FRANKFORT, Ky. (Legal Newsline) – A couple who live next to a skeet shooting range have lost their attempt to sue the business a second time over the buckshot that makes its way on their property.
The Kentucky Court of Appeals on Dec. 22 ruled for Christian County Quail Club, finding the claims asserted by Robert and Karen Hill in a 2016 lawsuit had already been sorted by a 2014 verdict.
That verdict gave the Hills only $1,200 for trespass from shot pellets landing on their property, as the jury rejected a $40,000 request over the alleged diminution of the value of the Hills’ property.
The Hills’ 2010 lawsuit also alleged personal injury and nuisance. The verdict resulted in the club altering the skeet trap nearest the property by changing shooters’ positions so lead pellets would land farther away from the property line, as well as a 10-foot-tall fence.
Still, the Hills sued again in 2016, alleging physical damage to the property, loss of use and enjoyment, diminution in value and punitive damages. They also sought an injunction putting an end to the shooting club.
But at the summary judgment phase, CCQC argued the claims were barred by res judicata and collateral estoppel. The Hills said summary judgment was inappropriate because pellets continue to make their way to their property, converting a once-innocent trespass to an intentional trespass.
The trespass did not cause the $1,200 in damages from the first verdict, the trial court ruled, deciding the claims were barred.
It appears that the injuries claimed by the Hills over the pellets is the result of an irrational fear, the Court of Appeals wrote.
“Neither in the instant claims nor in the previous litigation did the Hills offer any evidence as to injury to their property,” Judge Irv Maze wrote.
“As the Club notes in its brief, a shooting experiment was conducted in the current litigation in which five very small pellets landed on the Hills’ property after more than 300,000 had been shot. During this experiment, five people, including representatives of the Hills, stood in the area where the five small pellets fell and none seemed concerned about potential injury.”