LITTLE ROCK — The family of an Alexander woman killed by a falling tree limb during a visit to a Pulaski County pumpkin patch has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the property owner, who is a former quorum court member and state legislator.
The lawsuit, assigned to Circuit Judge Jay Moody, states that the limb that crushed the skull of Katherine Anne Crofford Copeland at the Scott Pumpkin Patch on Oct. 7, 2011, was 40 feet long and weighed as much as 1,000 pounds, about a half-ton.
Sheriff’s deputies said the limb fell about 60 feet to kill Copeland while she sat at a picnic table with at least two other people. The 44-year-old mother of two, employed by Friendship Community Care in Bryant, was escorting a group of relatives and clients to the Scott Pumpkin Patch on Craig Road.
The business, which included a petting zoo and gift shop, operated seasonally on a 46.6-acre property owned by Stuart Vess, who also makes his home on the land. Vess has owned the land since 2005, according to property records.
According to the suit, Vess, an attorney since 1973, has no connection to the pumpkinpatch business, which is not being sued and no longer operates on his land. Vess owns about 137 acres on Craig Road,property records show.
Vess, 64, was a Democratic state representative from Pulaski County from 1995 to 2000, a Pulaski County justice of the peace in 1991-92 and a member of the North Little Rock City Council the previous eight years. His office said he was in a court hearing Monday afternoon, and he did not return a voice mail requesting comment.
According to the lawsuit filed last week by Copeland’s husband, Ray Lenn Copeland, and her mother, Billie Crofford, Vess should have known the pecan tree, part of a grove of old-growth trees at least 60 years old, was a “significant safety hazard” and “unreasonably dangerous.” Vess should also have known the tree regularly shed its branches and limbs, and that such a large branch was at risk of falling, according to the lawsuit. Katherine Copeland, as a first-time visitor to the property, could not have been expected to realize the danger, the 11-page filing states.
The lawsuit claims that Vess apparently never had any of the trees inspected or examined by any kind of tree service. But if that claim is incorrect, according to the lawsuit, the family’s lawyers have left open the possibility of adding the owners of any tree service to the case. The lawsuit alleges negligence and seeks damages for Copeland’s death, her funeral costs and medical expenses, her future earnings and the pain and suffering inflicted on her family by her loss.
The Copeland family is represented by the Davis, Bethune & Jones law firm of Kansas City, Mo., and locally by attorney Phillip Duncan. His office said he was in a meeting Monday afternoon, and he did not respond to a voice mail seeking comment.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 09/25/2012