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JAMES PESTEY ET AL. v. NATHAN R. CUSHMAN ET AL. (SC 16559)
Borden, Norcott, Katz, Palmer and Vertefeuille, Js. Argued September 24, 2001--officially released February 5, 2002

Jack G. Steigelfest, with whom were John Stephen Papa and, on the brief, Constance L. Epstein, for the appellants (defendants). Linda L. Morkan, with whom, on the brief, were Eric Lukingbeal and James P. Ray, for the appellees (plaintiffs).
Opinion

VERTEFEUILLE, J. The issues in this common-law private nuisance action arise out of the defendants' operation of a dairy farm near the plaintiffs' home. The principal issues in this appeal are whether: (1) the trial court properly instructed the jury with respect to the unreasonableness element of the common-law private nuisance claim; (2) a property owner may testify as to the reason for the diminution in value of his or her property; (3) the trial court properly admitted, under the learned treatise exception to the hearsay rule, evidence from a livestock waste management handbook; and (4) the evidence at trial was sufficient to support the jury's finding that the operation of the defendants' farm was the proximate cause of the offensive odors that affected the plaintiffs' property. We answer all four questions in the affirmative. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. The plaintiffs, James Pestey and Joan Pestey, brought this action against the defendants, Nathan R. Cushman, Nathan P. Cushman and Cushman Farms Limited Partnership, seeking money damages and injunctive and declaratory relief. After a lengthy trial, the jury returned a partial verdict for the plaintiffs for $100,000 in damages. See footnote 2 of this opinion. The trial court denied all of the defendants' posttrial motions, and rendered judgment in accordance with the jury's verdict. The defendants appealed to the Appellate Court, and we transferred the appeal to this court pursuant to General Statutes

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