Bullman v. D & R Lumber Co.
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals
464 S.E.2d 771 (1995)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
D & R Lumber Company (defendant) cut down trees on Carol Sue Bullman’s (plaintiff) property without her permission. West Virginia law provided that anyone who cut down the timber of another without permission was subject to damages equal to three times the value of the timber. The statute also stated that the treble damages were in addition to other penalties provided by law. Bullman sued D & R under this statute. Pursuant to the statute, the trial court awarded Bullman $3,100 in compensatory damages, equal to three times the stumpage value of the timber. The court also awarded $1,400 in compensatory damages for repair of Bullman’s land and $500 for loss of property. Finally, the trial court awarded $25,000 in common-law punitive damages. D & R appealed, arguing that by bringing suit under the treble-damages statute, Bullman in effect chose her remedy and could not also recover punitive damages.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Cleckley, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 806,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
