C. H. Love v. Robert F. Smith

This is an action of eminent domain brought by the State of Tennessee to condemn a three acre strip of the defendants 161 acre farm for the purpose of widening State Highway No. 56. The right of the State to condemn is not denied; valuation of the land taken and incidental damages, if any, to the remainder were the only disputed issues. The case was heard by the Judge and jury and resulted in a verdict totaling $21,250.00, consisting of $12,500.00 fair cash market value for the land taken and $8,750.00 in incidental damages to the remainder. The State appealed and the Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the trial court and remanded for a new trial solely upon the ground that Charles Gentry, one of the defendants three expert witnesses, appears to have considered only the "highest and best use" of the property taken in arriving at his estimate of $41,500.00 as the total for value of land taken and incidental damages to the remainder. We granted the petition for certiorari filed by the defendant landowner.