Russell v. Man
Annotate this CaseCornel Man was a general contractor. With his wife Victoria, he bought a vacant lot in Big Bear Lake. Raymond and Fenella Russell owned the house next door. A “massive” pine tree stood on the property line between them. The Mans built a house on their property. They should not have been able to; under the city’s development code, almost any house on the property, no matter how configured, would be too close to the tree’s “critical root zone.” The city, however, inspected the property and approved the plans. In the course of the construction, workers digging a trench cut the roots of the tree. As a result, the tree died. The Russells filed this action against the Mans. After a bench trial, the trial court found for the Russells. The major item of the damages it awarded was $219,756.50, representing $73,265.50, which the trial court found to be the value of the tree, trebled pursuant to Civil Code section 3346. The Mans appealed, arguing: (1) Civil Code section 3346 did not apply, because the Mans injured the tree while on their own property, not while trespassing on the Russells’ property; (2) there was insufficient evidence that the Mans acted willfully and maliciously to support an award of treble damages; and (3) the trial court erred in calculating the value of the tree. The Court of Appeal agreed Civil Code section 3346 did not apply, but the Mans remained liable on a negligence theory, and only for untrebled damages. Thus, the Court did not decide the sufficiency of the evidence argument. The Court also concurred the calculation of the tree's value was erroneous and excessive; the Court found the only value supported by he evidence was $37,000. The matter was remanded for the trial court to modify its judgment.
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