Holbrook v. Precision Helicopters, Inc.

Defendant, Precision Helicopters, Inc., appeals from a judgment entered in favor of plaintiffs in this action for damages incurred when defendant sprayed plaintiffs’ Christmas tree crop with a pesticide. Defendant’s primary assignment of error challenges the trial court’s conclusion that ORS 634.172(3) does not prohibit the admission of evidence regarding the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s (ODA) determination of the source and cause of crop damage. For reasons that follow, we affirm.

In the spring of 1996, plaintiffs’ crop of 28,000 trees became infested with aphids. Plaintiffs hired…