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Lynn Mary Staats and Stanley Edgar Staats
v.
Richard Drew Yotter
Appellant
Lynn Mary Staats and Stanley Edgar Staats
Appellee
Richard Drew Yotter
Attorney for the Appellant
John Daufeldt and John C. Wagner
Attorney for the Appellee
Elliott R. McDonald III, Patrick Woodward, and Nicholas J. Huffmon
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Louisa County, Clinton Boddicker, Judge. AFFIRMED. Heard by Tabor, C.J., Ahlers, J., and Bower, S.J. Opinion by Tabor, C.J. (15 pages)
Orchard owners Lynn and Stanley Staats sued neighboring farmer Richard Yotter for negligence and trespass. The jury found for Yotter on both claims, and the district court denied the Staatses’ motion for new trial. The Staatses appeal, arguing that the district court erred by (1) excluding a warning letter the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship sent to Yotter and (2) allowing the jury to view an electronic exhibit during deliberations. OPINION HOLDS: We find no error in the district court’s exclusion of the warning letter on hearsay grounds and no abuse of discretion in its decision to allow the jury to view the exhibit on a “clean” laptop. So, we affirm.
