Rea v. Pittsburg & Connellsville Railroad

Citations

• 229 Pa. 106
• 78 A. 73
• 1910 Pa. LEXIS 558

Syllabus

<p>Eminent domain — Railroads—Compensation for delay — Excessive verdict — Act of May 20,1891, P. L. 101.</p> <p>1. In a proceeding brought to recover compensation for land appropriated by a railroad company the action of the trial judge in submitting to the jury under proper instructions the right of the plaintiff to compensation for delay will not be reversed on appeal where it appears that the railroad company took actual possession of the land in 1903 and enjoyed it for that time on, that at the trial the highest value claimed by the plaintiff was $12.00 a square foot and the jury was not asked for a verdict of more than $9.00 a square foot; that the defendant in its plea declared the land to be of a value of only $1.00 per square foot and gave testimony of a value of less than $3.00 a square foot; that the jury rendered a verdict of $7.00 per square foot and that all of the seven years’ delay, excepting two months, occurred subsequent to appeals by both parties from the award of the viewers.</p> <p>2. The power conferred upon the Supreme Court by the act of May 20, 1891, is never exercised on the plea of the excessiveness of the verdict except in a most extreme case.</p> <p>Evidence — Eminent domain — Real estate — Value—Price paid — Cross-examination — Discretion of the court — Sale of adjacent property — Value of improvements.</p> <p>3. While a consideration of particular sales in the neighborhood as fixing market value will not be allowed in condemnation proceedings, questions as to such sales are proper in the cross-examination of a witness to test, his accuracy and the extent of his knowledge.</p> <p>4. The rule that evidence in chief of particular sales is incompetent, does not apply to the admission of testimony concerning a single sale of the very property in issue, provided that the sale is not too remote from the date of the appropriation.</p> <p>5. Where one of the claimants for damages for the taking of property testifies that the land was worth a c