Court Opinion

ID: 9833910
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 23:08:20.469134+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:44:08.968724
License: Public Domain

On Motion for Rehearing.
Since our original disposition of this case, the Supreme Court of this State has written in the case of State of Texas v. Hale, 146 S.W.2d 731. The holdings of the Austin Court of Civil Appeals (reported in 96 S.W.2d 135, and cited in our original opinion) were in the main upheld. The Supreme Court opinion supports our holding that this cause of action lies, as it is one seeking compensation for private property damaged by public use. It also supports our construction of the Legislative Resolution authorizing the suit to be brought, i. e., that the damages recoverable by Littlefield are not restricted to the acreage actually inundated.
*274We might also point out that the evidence in this case supports a recovery for damages to the entire 199.14 acres owned by Littlefield, and in that particular, this record differs from the record before the Supreme Court in the Hale case.
Littlefield introduced his deed in evidence, containing a metes and bounds description embracing 204.50 acres, also his conveyance to the State for highway purposes, 5.36 acres, leaving a balance of 199.14 acres. He also testified that he has been in possession of the entire tract since the date of his deed in 1906. This evidence forms the acreage basis of the award for damages, which was found by the jury to be $5 per acre, making a total of $995.70, the amount of the judgment..
Appellants’ motion for rehearing is overruled.