McCoy v. Gustafson, No. H030724

In an action by homeowners against current and former owners of a laundry property alleging that oil flowing down from the laundry contaminated plaintiffs' property, jury verdict in favor of plaintiffs is reversed where: 1) trial court should have entered judgment in favor of the defendants based on the special verdict as it established the statute of limitations defense; 2) based on the lack of evidence at trial that the contamination of the downhill property is reasonably abatable, the jury could not have found otherwise, and this failure of proof did not result from any erroneous ruling by the trial court in connection with granting summary adjudication denying plaintiff's motion to amend the complaint, or limiting the expert testimony presented by plaintiff; and 3) trial court erred in granting the motion for new trial and denying the motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.   

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Appellate Information

Filed December 15, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Judge Rushing

Counsel
For Appellant:   Kathleen P. Clack

For Appellee:   Musick, Peeler & Garrett, Gary L. Wollberg, Timothy J. Daley