Muskeget Island Club v. Inhabitants of Nantucket
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Petition, filed September 13, 1898, under St. 1895, c. 442, § 3, by the Muskeget Island Club, a corporation organized under the laws of this Commonwealth, for damages for the taking of a portion of the island of Muskeget in the town of Nantucket, west of Nantucket and the island of Tuckernuck, for a public park.
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Petition, filed September 13, 1898, under St. 1895, c. 442, § 3, by the Muskeget Island Club, a corporation organized under the laws of this Commonwealth, for damages for the taking of a portion of the island of Muskeget in the town of Nantucket, west of Nantucket and the island of Tuckernuck, for a public park. At the trial in the Superior Court Lawton, J. excluded the testimony of Hiram C. Folger, a witness offered as an expert by the respondent, on the ground that the witness was not qualified as an expert. The jury returned a verdict for the petitioner .in the sum of $7,000; and the…
1Opinion of the CourtHammond, J.
The question whether a witness offered as an expert is qualified to testify as such, is to be decided by the presiding judge as a question of fact, and his decision is conclusive unless upon the evidence it appears erroneous in law. Perkins v. Stickney, 132 Mass. 217. We cannot say "that in coming to the conclusion that the several witnesses called by the petitioner-were qualified the judge erred inlaw. In each case the evidence justified the finding.
But we think that the evidence as to Folger did not warrant his exclusion. He testified that he had lived in Nantucket over sixty years, and for…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Perkins v. StickneyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1882
- Swan v. County of MiddlesexMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1869
3Cited by31 opinions
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- Commonwealth v. SpencerMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1912
- Commonwealth v. BanuchiMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1957
- Rubin v. Town of ArlingtonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1951
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