Kansas State Highway Commission v. Roepke

On the first trial in this condemnation action the jury awarded the landowners less money for the property taken than any single expert witness who testified in the case would have given the landowners. In my opinion such verdict is not within the range of the evidence.

The fallacy of the general rule announced in the court’s opinion is best illustrated by the fact that the jury, upon the only evidence presented in the record for our consideration, could return a verdict of $15,475 ($40,000 minus $24,525) for the landowners, or a *665deficit in the sum of $1,900 ($29,500 minus $31,400) to be…