Estate of Hage v. United States

90 Fed. Cl. 388, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 343, 2009 WL 3683180
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedNovember 3, 2009
DocketNo. 91-1470L
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 90 Fed. Cl. 388 (Estate of Hage v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estate of Hage v. United States, 90 Fed. Cl. 388, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 343, 2009 WL 3683180 (uscfc 2009).

Opinion

OPINION and ORDER

SMITH, Senior Judge:

On June 6, 2008, the Court issued an Opinion resolving the final remaining issue in this long-standing case: whether the Government’s actions amounted to a taking under the Fifth Amendment and, if so, the amount of just compensation due to Plaintiffs. See Hage v. United States, 82 Fed.Cl. 202, 203 (2006). In its latest Opinion,1 the Court found that the Government’s action was indeed a taking under the Fifth Amendment and awarded Plaintiffs “$2,854,816.20 for the value of their water rights, plus $1,365,615.00 for the value of [range] improvements, for a total award of $4,220,431.20, plus interest from the date of the taking.” Id. at. 212.

On December 12, 2008, Defendant filed a Motion for Partial Reconsideration on the limited subject of the Court’s award of compensation for range improvements under 43 U.S.C. § 1752(g)2 pursuant to RCFC 59. On January 30, 2009, the Court ordered Plaintiff to respond to the Defendant’s Motion, which was received on March 16, 2009 and Defendant’s subsequent reply was received on April 3, 2009. After full briefing and oral argument, the Court hereby DENIES Defendant’s Motion for Partial Reconsideration.

I. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Generally, a Court is given considerable discretion when determining whether to grant relief under RCFC 59. See, e.g., Yuba Natural Res., Inc. v. United States, 904 F.2d 1577, 1583 (Fed.Cir.1990). To prevail on a motion under RCFC 59, the movant must identify a “manifest error of law, or mistake of fact.” Ammex, Inc. v. United States, 52 Fed.Cl. 555, 557 (2002), aff'd, 384 F.3d 1368 (Fed.Cir.2004). More specifically, the moving party must show: (1) an intervening change in controlling law; (2) the availability of previously unavailable evidence; or (3) the necessity of granting the motion to prevent manifest injustice. System Fuels, Inc. v. United States, 79 Fed.Cl. 182, 184 (2007); Griswold v. United States, 61 Fed.Cl. 458, 460-61 (2004). Furthermore, the Court has the duty to balance “the need to bring litigation to an end and the need to [390]*390render just decisions on the basis of all facts.” Minton v. National Ass’n of Sec. Dealers, Inc., 336 F.3d 1373, 1379 (Fed.Cir.2003) (quoting Lavespere v. Niagara Mach. & Tool Works, Inc., 910 F.2d 167, 174 (5th Cir.1990)).

II. DISCUSSION

In its Motion for Partial Reconsideration, Defendant asks the Court to set aside, or alternatively, to modify the amount of damages awarded to Plaintiffs for range improvements to prevent a manifest injustice to the United States Government. See RCFC 59(a)(1)(C). (See also Def.’s Mot. for Partial Recons, at ii.) Specifically, Defendant states that:

[tjhere is no evidence that Plaintiffs placed or constructed 238 miles of fencing, 634 miles of roads and trails, and 44.7 miles of ditches and pipelines on the lands covered by the grazing permits. At the most, Plaintiffs installed less than five miles of fencing and maintained or replaced less than eight miles of ditches and pipelines. Plaintiffs also built no new roads and trails on the ranch.

(Def.’s Mot. for Partial Recons, at 3-4.) Rather, Defendant claims that the trial record shows that Plaintiffs merely maintained the range improvements and argues that maintenance alone is not sufficient for compensation under 43 U.S.C. § 1752(g). Id. Furthermore, Defendant argues that Plaintiffs failed to show “that any of the improvements for which the Court awarded compensation were authorized” under 43 U.S.C. § 1752(g). Id. at 14.

Conversely, Plaintiffs ask the Court to deny Defendant’s Motion arguing that the motion does not meet the requirements set forth in RCFC 59(a)(l)(A)-(C). Moreover, Plaintiffs contend that “the Defendant has shown absolutely no manifest error of law or mistake of fact, or any extraordinary circumstances which justify relief.” (Pis.’ Resp. to Def.’s Mot. for Partial Recons, at 7.) With respect to the Defendant’s argument that the range improvements made on the ranch were not authorized, Plaintiffs respond by stating that “[t]his argument is completely without merit and is not a proper subject for a motion for reconsideration.” Id. at 22.

The Court agrees with Plaintiffs’ position that Defendant’s Motion for Partial Reconsideration is without merit. Generally, 43 U.S.C. § 1752(g) limits compensation to a permittee or lessee for range improvements that were “placed or constructed” on that lands covered by the permit. However, the Court finds that Plaintiffs offered satisfactory evidence at trial to demonstrate that the compensated range improvements were, in fact, “placed or constructed” by the Hages. See 43 U.S.C. § 1752(g); see also Hage V, 82 Fed.Cl. at 212.

A. Compensation for Range Improvements

In its Motion, Defendant attempts to distinguish the trial record from the Court’s previous Opinion by citing sporadic testimony of Mr. Hage as conclusive evidence of their position regarding the Court’s award for range improvements. However, Defendant’s argument fails to take into consideration the testimony and expert report of Dr. McIntosh. Instead, Defendant argues that the Court’s reliance on Dr. McIntosh’s expert designation is misplaced because he did not testify that Plaintiffs “placed or constructed” all of the improvements contained in his report. (Def.’s Mot. for Partial Recons, at 12-14.) However, Defendant failed to rebut Dr. McIntosh’s findings during his cross-examination and through direct examination of it own appraiser, Mr. Meiling. In fact, Mr. Meiling testified that the United States had not employed him to evaluate the range improvements. The record notes:

MR. VAN ZANDT [Counsel for Plaintiffs]: One last couple of questions here, Mr. Meiling. Do you understand that there’s a separate claim in this case for the range improvements on the allotment?
MR. MEILING: I don’t have any knowledge of a separate claim on the range. I wasn’t asked to value the range improvements, as you can see in my—
MR. VAN ZANDT: That was not a component of the valuation that you did?
[391]*391MR. MEILING: No, and you can see that on Al.
MR. VAN ZANDT: But if, in fact, you knew that there was a claim for the range improvements in part of this case, would you expect to have that as part of your assignment, do an evaluation of those?
MR.

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90 Fed. Cl. 388, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 343, 2009 WL 3683180, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-hage-v-united-states-uscfc-2009.