State v. Therrien

This is an appeal from a jury verdict in an eminent domain case. The Trial Court (Goode, J.) admitted into evidence the fact that the defendant’s title to the condemned premises was acquired by a tax sale and that the purported purchase price was $8,000. We hold that this evidence was irrelevant and unduly prejudicial to the deliberations of the jury, and we reverse.

Although the price paid by the owner is one of the best indicators of that property’s value, the sale must have been consummated in a fair market if that price is to be admissible as evidence of the property’s value. Poorvu v.…