City of Winston-Salem v. Cooper

EXUM, Justice.

This is a condemnation proceeding in which the plaintiff condemnor City of Winston-Salem (“City”) complains of several rulings on the evidence made by Judge Hairston at a jury trial conducted to determine the amount of compensation due the owners, the defendants Cooper. Judge Hairston first ruled that the City could not cross-examine the owners’ experts with regard to specific selling prices of other properties in the vicinity of, but not comparable to, the property being condemned. Next, Judge Hairston sustained objections to testimony of the City’s experts regarding sales…