DeBruhl v. State Highway & Public Works Commission

The basic question in this case is: What is the property for which compensation is to be paid? At the pretrial conference in October 1954 the court concluded that compensation was to be paid for the land taken, excluding any house thereon. The order fixing the issue to be submitted to the jury became the theory on which the case was to be tried. So long as that remained the pattern on which the case was to be tried, the evidence should be confined to the value of the land. Evidence tending to show the value of the house was not germane and hence was not competent. Godfrey v. Power Co., 190…