Property Owner Liability for Falling Tree Damage

A lower court incorrectly held a property owner liable for damages caused by a tree falling onto neighboring property, ruling that the owner's failure to trim the tree constituted a fault under civil liability principles, even without proving the tree was inherently dangerous or that the owner was aware of a specific defect. The highest court quashed this decision, reasoning that liability for damage caused by a naturally growing object, absent a finding of a latent or manifest defect in the object itself that the owner knew or should have known about, requires proof of fault, which was not established merely by the fact of the tree falling.