Landowner wins appeal over libel in tree dispute

BEULAH, Mich. (AP) - The state appeals court has thrown out an $85,000 libel verdict, one of many issues in a dispute over the cutting of trees in northern Michigan's Benzie County. Barbara Barker in 2007 had trees removed and sold from land used for family camping. But there was a problem with the size of the job. Barker agreed to three truckloads, but Doug Marshall mistakenly had the crew cut six. That led to the removal of more than 250 trees. Barker described it as a "war zone." Barker was sued after making unflattering remarks about Marshall to a newspaper. But the appeals court recently threw out the verdict, saying there's no evidence that the comments were "objectively false." The court says Barker is owed more than $80,000 for the trees but nothing for mental anguish. Published: Mon, Aug 04, 2014