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124 N.C. 37

32 S.E 379

Ridley v. Railroad

Supreme Court of North Carolina

Decided February 28, 1899

Supreme Court of North Carolina · decided 1899-02-28

This is the plaintiff’s appeal from the judgment rendered in this canse. The answer contained the allegation, “For further answer, these defendants say, that the bridge, embankments and abutments,-mentioned in the complaint, are permanent in their character; that whatever damage (if any) said bridge, embankments and abutments, caused to the lands of the plaintiff, was permanent in its characterand the jury so found.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1899-02-28

How this case has been cited

Cited by 6 later decisions — most recently January 1982

2 federal appellate · 4 state decisions

201899190019101920193019401950196019701980decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Clark, J.

¶1 The plaintiff excepted to the submission of an issue as to the permanent damages, they not having been claimed by the complaint. But it was held in the same case when here on a former appeal (118 N. C., 996, at p. 1008,), that either the plaintiff or defendant could have the permanent damages assessed, if demanded in either the complaint or answer. To same purpose is Parker v. Railroad, 119 N. C., 677.

¶2 The jury found the permanent damages to be $500 and the damages to the crops in the past three years to have been $300. The court rendered judgment for only $500. In this there was error. (See defendant’s appeal in this case.) The finding of permanent damages bars all actions for damages to future crops, but not the simultaneous recovery of past damages to the crops (except in actions brought since chapter 224, Acts 1895,), unless by the frame of the issue or the charge it is clear the past damages were considered in the ascertain *39 ment of permanent damages. Here, tbe submission of separate issues shows that they were not.

¶3 Tbe plaintiff objected to evidence as to tbe valuation of tbe land upon tbe tax list. There have been several decisions that tbe listing of land was some, though slight, evidence of claim of title and of tbe character of possession by tbe party listing tbe same. Austin v. King, 97 N. C., 339; Pasley v. Richardson, 119 N. C., 449; Barnhardt v. Brown, 122 N. C., 587; 1 Greenleaf Ev., section 493.

¶4 Acquiescence in listing and payment of taxes by another is evidence against tbe party out of possession. But tbe tax valuation, being placed on tbe land by tbe tax assessors, without tbe intervention of tbe land owner, no inference that it is a correct valuation can be drawn from bis failure to except that tbe valuation is too low. Such valuation was r&s inter alios acta, and is not competent against the plaintiff in this action. Daniels v. Fowler, 123 N. C., 35; Flint v. Flint, 6 Allen (Mass), 34; Kanarson v. Henry, 101 Mass., 152.

¶5 On the issue as to permanent damages let there be a new trial.

¶6 New trial.

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