Covich

—The appeal is by the State of California, plaintiff in a proceeding in eminent domain. The property condemned consisted of fractional lots improved by two old apartment houses located on “O” Street between 14th and 15th Streets in Sacramento. Condemnation was for use in connection with the Capitol Master Plan. The case was tried to a jury which awarded the condemnees $120,000. The state’s motion for a new trial was denied. It appeals from the judgment.

The sole contention on appeal is that the eondemnees’ two appraisers who appraised the property jointly fixed values contrary to law, speculatively and as of a date 3 years subsequent to the date of trial.

As is not unusual the two experts produced by the state appraised the value of the property at approximately one-half of the value placed upon it by the two eondemnees’ experts. One of the former fixed its value at $57,000, the other at $63,000. Condemnees’ appraisers jointly reached the same sum: $120,000. Indicative of the fact that the science of real estate appraisal is not now an exact science is that both sides presented experts who used the same basic methods of appraisal, reaching widely disparate results.

Both the…