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Bern-Shaw Limited Partnership v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore No. 1, September Term, 2003 Headnote: Evidence as to prior purchase price of a property involved in condemnation proceedings is irrelevant under Maryland Rules 5-401 & 5-402 where the prior purchase price is found to be remote in time, i.e., generally more than five years prior to the condemnation, unless it can be shown that the remote prior sale is the only comparable sale that can be produced at trial. In this case, twelve comparable sales were introduced at trial by expert appraisal witnesses. Therefore, evidence concerning the 18-year-old purchase price of the condemned property was not relevant for the jury's determination of fair market value of the condemned property. In a "quick-take" condemnation, Maryland Rule 12-207(c) does not require a jury view of the property. Because Maryland Rule 12-207(c) states that it pertains to property "sought to be condemned," the Rule does not mandatorily apply to "quick-take" condemnations, which by their nature involve property already "taken." Therefore, the trial court was in error to allow a jury view over petitioner's objection. Furthermore, because petitioner had no control of the property's condition for fourteen months prior to trial, it was unfairly prejudicial to petitioner for the jury to view the property as it existed at the time of trial.

Circuit Court for Baltimore City Case #24-C-00-004899

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 1 September Term, 2003

Bern-Shaw Limited Partnership

v.

Mayor and City Council of Baltimore

Bell, C. J. Eldridge Raker Wilner Cathell Harrell Battaglia, JJ.

Opinion by Cathell, J.

Filed: October 8, 2003

This case arises out of a "quick-take" condemnation1 by the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, respondent, of a property located at 324 West Baltimore Street in Baltimore City then owned by Bern-Shaw Limited Partnership, petitioner. Respondent filed the condemnation on October 3, 2000, and paid into court $234,000.00, which was the higher of two appraisals it had obtained, thereby "taking" the property on that date.2 On December

In its simplest terms, a "quick-take" condemnation involves the "immediate taking of private property for public use, whereby the estimated reasonable compensation is placed in escrow until the actual amount of compensation can be established." BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY 287 (7th ed. 1999). This Court stated that a "quick-take" condemnation occurs where "the condemning authority takes possession of the property prior to trial upon payment into court of its estimate of the value of the property taken." King v. State Roads Comm'n, 298 Md. 80, 85-86, 467 A.2d 1032, 1035 (1983). Unlike a "regular" condemnation proceeding, where the value of the property is assessed by the jury "as of the date of the trial," a "quick-take" condemnation proceeding requires that a jury base its determination on the fair market value of the property on the date of the taking. See Md. Code (1974, 2003 Repl. Vol.),

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