Mississippi State Highway Commission v. Hurst, 49599
| Decision Date | 07 September 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 49599,49599 |
| Citation | 349 So.2d 545 |
| Parties | MISSISSIPPI STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSION v. Addie O. HURST et al. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Whittington, Brock & Swayze, H. D. Brock, Greenwood, for appellant.
No brief filed for appellees.
Before SMITH, BROOM and LEE, JJ.
LEE, Justice, for the Court:
A Special Court of Eminent Domain of Leflore County entered judgment in favor of Addie O. Hurst, et al., in the sum of two thousand dollars ($2,000.00) as just compensation for taking certain lands by the Mississippi State Highway Commission, and the Commission appeals. It is contended that the trial court erred (1) in admitting testimony relating to damages resulting from a proposed median strip, and (2) in not excluding testimony of appellees' appraiser on elements of damage.
Appellees declined to file a brief in response to that of the Commission, and, under Westinghouse Credit Corporation v. Deposit Guaranty National Bank, 304 So.2d 636 (Miss.1974), and Burt v. Duckworth, 206 So.2d 850 (Miss.1958), their failure so to do is tantamount to a confession of error, if appellant's brief makes out an apparent case of error. We do not apply that principle here and have examined the record in order to make a final disposition of the case.
The Hurst property, consisting of 2.01 acres, is located on U.S. Highway 82 east of the city limits of Greenwood, and the acreage condemned is .08 of an acre. The purpose of the acquisition (30-foot strip across the front of the Hurst property) was to provide drainage from the highway. An additional lane was to be constructed on each side of the two-lane highway in order to convert it into a four-lane highway. The original right-of-way would contain the additional paved area. The Hurst home was approximately one hundred fifty (150) feet from the edge of the pavement before new construction. Appellant proposed to construct a median dividing the four lanes and, although appellees had access to the westbound lane, they would be required to travel approximately six hundred twenty-four (624) feet to cross over into the eastbound lane. Proof for the Commission indicated a damage of five hundred fifty dollars ($550.00) with no severance damages, and proof for appellees indicated damages of twenty-nine hundred fifty dollars ($2,950.00) of which amount eight hundred dollars ($800.00) was compensation for the actual take with twenty-one hundred fifty dollars ($2,150.00) severance damage.
The trial court permitted appellees to...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Smith v. Mississippi State Highway Com'n, 53493
...in Stout the property that remained, 3.17 acres, was totally landlocked after the taking. The Court held in Mississippi State Highway Commission v. Hurst, 349 So.2d 545 (Miss.1977), that: [T]estimony of damages sustained by reason of the construction of the median and damages for inconvenie......
-
State Highway Com'n of Mississippi v. Havard
...to get out." MSHC relies upon Smith v. Mississippi State Highway Commission, 423 So.2d 808 (Miss.1982) and Mississippi State Highway Commission v. Hurst, 349 So.2d 545 (Miss.1977). We find these cases wholly consistent with what has been said in Section III above. Indeed, the analysis there......
-
City of Gulfport v. Anderson, 07-58431
...such acts as diversion of traffic by construction of a new highway and installing a median strip. Mississippi State Highway Commission v. Hurst, 349 So.2d 545, 546 (Miss.1977). We look to law and not logic to find which "takings" are compensable. Property is a function of law, not of value,......
-
Mississippi State Highway Com'n v. Viverette, 57824
...whether the evidence is such that we might here fix the compensation due and render the case here. See Mississippi State Highway Commission v. Hurst, 349 So.2d 545, 546 (Miss.1977). The top side of the valuation and damages testimony, however, is too uncertain to permit this course. We reve......