This case is the culmination of a rather contentious property dispute between two adjacent property owners. John R. McDonald sued his neighbor Lee Najjar and Najjar’s company, LN West Paces Ferry Associates, LLC1 collectively, “Najjar”, after Najjar trespassed on McDonald’s property and tied into his sewer line without permission. A jury trial resulted in a verdict of $475,000 in favor of McDonald, which consisted of compensatory and punitive damages as well as attorney fees. The trial court entered judgment on the jury’s verdict. Najjar contends that the trial court erred by denying his motion for directed verdict and/or motion notwithstanding the verdict; by denying his motion to exclude certain evidence offered by McDonald as a sanction for an alleged discovery violation; and by denying his motion for a mistrial and/or continuance based upon several alleged errors. We affirm. If a jury has returned a verdict, which has been approved by the trial judge, then the same must be affirmed on appeal if there is any evidence to support it, as the jurors are the sole and exclusive judges of the weight and credit given the evidence. The appellate court must construe the evidence with every inference and presumption in favor of upholding the verdict, and after judgment, the evidence must be construed to uphold the verdict even where the evidence is in conflict. As long as there is some evidence to support the verdict, the verdict will be upheld on appeal. Citations and punctuation omitted. City of Atlanta v. WH Smith Airport Svcs. , 290 Ga. App. 206 659 SE2d 426 2008. Bearing in mind these principles, we turn to the record in this case. McDonald and Najjar own adjacent property lots in an affluent Atlanta neighborhood. After purchasing the property in 2004, Najjar embarked upon a major renovation project that ultimately resulted in the development of a 30,000 square foot residence. Toward the end of the construction, Najjar’s plumbing contractor discovered that the residence was not connected to a sewer line. Nor was Najjar’s architect able to find any evidence of a septic system on his property. Najjar’s plumbing contractor suggested the installation of a pump station in the back of Najjar’s property, but Najjar rejected that option as too costly and disruptive to his existing landscaping.
At some point it was discovered that McDonald’s adjacent property lot contained private access to the sewer via a manhole that had been funded by the previous owner of McDonald’s property in conjunction with two other neighbors. The manhole was located approximately 220 feet from the boundary of Najjar’s property. Najjar called the previous owner and expressed an interest in running a sewer lateral onto the property in order to tie into the manhole, but was informed that she had sold the property to McDonald. Najjar then left a voicemail message for McDonald regarding a potential easement. McDonald, who was fighting cancer at the time, instructed his real estate attorney to return Najjar’s telephone call. The attorney spoke to Najjar and requested that Najjar submit to him plans showing the location of the desired easement; Najjar did not do so.
