United States v. 14.38 Acres of Land, More or Less Situated in Leflore County, Mississippi

In this eminent domain action, the district court granted the Government’s motion in limine to exclude expert testimony regarding severance damages claimed by appellant, Joseph Coker, III, as a result of the Government’s taking of an easement over a portion of his property. Having excluded the testimony, the trial court issued a final judgment awarding Coker an amount stipulated to by the parties solely as just compensation for the portion of the property subject to the easement and an uneconomic remnant. Because we find that the trial court abused its discretion in excluding the expert…