, making his appraisal a vicarious admission of value arising out of his agency or employment. Barrie, a professional independent appraiser, certified in his report that “[t]he reported analyses, opinions, and conclusions are limited only by the reported assumptions and limiting conditions and are my personal, impartial, and unbiased professional analyses, opinions, and conclusions.” We find no merit in the argument that Barrie’s appraisal was an admission of value by WCU that it is not defined as hearsay. ¶27 Ms. Prindiville was permitted to testify as a lay witness about her opinion of the value of the property. See M. R. Evid. 701; Harding v. H. F. Johnson, Inc., 126 Mont. 70, 82, 244 P.2d 111, 118 (1952) (clarifying that “[t]he owner of property is a competent witness to estimate its worth.”). However, because she is a lay witness, M. R. Evid. 703 (allowing experts to rely on inadmissible data or opinions in forming their own opinions) does not apply to her, and her testimony regarding the contents of the Barrie appraisal 12 was error. Defense expert Lard similarly read the Barrie appraisal, and was permitted to explain his reliance on it, but this did not authorize admission of the Barrie appraisal as substantive evidence, as we have recently explained. See Reese v. Stanton, 2015 MT 293, ¶ 22, 381 Mont. 241, __ P.3d __ (citing Polythane Sys. v. Marina Ventures Int’l, Ltd., 993 F.2d 1201, 1208 (5th Cir. 1993) (“[T]o admit the hearsay opinion of an expert not subject to cross-examination goes against the natural reticence of courts to permit expert opinion unless the expert has been qualified before the jury to render an opinion.”)). By admitting the report into evidence and relying on the report to find the property’s value, the District Court abused its discretion.