Gilleland v. New York State Natural Gas Corp.

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Bok,

Defendant has appealed a judgment of $9200 for plaintiffs in a condemnation case involving the placing of a transmission gas pipe.

*183The core question is whether it was speculative, under the evidence, to let the jury consider that the best use of plaintiffs’ land was for the development of community lots. We think that it was.

The main conflict in the testimony had to do with the value of the land before and after the taking. Plaintiffs and their five witnesses ranged between $9000 to $19,000 for the difference in market value before and after; defendant’s two witnesses…