Mississippi State Highway Commission v. Jacobs
| Decision Date | 10 February 1964 |
| Docket Number | No. 42880,42880 |
| Citation | 248 Miss. 476,160 So.2d 201 |
| Parties | MISSISSIPPI STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSION v. John JACOBS. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Pack & Ratcliff, Laurel, for appellant.
F. Burkitt Collins, Laurel, for appellee.
John Jacobs brought suit against Mississippi State Highway Commission to recover damages resulting from the relocation of U. S. Highway No. 11. The declaration alleged, in effect, that the acts of the defendant, which caused the damage, were: (1) Building a fence and earthen embankment, closing the north outlet of the alley on which his property abutted; (2) the descent of dust in and upon his buildings in the process of erecting the earthen embankment; (3) the violent jarring of the foundation and walls of buildings in the process of driving piling for the overhead bridge on the right of way; and (4) the destruction of the peace and privacy of his home from light.
Issue was joined. The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff and fixed his damages at the sum of $2,000.00. From the judgment entered, the Commission appealed; and the plaintiff prosecutes a cross-appeal on the ground that the amount of the verdict is inadequate.
The appellant has assigned as error and argued that the plaintiff's requested peremptory instruction was erroneously given, and that the admission of evidence for the plaintiff on the question of damage from diversion in drainage and flooding was reversible error. It is not necessary to respond to the others.
Block 11 of the Boulevard Addition to the City of Laurel is bounded by streets denominated Jefferson on the north, Royal on the south, Magnolia on the east and Beacon on the west. Running through the block north and south and near the center is an 18-foot alley. There are five lots west of the alley and seven to the east, fronting on Beacon and Magnolia streets, respectively. In this block, John Jacobs owned Lot 10, being 75 feet wide and 167 feet deep and abutting on both the alley and Beacon Street. He had resided in his home on this place since 1936. It was a wood frame building with brick pillars and a composition roof. It consisted of a living room, dining room, three bedrooms, kitchen and one bathroom. It had wood siding, with rear and front screen porches, measuring 5 X 5 1/2 and 8 X 14 1/2 feet, respectively. The open side porch measured 11 feet. In addition, there was a garage apartment with gravel floor in the parking area, behind which was a storage room with concrete floor, for the entire width of the building. The second story contained a two-bedroom apartment, with kitchen, bath and one closet. The building was 20 X 26 feet.
During the year 1957 the Mississppi State Highway Commission began the relocation of U. S. Highway No. 11. The new road proceeded in the general location of Jefferson Street in the City of Laurel. It built a fence and an earthen embankment across the north end of the alley through Block 11, thereby closing the north outlet to the alley.
Without detailing the evidence for the plaintiff, it is sufficient to say that it tended to show that the damage, insofar as the mere loss of access to or egress from the alley to the north is concerned, was light. The evidence concerning the lights on the highway was that they were focused so that they glared into his home. It was about 165 to 170 feet from the appellee's property to the place where the piling was driven, and the evidence was in sharp conflict as to whether this work for a limited period would produce any damage at all. There was evidence as to damage from the descent of dust into and upon the houses as the dirt was being formed into an embankment. The plaintiff and another witness testified that the before and after values of the property were $20,000.00 and $10,000.00, respectively. An experienced carpenter estimated the reasonable cost of repairs in excess of $4,000.00. A real estate broker, testifying for the defendant, was of the opinion that no damage was caused from the project and attributed the condition of the buildings to natural depreciation.
Although the plaintiff, in his declaration, made no allegation of a claim for damage on account of the diversion of water along the alley, yet, in the course of the trial, he offered, over the objection of the...
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AmSouth Bank v. Gupta
...and then introduce evidence and recover a verdict, based, in large measure, on an entirely different one." Miss. State Hwy. Comm'n v. Jacobs, 248 Miss. 476, 478, 160 So.2d 201 (1964). In Jacobs, the plaintiff alleged various specific nuisances in his complaint, but at trial he offered evide......
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Sheffield v. Sheffield, 52709
...claim on one theory and then introduce evidence to recover a verdict based on an entirely different theory. Mississippi State Highway Comm'n. v. Jacobs, 248 Miss. 476, 160 So.2d 201, 161 So.2d 526 (1964); Mississippi State Highway Comm'n. v. Rhymes, 248 Miss. 468, 160 So.2d 197, 161 So.2d 5......
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Pearl River Val. Water Supply Dist. v. Brown, 43854
...was entered. The case was reversed because the landowner introduced erroneous testimony and the cost was taxed against him. The opinion in Jacobs is not applicable under the facts in the instant case for the following reasons. Jacobs was not an eminent domain proceeding, it was a suit broug......
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Terrell Inv. Co. v. Dunn
...claim on one theory and then introduce evidence to recover a verdict based on an entirely different theory. Mississippi State Highway Comm'n v. Jacobs, 248 Miss. 476, 160 So.2d 201, 161 So.2d 526 (1964); Mississippi State Highway Comm'n v. Rhymes, 248 Miss. 468, 160 So.2d 197, 161 So.2d 527......