Bexar County v. Cooper

• Court: Texas Civil Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: Matthews, San Antonio; BARROW
• Citation: Bexar County v. Cooper, 351 S.W.2d 956 (Tex. Ct. App. 1961)
• Decision Date: 22 November 1961
• Docket Number: No. 13836,13836
• Parties: COUNTY OF BEXAR, Appellant, v. Earl COOPER and wife, Gladys Cooper, Appellees.

Page 956

351 S.W.2d 956

COUNTY OF BEXAR, Appellant, v. Earl COOPER and wife, Gladys Cooper, Appellees.

No. 13836.

Court of Civil Appeals of Texas, San Antonio.

Nov. 22, 1961.

Supplemental Opinion Nov. 29, 1961.

C. J. Matthews, San Antonio, for appellant.

Park Street, James K. Gardner, San Antonio, for appellee.

BARROW, Justice.

This is a condemnation suit by Bexar County against Earl Cooper and wife to condemn for highway purposes, a strip of land eighty-six feet wide and some 2,300 feet long, consisting of 4.629 acres out of a tract of land containing 168 acres. The case was tried to the jury which returned a verdict, finding (1) that the market value of the land condemned was $16,500.00; (2) that the value of the remainder of the land immediately before the taking was $515,000.00, and (3) that the value of the remainder immediately after the taking was $476,500.00. Based upon the verdict, the trial court rendered judgment in favor of appellees for $16,500.00, the value of the land taken, plus the sum of $38,500.00 the severance damage to the remainder.

Appellant predicates this appeal upon two principal contentions: (1) That the judgment should be reversed on account of improper argument of appellees' counsel to the jury; and (2) that the verdict of the jury is greatly excessive and against the great weight of the evidence.

Appellant's first contention is overruled. The complaint as to the argument of appellees' counsel was not preserved in the proper way; that is, by bill of exceptions. Pritchett v. Highway Insurance Underwriters, 158 Tex. 116, 309 S.W.2d 46.

We sustain appellant's second contention. The 168-acre tract involved herein lies along the west side of Fredericksburg Road, some two miles north of Loop 410 in Bexar County, Texas. It has a frontage on said road of about 1600 feet. There are approximately 90 acres of land in almost a rectangular shape next to the highway. The balance of the tract is triangular or wedge shape, extending westward to the point of the wedge. In the extreme northeast corner of the tract there is a live-oak grove. Appellees' improvements, consisting of a large two-story home, which has been described as 'beautiful', together with barns, stables and other improvements, are all located in this grove. The grove occupies a small area and is the high point of the entire tract. From this live-oak hill the remainder of the land slopes toward the west and southwest. Except for the live-oak grove, the land is all brushy country, predominantly mesquite. The strip of land condemned enters the tract about 300 feet west of the northeast corner, to the rear of all the improvements, and extends in a southwesterly direction through the pasture land. The strip does not take or interfere with any of appellees' improvements these improvements were valued by the witnesses from $50,000.00 to $60,000.00.

Appellees presented five expert witnesses. Roland Reinhardt testified that the value of the part taken was $36,000.00; that the value of the remainder before the taking was $530,000.00, and after taking $467,000.00; severance damages $63,000.00. Mrs. Cecile Burke testified that the value of the part taken was $35,000.00; the value of the remainder before taking was $525,000.00, and after taking, $465,000.00; severance damages $60,000.00. Fred Green testified that the value of the part taken was $34,425.00; the value of the remainder before taking $535,000.00, and after taking $475,425.00; severance damages $59,575.00. Gilbert Kinder did not value that land taken, but testified the value of the remainder before taking was $550,000.00, and severance damages amounted to $102,000.00. Bert Fry testified that the value of the part taken was $31,500.00, the value before taking $525,000.00, value after taking was $467,078.00, resulting in a severance damage of $57,922.00. Mrs. Bruke testified that the highest and best use of the subject land was for estate purposes; the other four witnesses, that it was for subdivision purposes.

The appellant presented one expert witness, George French, who valued the land taken at $9,200.00, and the remainder before taking at $400,022.00, and after taking at $441,479.00. This witness also testified to numerous recent comparable sales of land in the immediate vicinity of the subject land, giving the names of persons involved, the dates of the sales, the acreage, and the volume and pages of the record of the deeds. These sales ranged from $1,000.00 to $1,700.00, and from $1,750.00 to $2,000.00 per acre. The tracts sold ranged from twenty to one hundred and seventy-five acres in size. On the other hand, appellees' witnesses testified that they knew of no comparable sales. They did not in any way dispute these actual sales, either the fact that they were made or that the land was comparable. They simply ignored this testimony.

Considering the evidence as a whole, we find that appellees' expert witnesses in testifying to the values placed by them, simply gave expression to their own opinion, and their opinions are not supported by any information upon which to evaluate them....