Wharton v. Tri-State Drilling & Boring

¶ 1. Appellant TriState Drilling & Boring admits to having mistakenly drilled a well on the property of appellees Clyde and Vivian Wharton and filed a fraudulent mechanics’ lien against the Whartons’ property in an effort to compel the Whartons to negotiate an easement. The trial court found Tri-State hable for abuse of process and awarded compensatory and punitive damages. Tri-State appeals the trial court’s denial of Tri-State’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim and award of actual and punitive damages to the Whartons. Although we find that TriState’s actions in this case did…