Radford v. Van Orden
Annotate this CaseRespondent Mark Radford sued Appellant Jay Van Orden for damages from trespass of lands and trespass of cattle, among other claims, and also sued Appellant Seven J Ranches, Inc. (“Seven J”) for reimbursement for the construction of a partition fence pursuant to Idaho Code section 35-103. The two cases were later consolidated. Upon Van Orden’s motion for summary judgment, the district court determined that Radford had standing to sue Van Orden for trespass, even though Radford was not the property owner when the trespass occurred, because the previous property owner executed an assignment of claims to him. After a five-day bench trial, the district court found Van Orden was liable for trespass and awarded damages to Radford, and required Seven J to reimburse Radford for one half of a constructed partition fence. The district court also found Van Orden was not liable for trespass of cattle and ordered Radford to construct a gate at the southern edge of his property to allow Van Orden to access an easement that runs across Radford’s property. The district court determined Radford to be the overall prevailing party and awarded attorney fees only against Seven J. Van Orden and Seven J appealed the district court’s standing determination on summary judgment, the damages awarded against Van Orden on Radford’s trespass claim, the reimbursement awarded on the partition fence claim against Seven J, and the prevailing party determination for purpose of awarding attorney fees. Radford cross-appealed the district court’s denial of his claim for trespass of cattle damages and the district court’s requirement that he construct a gate for Van Orden at the edge of his property. Concerning Radford and Seven J’s appeal, the Idaho Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s rulings that: (1) Radford had standing; (2) Radford proved the trespass damages with reasonable certainty; (3) Radford’s partition fence notice to Seven J was sufficient and required Seven J to reimburse Radford for the fence; (4) Radford was the prevailing party against Seven J and was entitled to costs and reasonable attorney fees against Seven J. As to Radford’s cross-appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s ruling that Radford was required to remove his fence across the prescriptive easement or install a gate for Van Orden’s ingress and egress. However, the Court reversed the district court’s decision denying Radford damages for trespass of cattle against Van Orden, and remanded with instructions to consider whether Van Orden was entitled to relief under his unjust enrichment theory.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.