Morgan v. Hill

• Decision Date: 15 July 1952
• Citation: 139 Conn. 159,90 A.2d 641
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: MORGAN v. HILL. Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut

Page 641

90 A.2d 641

139 Conn. 159

MORGAN v. HILL.

Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut.

July 15, 1952.

Jack Rubin, Asst. Atty. Gen., with whom, on the brief, was George C. Conway, Atty. Gen., for appellant (defendant).

William J. Willetts, New London, for appellee (plaintiff).

Before JENNINGS, BALDWIN, INGLIS and O'SULLIVAN, JJ., and BORDON, Superior Court Judge.

O'SULLIVAN, Associate Justice.

On May 5, 1949, the defendant, acting under §§ 2239 and 2264 of the General Statutes, filed an appraisal of damages for the taking of access to a public highway from realty standing in the name of the plaintiff's decedent. Damages were set at $500. The plaintiff applied to the Superior Court for a reassessment. § 2267. The court appointed a state referee for that purpose. After holding a protracted hearing and inspecting the premises, he filed a report wherein he found that damages for the taking were $14,240. The defendant's remonstrance was overruled by the court and the report was accepted. From the judgment rendered thereon the defendant has appealed.

The referee found the following undisputed facts: Two tracts of land in the town of Waterford stand in the name of the plaintiff's decedent. They abut on the Boston Post Road, a state highway, and are directly opposite each other. The northerly tract contains 3.65 acres; the southerly, 33.4 acres. The former fronts on the highway for 1220 feet; the latter, for 1320. The land in each is at grade with the highway at certain points. At others, it varies from nine feet below to twenty feet above. Because of its elevation above sea level, the property commands a splendid view in all directions and it has good natural drainage. It is located in an accessible section less than two miles west of the New London boundary line. The most adaptable use for the smaller tract and for that part of the larger which borders on the highway is commercial. The Post Road is heavily traveled in this vicinity and locations on it are being acquired for business purposes. The remainder of the acreage in the southerly tract is available for residential development.

On May 5, 1949, the defendant took the access to and from the tracts for the entire distance along which they front on the Post Road. Access is now limited to the use of Tyke Lane, a country way bounding both tracts on the east. In addition thereto, the northerly tract may be reached from the west by an oiled country road leading off the Post Road. As indicated above, the foregoing facts are not in dispute. What the defendant challenges is the referee's further finding that the fair market value of the northerly tract was $13,760 before and $6,880 after the taking, and that that of the southerly tract was $14,720 before and $7360 after. While the defendant's assignments of error are phrased in various ways, they all present the claim that there was no evidence submitted to the referee which could support the values found.

The case at bar presents another of countless instances where an unsuccessful litigant, still unconvinced, renews in this court his previous, fruitless effort to discredit the evidence submitted by his opponent. Nothing in our law is more elementary than that the trier is the final judge of the credibility of witnesses and of the weight to be accorded...