Jury Awards $1.3 Million

Sonora, CA — A jury awarded over $1.3 million dollars to a Tuolumne County property owner after around 60 of her oak trees were cut down.

The trees were on land owned by Marianne Wright on Horseshoe Bend Road in Sonora. Her neighbor David Scheller had hired workers for a wood cutting venture, and she argued that they inadvertently cut down 60 of her mature oak trees as a result of negligent supervision. Besides just losing the trees, Wright’s attorneys argued that it significantly diminished the value of her property. A Tuolumne County Superior Court Jury sided with Wright, and she was awarded the $1.3 million.

“We believe the jury came out with the correct verdict in this case,” says Gary Dambacher, one of Wright’s attorneys. “The trees were in a grove on Marianne Wright’s property where she wanted to build a home, and this grove of trees had been very near and dear to her.”

Wright was represented in the case by attorneys Dambacher, Joseph Wright and Timothy Trujillo. The ruling could still be appealed.