Riverside County Flood Control v. Joseph W. Wolfskill Co.

COUGHLIN, J. pro tem.

*

This is an action in eminent domain seeking the condemnation of real property in the county of Riverside for a flood control channel. Besides appellant, which was a corporation with offices in the county of Los Angeles, the named defendants are John M. Coudures, Jr., and the county of Riverside. In due course, appellant moved for a change of venue upon the ground that “a fair and impartial trial cannot he had in the county of Riverside and . . . the county of Riverside is a party to said action.” The motion was made upon an affidavit; opposed by a further affidavit; submitted thereon; and denied.

This appeal is from the order of denial. For reversal, reliance is placed upon the provisions of subparagraph 2 of section 397 and section 394 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The former code section provides that “The court may, on

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motion, change the place of trial ... 2. When there is reason to believe that an impartial trial cannot be had therein.”

The affidavit in support of the motion alleges that it will be impossible to have a fair and impartial trial in the county of Riverside because the property proposed to be taken in this action is intended for use as part of a flood control project in the Perris and San Jacinto Valleys; that the cities of Perris, San Jacinto and Hemet, which are located therein, have a total population approximating 20,000

people;

that the advantages of the project in question have been widely publicized; that appellant tried to obtain the issuance of an injunction to prevent the diversion of flood waters on to its lands as a part of the proposed plan, which action was the source of considerable comment in the newspapers of the cities of Riverside, Perris, San Jacinto and Hemet, wherein appellant was portrayed as trying to prevent construction of the flood control channels which are a part of the project; that the cost of purchasing appellant’s property will be paid out of county funds and, for this reason, every person who is a taxpayer has an adverse interest; and that in a proceeding to fix the deposit security required by law, the plaintiff filed affidavits, which are public records, containing allegations with respect to the purchase price of other lands acquired for the project.