People v. Sammis
People v. Sammis
Opinion of the Court
After a jury trial, at which the defendants were awarded damages for the taking of certain property for highway purposes, and at which the jury found no damages as severance damages, the defendants’ motion for a new trial was denied, and this appeal is taken by the defendants from the entire judgment entered in accordance with that verdict. The appellants’ main contentions are that as a matter of law the jury was bound to return a verdict for damages resulting from the severance of a potential spur track right of way to the property remaining in their ownership; also that diminishing the depth of the defendants’ land in front of their olive-processing plant necessarily resulted in a severance damage, and, furthermore, appellants urge that the court erred in failing to give certain instructions upon the effect and evaluation of expert testimony and also erred in not striking some expert testimony, which appellants contend was invalid for any purpose. Appellants also complain that they were entitled to damages by reason of the separation of their land from the underlying fee in a preexisting highway, which is now embraced within the limits of the new highway. During the trial the appellants offered no proof and made no contention in connection with the severance damage by reason of the isolation of their underlying fee in the existing highway. Therefore, that question cannot be considered by this court, since such matters cannot be raised for the first time on appeal. (Gibson Properties Co. v. City of Oakland, 12 Cal.2d 291 [83 P.2d 942]; Marra v. Aetna Const. Co., 15 Cal.2d 375 [101 P.2d 490] ; 18 Cal.Jur.2d, Eminent Domain, § 339.)
A reading of the entire record in this matter discloses that there is substantial evidence to support the jury’s findings and verdict in all respects, and, under the familiar rule of indulging every inference favorable to the prevailing party, this court should not reverse a judgment upon such ground. During
Appellants further complain that the court failed properly to instruct the jury relative to the evaluation of expert or opinion evidence. A reading of the entire charge to the jury does not support appellants’ contention in this respect, and this court is bound to read and consider the
The judgment appealed from is affirmed.
Van Dyke, P. J., and Schottky, J., concurred.
Assigned by Chairman of Judicial Council.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.