TOPEKA — Chief Judge David A. Ricke of the 13th judicial district has been appointed to sit with the Kansas Supreme Court to hear oral arguments in one case on the court's 9 a.m. docket Wednesday, March 2.
After hearing oral arguments, Ricke will join Supreme Court justices in their deliberations and opinion drafting.
"I am pleased that Chief Judge Ricke is taking time from his duties in the 13th judicial district to sit with the Supreme Court," said Chief Justice Lawton R. Nuss. "It's a great help to our court and we look forward to his contributions deliberating this case."
Ricke has served as district judge in the 13th judicial district since 2004. He presides over cases in Butler, Greenwood, and Elk counties.
"I am truly honored to have this opportunity to sit with our state's highest court," Ricke said. "I look forward to what promises to be a very interesting experience, as well as to the challenges presented by the case."
Ricke has lived in Rose Hill for 30 years. He is a graduate of Wichita State University and the University of Kansas School of Law.
All Supreme Court oral arguments are webcast live through the Watch Supreme Court Live! link in the right-hand column of the Kansas Judicial Branch website at www.kscourts.org.
The case Ricke will hear is the first one scheduled on the Supreme Court's 9 a.m. docket Wednesday, March 2:
Appeal No. 113,732: Doug Garber Construction, Inc. v. Michael S. King, in his capacity as Secretary of Transportation
Douglas County: (Civil Appeal) The Kansas Department of Transportation undertook a highway improvement project that necessitated acquiring a .51 acre tract owed by Doug Garber Construction, Inc. The court-appointed appraisers awarded $105,000 to Garber Construction and the secretary paid the appraisers' award to the district court clerk. In discovery, Garber produced an expert report that concluded the value of the land was between $1,795,600 and $3,352,825. Berniece Garber, president of Garber Construction also intended to offer her opinion testimony as to value. Ms. Garber gave her opinion that the value of the parcel was between $40 million and $347 million. The district court, at trial, prohibited Garber Construction's opinion testimony, other than opinion testimony on the value of the parcel based on a 2012 contract for the sale of the parcel—which valued it at $750,000. The case went to trial and the jury found the property worth $112,000 at the time of taking. Garber Construction appeals. Issues on appeal are whether the district court erred in not allowing the plaintiff's expert to testify and whether the district court erred in limiting the testimony of Berniece Garber as to what she believed was the value of the property.