More than $11.5M awarded to Florida residents in citrus case

By CURT ANDERSON Associated Press Writer

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - Florida owes more than $11.5 million to thousands of Broward County homeowners whose citrus trees were chopped down during a failed effort to control a harmful disease, a jury ruled.

The amount was far less than the plaintiffs had sought, leading attorneys for the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to declare partial victory.

Jurors reached the verdict Tuesday in the class-action lawsuit after deliberating for almost two days. If the state appeals, it could be months before the more than 58,000 Broward County residents involved in the case are paid.

The homeowners filed the lawsuit after the state cut down about 133,700 citrus trees in Florida's second-most populous county as it tried to stop the spread of canker, then offered payments ranging from $55 and $100 for each tree - enough for small replacement saplings.

The residents' lawyer, Robert Gilbert, estimated the destroyed trees were worth $350 to $400 apiece, or a maximum of about $50 million. He said it would take time to determine how much each homeowner might receive under the verdict, though he will likely appeal the compensation amount.

"This case has been about the replacement costs of the trees," he said. "We'll continue the fight."

One of the original residents who filed the lawsuit, Robert Pearce, said he was disappointed with the verdict. He lost two large tangerine trees.

Statewide, more than 16 million citrus trees were cut down and burned during the 10-year, $1 billion program to eradicate canker, a disease that can be transferred by birds, humans and wind. It makes fruits blemish and fall prematurely, but does not harm people.

The state destroyed any residential tree within a 1,900-foot radius of an infected tree. It gave up the effort in 2006 after concluding that a rash of hurricanes had spread the disease beyond containment.

Broward Circuit Judge Ronald Rothschild previously ruled that homeowners were entitled to "full compensation" for destruction of their trees, leaving it to the jury to decide how much they should receive. Attorneys for the state argued that meant nothing because they likely would have become infected eventually if the state hadn't cut them down.

"The trees in the exposure zone were not healthy trees," said Wes Parsons, who represented the agriculture department.

Jury foreman Jonathan Cowan said many panelists agreed that the trees were likely to become infected and therefore had less value. Others thought the trees were worth much more, he said.

"It was tough. We were very split," Cowan said. "We were able to come up with a compromise."

The outcome of the Broward case could affect similar lawsuits pending in Miami-Dade, Lee, Palm Beach and Orange counties, potentially exposing the state to tens of millions of dollars in liability. A jury in Palm Beach County is expected to take up the compensation issue this fall.