Court Opinion

ID: 9560183
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 17:44:56.846472+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:12:16.955972
License: Public Domain

Smith, J.,
dissenting.
The majority opinion correctly states the principles of law that control these two cases, but I cannot wholly agree with the conclusions there reached in applying those principles to the facts.
The commissioners are not bound by the opinion of experts or by the apparent weight of the evidence and may base their conclusions upon their view of the land, but as stated by the majority this rule “is not to be considered as turning commissioners loose to take arbitrary or capricious action and return awards not related to the value of the property. Their awards are to be measured by the evidence and if the evidence clearly shows them to be unreasonable they should be set aside.”
The record shows, especially in the Latham case, that the report of the commissioners is unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious and the award grossly excessive.
The Poland and Latham tracts of land are in the same neighborhood, located on the boundary line of Loudoun and Prince William counties and along famous Bull Run. The commissioner who testified stated that he relied heavily on the aesthetic value of the land, and while he testified that he did not fix damages to the remainder «olely on that basis, he admitted that emphasis was put on the aesthetic value. Should the commissioners have valued the land on a sentimental basis due to its proximity to historic Bull Run they would have been on more solid ground.
The commissioners were in clear and direct language instructed to fix the fair market value of the land taken based on the price the *289land would bring when offered for sale by one who desires, but is not obligated, to sell, and is bought by one who is desirous, but is under no necessity, of buying it. This instruction left no room for fixing an award upon the aesthetic value of the property or upon a mere guess.
No witness as to the value of the Latham land was called by the owner. The only direct testimony as to its value and what the resulting damages would be was that introduced by the condemner which showed the maximum value of that land to be $200 per acre. In addition to such testimony the only other evidence that cast any light on the Latham land value was the evidence introduced in the Poland case which is valuable for purposes of comparison.
All of the evidence shows not only that the Poland land is the best in the neighborhood and more valuable than the Latham land, but that the right of way crosses four highly cultivated fields on the Poland farm. Nevertheless, the commissioners awarded $219.97 an acre for the Poland land taken and for the less valuable Latham land the award by the same commissioners was $299.57, or about $80 more per acre for the Latham land than that awarded for the more valuable Poland land. Both awards can not be correct and such unexplainable result gives some substance to the claim that these are quotient awards.
Counsel for Latham brought out on cross examination of C. H. James, a real estate broker, that a Mrs. Jenie Latham had at an unnamed date sold a valuable dairy farm in the neighborhood, which he described as containing approximately 400 acres for $70,000 or $175 per acre. Later, however, another witness called by the condemner said the tract contained 300 acres and was therefore worth $233 per acre. Regardless of whether the farm contained 300 or 400 acres, it was a valuable dairy farm containing valuable improvements, including a dwelling house in excellent condition. Although the Latham farm had no such improvements, only a small tenant house, the commissioners awarded about $66 per acre more for that land than the highest value placed on the dairy farm.
Commissioners in condemnation cases are vested with greater power than that possessed by juries. In the case of a view by a jury what they see is ordinarily for the purpose of explaining and clarifying the evidence adduced and not to supply evidence. Noell v. Commonwealth, 135 Va. 600, 115 S. E. 679, and cases there cited. However, when commissioners view land they have the *290power to base their award on what they see rather than on the evidence which appears in the record. Therefore, when an award is not based upon evidence that is subject to cross examination and review, but on facts found as a result of the commissioners’ view and known only to them, the award should be closely scrutinized by the courts.
Consequently, when the awards now before us are properly reviewed, the sum fixed in the Poland case for the land taken is supported by evidence and while the damages awarded in that case seem excessive, I cannot say that award is grossly excessive; however, the award in the Latham case is grossly excessive and should be rejected and the report recommitted. I would reverse in that case.
Miller, J., joins in this dissent.