Saufley v. Reed

576 S.W.3d 601
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedMay 3, 2019
DocketNO. 2017-CA-000050-MR
StatusPublished

This text of 576 S.W.3d 601 (Saufley v. Reed) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Saufley v. Reed, 576 S.W.3d 601 (Ky. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

TAYLOR, JUDGE:

George E. Saufley, II, and Bruce Gilbert bring this appeal from a December 5, 2016, order of the Lincoln Circuit Court granting summary judgment in favor of James R. Reed, Jr. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

Saufley and Gilbert raise cattle together on a farm owned by Saufley in Lincoln County. Saufley's farm adjoins property owned by Reed. In March of 2015, Saufley and Gilbert's cattle allegedly consumed yew bushes growing on Reeds' property that had grown through the fence line onto Saufley's property. Fifteen of the jointly owned cows died from consuming the yew bushes, that presumably are poisonous to cattle.

Reed inherited his land from his father in 2007 and had not personally lived on the land since about 1992. Reed rented the land to tenants and rarely visited the property. The yew bushes were apparently growing on the land when he inherited the property. Reed had no knowledge the bushes were poisonous or that any branches of the bushes had grown over on Saufley's farm. Neither Saufley nor Gilbert ever complained to Reed (or his tenant) about the bushes.

Saufley and Gilbert initiated this negligence action against Reed in July of 2015. The circuit court granted summary judgment to Reed by order entered December 5, 2016, concluding there was no duty owed by Reed to Saufley and Gilbert as concerns the wild yew bushes growing on Reed's property. This appeal follows.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The standard of review upon appeal of an order granting summary judgment is "whether the trial court correctly *603found that there were no genuine issues as to any material fact and that the moving party was entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Scifres v. Kraft , 916 S.W.2d 779, 781 (Ky. App. 1996) (citing Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure (CR) 56.03 ). Upon a motion for summary judgment, the record is viewed in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party and that "all doubts are to be resolved in his favor." Steelvest, Inc. v. Scansteel Serv. Ctr., Inc. , 807 S.W.2d 476, 480 (Ky. 1991). We review a trial court's decision to grant summary judgment de novo. Brown v. Griffin , 505 S.W.3d 777, 781 (Ky. App. 2016).

ANALYSIS

The facts in this care are not in dispute. Poisonous bushes on Reed's property grew across the boundary line of Saufley's property and were fatally consumed by Saufley and Gilbert's cows. None of the parties involved knew of the toxic nature of the plants prior to their consumption by the cows. The sole legal issue on appeal looks to whether Reed owed a legal duty to Saufley and Gilbert as concerns the poisonous bushes growing on his property.

The Kentucky Supreme Court has held that "[a] common law negligence claim requires proof of (1) a duty owed by the defendant to the plaintiff, (2) breach of that duty, (3) injury to the plaintiff, and (4) legal causation between the defendant's breach and the plaintiff's injury." Wright v. House of Imports, Inc. , 381 S.W.3d 209, 213 (Ky. 2012). The issue of whether a duty is owed "presents a question of law." Pathways, Inc. v. Hammons , 113 S.W.3d 85, 89 (Ky. 2003) (citation omitted).

Kentucky courts have followed the "Massachusetts Rule" as concerns the facts presented in this appeal. Under this rule, landowners are limited to using only self-help when vegetation from a neighbor's property grows across boundary lines - i.e., trimming the vegetation back to the boundary line. See Schwalbach v. Forest Lawn Memorial Park , 687 S.W.2d 551, 552 (Ky. App. 1985). In Schwalbach , the Court summarized the "Massachusetts Rule" as follows:

As against adjoining proprietors, the owner of a lot may plant shade trees upon it, or cover it with a thick forest, and the injury done to them by the mere shade of the trees is damnum absque injuria. It is no violation of their rights. We see no distinction in principle between damage done by shade, and damage caused by overhanging branches or invading roots. The principle involved is that an owner of land is at liberty to use his land, and all of it, to grow trees. Their growth naturally and reasonably will be accompanied by the extension of boughs and the penetration of roots over and into adjoining property of others....
The neighbor, though without right of appeal to the courts if harm results to him, is, nevertheless, not without remedy. His right to cut off the intruding boughs and roots is well recognized.... His remedy is in his own hands. The common sense of the common law has recognized that is wiser to leave the individual to protect himself, if harm results to him from this exercise of another's right to use his property in a reasonable way, than to subject that other to the annoyance, and the public to the burden, of actions at law, which would be likely to be innumerable and, in many instances, purely vexatious.

Schwalbach , 687 S.W.2d at 552 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). The Kentucky Supreme Court has held that it "intend[s] for the Massachusetts rule to continue to apply to cases involving the natural dropping of leaves and other naturally occurring debris onto the property of another landowner."

*604Com., Transp. Cabinet, Dep't of Highways v. Sexton , 256 S.W.3d 29, 35 n.13 (Ky. 2008). The Massachusetts rule clearly applies to the facts of this case and was properly applied by the circuit court.

In a remark seized upon by Saufley and Gilbert, the Schwalbach Court did state in dicta that "in the case of a dead and dangerous tree, it may be more sensible to require the owner of the tree to remove it in its entirety, or be liable for damages." Schwalbach , 687 S.W.2d at 552 (emphasis added).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Schwalbach v. Forest Lawn Memorial Park
687 S.W.2d 551 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1985)
Steelvest, Inc. v. Scansteel Service Center, Inc.
807 S.W.2d 476 (Kentucky Supreme Court, 1991)
Lemon v. Edwards
344 S.W.2d 822 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976), 1961)
Pathways, Inc. v. Hammons
113 S.W.3d 85 (Kentucky Supreme Court, 2003)
COM., TRANSP. CABINET, DEPT. HWYS v. Sexton
256 S.W.3d 29 (Kentucky Supreme Court, 2008)
Scifres v. Kraft
916 S.W.2d 779 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1996)
Wright v. House of Imports, Inc.
381 S.W.3d 209 (Kentucky Supreme Court, 2012)
Brown v. Griffin
505 S.W.3d 777 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
576 S.W.3d 601, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/saufley-v-reed-kyctapp-2019.