Elston v. McGlauflin

Citations

• 79 Wash. 355
• 140 P. 396
• 1914 Wash. LEXIS 1206

Syllabus

<p>New Trial — Mistrtat.—Bias of Judge — Misconduct—Right to Fair Trial. A new trial should be granted on account of bias on the part of the trial judge and failure to accord a fair trial, where it appears that, on an issue as to the cause of a slide upon the property of adjoining landowners, the judge made a personal investigation of the'location without the consent of the parties, for the purpose of verifying a theory of his own at variance with the expert testimony, and based his 'decision upon his preconceived opinion and because of his own former experiences with slides in the locality, and was evidently prejudiced against one of the experts.</p> <p>Adjoining Landowners — Removal of Lateral Support — Evidence —Admissibility. Upon an issue as to the cause of slides upon property of adjoining landowners, evidence that a third retaining wall, put up under the direction of one of the expert witnesses, had broken after the slide, is admissible to support defendant’s theory that tie slide was referable to tbe general character of the soil, and not to removal of lateral support, and to impeach tbe testimony of tbe experts bolding a contrary opinion.</p> <p>Same — Removal oe Lateral Support — Measure oe Damages. Tbe measure of damages for the removal of lateral support, causing a slide upon plaintiff’s property, is tbe depreciation in tbe value of tbe property immediately before and after tbe slide; and tbe reasonable cost of building a retaining wall may be considered in estimating such depreciation.</p>