Court Opinion

ID: 9850981
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 05:05:23.287376+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:20:46.414531
License: Public Domain

BIEGELMEIER, Judge
(dissenting).
The majority opinion declares "(g)reat latitude is allowed in the reception of evidence to prove the value of property in condemnation cases" and no "competent evidence should be excluded which an ordinarily prudent man would take into account before forming a judgment as to the market value of property which he is about to purchase." Despite this it affirms the trial court's ruling which excluded evidence of a sale of a 1,103 acre ranch adjacent to the defendants' ranch sold to one of defendants within a year for $23 an acre. This seems to me to .be in*47consistent as such a sale would certainly be considered by a prospective purchaser and especially as it was offered only as a basis of the opinion of the witness. Further, it was proffered evidence which would also "aid the trier of fact in arriving at a conclusion * * * of value" and "should (have been) received" in accord with the court's statement. In my opinion it was error to exclude this evidence and that it was prejudicial appears from the verdict. The record here does not show the State gave the trial court an opportunity to review the verdict by a motion for a new trial. However, deducting defendants' valuations of $8,000 for the 160 acres of land taken, it appears the jury awarded over $60,000 as severance damages, yet defendants remain owners of 3,875 acres of their 4,034 acre ranch, which defendants' witness valued roughly from $160,000 to $200,000, and the total verdict is from 35% to 43% of its value. The jury should have been advised of this sale, and I cannot therefore concur in the opinion. See the recent opinion Weeden v. City of Beloit, Wis., 1966, 139 N.W.2d 616, where the court states "sales used as a foundation or partial foundation of an expert's opinion of value are admissible and if not comparable, go to the weight of the expert's opinion, not their admissibility."