City of Springfield, Missouri v. Thompson Sales Company, et al.

The Thompsons appeal the judgment awarding them $2,543,000 for 5.5 acres of property they owned in downtown Springfield that was condemned for use as a city park by the City of Springfield. They allege that reversible error occurred when the City stated during voir dire that some of the jurors might believe that their taxes would go up as a result of the award to the Thompsons. They further allege that this error was compounded by the City's comments during voir dire that some people appeal the amount offered initially in condemnation because they are greedy and by the City's reference to the condemnation commissioners and to condemnation negotiations after the judge sustained the City's motion in limine to exclude such evidence. This Court agrees the City's comments resulted in prejudicial error, reverses the judgment and remands the case for a new trial.

I. Facts/Background

Two different companies connected with the Thompson family (collectively referred to as the "Thompsons") owned the four parcels and improvements thereon involved in the condemnation proceedings (hereinafter referred to as "the Property"). The parcels together totaled approximately 5.5 acres and were treated as one property on which the Thompsons ran their family car dealership. The Thompson family has been in the car business since 1919. Since 1954 the business has been located in downtown Springfield. The condemnation action involved the total taking of the Property. Three condemnation commissioners assessed total damages for the taking in the amount of $3,046,000. Both the City and the Thompsons filed exceptions and requested a jury trial.

Prior to trial, the City filed a motion in limine to exclude any mention of the commissioners' award or condemnation negotiations. The Thompsons consented to the exclusion of these items, and the court sustained the motion on those points. The parties disagree as to whether the judge also informed the parties that he would allow or consider allowing jurors to ask questions of witnesses after counsel had completed their questioning. In either event, when the issue was raised after voir dire, counsel for each party indicated reservations about the proposed procedure for jury questions. The following day, prior to trial, the Thompsons' counsel again objected to allowing juror questions.

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Click the case caption above for the full text of the Court's opinion.

For the reasons set out above, the judgment is reversed and the cause is remanded for a new trial in accordance with this opinion.

Reversed and Remanded.

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C.L.