Ex Parte Weyerhaeuser Co., Inc.

HOOPER, Chief Justice.

On November 6, 1991, Willia Dean Lawrence Sewell sued Thomas Webb and the Weyerhaeuser Company, Inc., alleging thát Webb and Weyerhaeuser had unlawfully entered 37 acres of land and cut down or otherwise destroyed trees, saplings, seedlings, shrubs, and other plant life. Sewell sought $100,000 in compensatory damages, claiming that Webb and Weyerhaeuser’s trespass had damaged the land. Sewell also sought $500,000 in punitive damages, claiming that the defendants’ conduct had been willful, wanton, oppressive, or reckless.

At the close of the evidence, the trial court…