Leavenworth, Northern & Southern Railway Co. v. Herley

45 Kan. 535
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedJanuary 15, 1891
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 45 Kan. 535 (Leavenworth, Northern & Southern Railway Co. v. Herley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Leavenworth, Northern & Southern Railway Co. v. Herley, 45 Kan. 535 (kan 1891).

Opinion

[536]*536The opinion of the court was delivered by

VALENTINE, J.:

This was a condemnation proceeding instituted by the Leavenworth, Northern & Southern Railway Company to procure a right-of-way through certain lands in Leavenworth county, some of which lands belong to the present defendants in error, Mary Herley, David F. Herley, Emma Kennedy, William Herley, and Katie Herley. The commissioners awarded to the defendants in error $317.20 as the value of the land taken, and $475 as damages to the land not taken, making a total compensation to the defendants in error of $792.20. The defendants in error appealed to the district court, and in that court became the plaintiffs, while the aforesaid railway company became the defendant. Two trials were had in the district court. At the second trial, which was before the court and a jury, a general verdict and judgment were rendered in favor of the plaintiffs below and against the railway company, awarding to such plaintiffs the sum of $5,000 as damages. The value of the land taken and the damages to that not taken were not found separately by the court or jury. The railway company brings the case to this court and asks for a reversal of the aforesaid judgment for several reasons, among which are the following:

I. The railway company claims that the court below erroneously permitted certain witnesses for the plaintiff to testify directly as to the amount of the damages which the witnesses believed the plaintiffs sustained by reason of the defendant’s procuring its right-of-way and constructing its railway across the plaintiffs’ land, or, in other words, that the court below erred in permitting such witnesses to testify as to the amount which they believed the plaintiffs were entitled to recover as damages; and the railway company cites in support of this claim the following cases: W. & W. Rld. Co. v. Kuhn, 38 Kas. 675, 676, 677, and cases there cited; L. & W. Rld. Co. v. Ross, 40 id. 605, 606; C. K. & W. Rld. Co. v. Muller, ante, p. 85; same case, 25 Pac. Rep. 210, 211, and cases there cited. (See also, Roberts v. Comm’rs of Brown Co., [537]*53721 Kas. 248, 253, and cases there cited; Water Co. v. Knapp, 33 id. 753, 756; C. K. & W. Rld. Co. v. Dill, 41 id. 737; C. K. & N. Rly. Co. v. Neiman, just decided.) We suppose that the railway company in the present case will admit that a witness sufficiently competent may testify as to the value of the land before the taking of the right-of-way and the value • of the land afterward, and indeed as to values generally, so far as the same may have application to the case; and that he may also testify in detail with regard to the situation of the land, and with regard to all things connected therewith which might tend to render the land more valuable or less valuable, or which might constitute elements of value or want of value, or that might tend to prove value or a want of value; and that the witness might also testify as to every fact which might constitute an element of damage or tend to prove damage. (See the cases of K. C. & S. W. Rld. Co. v. Ehret, 41 Kas. 22, et seq., and cases there cited ; Comm’rs of Smith Co. v. Labore, 37 id. 480, 484, 485.) But the railway company claims that a witness cannot testify in comprehensive terms to the amount of damages which he may think the land-owner has suffered or may suffer by reason of the appropriation of the right-of-way. It has been suggested in favor of a witness’s giving direct testimony as to the amount of damages to be recovered, that as the amount of the damages to be recovered is the final result to be reached upon the testimony of all the witnesses, each witness should be permitted to state in direct and explicit terms just how much he thinks the damages are. The railway company answers that this cannot be done, for . the simple reason that the amount of damages to be recovered is the final result to be reached in the action, the final fact to be ascertained by the jury; and that the jury alone, and not the witness, is the proper tribunal to determine this fact, which is generally an exceedingly comprehensive and complex fact, depending upon and including innumerable details. Suppose that the plaintiff in an action for personal injuries — an action for assault and battery, for instance — should be a witness, [538]*538would it be proper to ask him such questions as these? “How much were you damaged?” “What is the amount of your damage?” “What amount are you entitled to recover?” We do not think it is necessary to determine whether the court below committed any material error in permitting witnesses to testify directly as to damages or not, and we shall therefore pass to the next question.

II. The railway company also claims that in cases like the present the owner of the land taken can recover only full and complete compensation for all his losses suffered by him, with respect to his entire tract of land, by reason of the appropriation by the railway company of its right-of-way, and of other lands, if other lands are taken, and by reason of the construction and operation of its railway in a legal and proper manner; and cannot recover in such cases for independent trespasses committed by the railway company or its agents outside of the land appropriated by the railway company; and that for the recovery of damages for any such independent trespasses the land-owner must resort to some other action or proceeding. And the railway company cites the case of L. N. & S. Rly. Co. v. Usher, 42 Kas. 637, et seq., and cases there cited. (See also, The State v. Armell, 8 Kas. 288; K. P. Rly. Co. v. Mihlman, 17 id. 224; Reisner v. Depot & Rld. Co., 27 id. 382, 389; C. K. & W. Rld. Co. v. Grovier, 41 id. 686; C. K. & W. Rld. Co. v. Willits, ante, p. 110; same case, 25 Pac. Rep. 576, and cases there cited.) The railway company claims that the court below erred in permitting the plaintiffs below to recover for trespasses outside of the right-of-way; and we think so, too. Evidence was first introduced over the objections of the defendant by the plaintiffs concerning trespasses of this character, and the court afterward refused to instruct the jury as requested by the defendant, among other things, as follows:

“That the jury should not allow any damages to the plaintiffs on account of earth or trees having been thrown outside of the right-of-way appropriated, and on to the land of the plaintiffs, in the construction of the road.”

[539]*539On the contrary, the court gave to the jury the following, among other instructions:

“That in determining the amount of the plaintiffs’ damages in this case, the jury should include . . . the amount of all damage to plaintiffs, if any, caused by the removal of earth from defendant’s right-of-way in constructing its road on plaintiffs’ land outside of such right-of-way, and placing such earth so near plaintiffs’ land that from natural causes the same may have spread out over plaintiffs’ land, and all damage to plaintiffs, if any, caused by the removal of stumps and trees and brush from that right-of-way on to plaintiffs’ land outside of that right-of-way in constructing defendant’s railroad.”

The railway company claims that the foregoing refusal to instruct the jury, and also the giving of the foregoing instruction, constituted material error.

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Bluebook (online)
45 Kan. 535, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leavenworth-northern-southern-railway-co-v-herley-kan-1891.