TOPEKA—Kansas Court of Appeals judges will hear appeals by videoconference Monday. The oral arguments will be livestreamed on YouTube.
Chief Judge Karen Arnold-Burger is the presiding judge and is joined by judges David Bruns and Kim Schroeder for the July 13 docket.
Ordinarily, Court of Appeals panels hear oral arguments in person. Through Administrative Order 2020-PR-076, the Kansas Supreme Court has ordered all hearings be conducted remotely if possible.
On the Court of Appeals docket for 9 a.m. Monday is the following case from Ottawa County, according to summary information provided by the court.
Appeal No. 121,879: Ringneck Farms LLC v. Dr. Bradley Steuwe, Fried Enterprises LP, C&W Ranch Ltd., Joel Wimer, and R.J. Fencing LLC
Ottawa County: Ringneck Farms alleged the defendants cut down a hedge row of over 100 trees without permission on Ringneck's property. Ringneck hired expert witnesses who were prepared to testify the replacement cost of the trees was over $1 million. Before the district court, the defendants argued that the only proper measure of damages was the value of the property before the trees were cut down versus after the trees were cut down. The district court agreed and barred Ringneck from presenting its expert witnesses' testimony. Subsequently, the district court granted summary judgment for the defendants because Ringneck was unable to prove damages. On appeal, Ringneck argues the district court erred when it barred the expert testimony because tree replacement cost can be a viable measure of damages in certain circumstances.