State Highway Commission v. Anderegg

Plaintiff, State of Oregon through its Highway Commission, condemned defendants’ land for highway purposes. Plaintiff, in its complaint, alleged the value of the property to be $10,844. The jury returned a verdict of $13,650. The defendant moved to set aside the verdict and for a new trial which motion the court granted, and plaintiff appealed.

One ground for the motion is that the trial judge instructed the jury that the verdict could not be less than $10,844, the sum the State alleged as being its value, when the State’s sole value witness testified the property’s value was $13,000. The…