McDuffie v. Mississippi State Highway Commission
| Decision Date | 07 November 1960 |
| Docket Number | No. 41579,41579 |
| Citation | 239 Miss. 518,124 So.2d 284 |
| Parties | Joe McDUFFIE et al. v. MISSISSIPPI STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSION. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Deavours & Hilbun, Laurel, for appellants.
Denton Gibbes, Jr., William S. Boyd, Jr., Laurel, Joe T. Patterson Atty. Gen., by Matthew Harper, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
The Mississippi State Highway Commission, through the Attorney General of the State of Mississippi, filed a petition in the County Court for the First Judicial District of Jones County, Mississippi, against Joe F. McDuffie and his wife, Mildred McDuffie, owners, seeking to condemn one parcel of land for an easement, comprising a total of 11.07 acres, more or less, for public purposes in the construction of a segment of U. S. Highway No. 11, Interstate, as ordered by said Commission on a previous date. The proceedings were instituted by the State Highway Commission for a right of easement 300 feet wide running from a northeasterly to a southwesterly direction through the top 40-acre tract of two 40-acre tracts owned by the McDuffies. Approximately 9 acres of the northwest corner of the north 40-acre tract is being cut off by the non-access interstate highway and a gravel road which ran through the top 40-acre tract is being closed. The appellants' home is on the east side of the interstate highway and his access to the east is not interfered with. The appellants, McDuffies, lose 11.07 acres, except the oil, gas and minerals that may be under it, and largely lose the use of approximately nine acres because of non-access. The trial in the county court resulted in a jury award in favor of the appellants in the amount of $10,000. At the time of the trial the major part of the pasture was in broom sage and was classed as a poor type for grazing, and it had not been seeded or developed for grazing purposes.
This land is located about one and one-half miles northwest of the Town of Moselle. The land consists of two 40-acre tracts which lie north and south of each other. In the main the case involves the north 40. Approximately 25 acres are a flat pasture, the remaining 55 acres are in timberland. The present U. S. Highway No. 11 runs northeasterly and southwesterly about one mile from the east side of the McDuffie land. The county gravel road, or local road, runs through the northerly part of the north 40, in a generally east, west direction, and connects the McDuffie tract with Moselle on the east, and a network of local roads on the west near Leaf River. This gravel road will be closed by the right-of-way of the new highway at the east and west extremities. The McDuffie farm residence is located in the northeasterly part of the north 40, north of the gravel road and east of the east right-of-way line of the new highway. None of the described buildings will be taken by the condemnor. The 25-acre pasture is located south of the gravel road in the north 40. The south 40 and the 15 acres north of the gravel road in the north 40, except for the area immediately around the building, is timberland. There are some large trees but most of the timber is small and is classified as pulpwood.
The appellee, Mississippi State Highway Commission, filed a motion for a new trial, which motion was overruled by the county court. Feeling aggrieved thereby, the appellee prosecuted an appeal to the circuit court of the First Judicial District of Jones County, Mississippi, and there the circuit judge issued an...
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...value could only have bias and prejudice for the jury in their duty of reaching a fair valuation." McDuffie v. Miss. State Highway Comm'n, 239 Miss. 518, 522, 124 So.2d 284, 285-86 (1960). No explanation is provided for the holding. There were two witnesses for the State whose valuations we......
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