Alabama Power could still appeal Jacksonville tree case

Jun 17, 2008 (The Anniston Star - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- ALF | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Rufus Kinney's trees still stand in Jacksonville, but so does the possibility of more court action from Alabama Power Company.

Attorneys from the power company originally were scheduled to appear Monday in Calhoun County Circuit Court on a post-judgment motion it filed in April. The hearing was cancelled when the company withdrew the motion.

Alabama Power spokeswoman Gina Warren said the court case was finished on the local level.

"The legal process in Jacksonville is over," she said Monday.

Warren said she was not aware of any plans to appeal the case, but said she could not rule out the possibility of an appeal, which would go to the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals in Montgomery.

The utility company had originally disputed Calhoun-Cleburne Circuit Judge John Thomason's March 19 ruling that denied the power company's request that Jacksonville residents Barbara Wilson and Rufus Kinney be prohibited from chaining themselves to trees near their yards to prevent them from being removed.

Thomason also ordered that the power company not trim the trees more than had been its practice in the past.

Alabama Power had argued that the trees should be removed because their branches are under power lines, posing a danger.

Despite the company's withdrawal, Kinney remained apprehensive.

"We're just not sure what to make of that," he said. "We can't just read their minds."

Mark Martin, the attorney for Kinney and Wilson, said the appeals process left the window open for an appeal until June 27, according to his math.

He said it was unusual to see a post-judgment motion withdrawn. He said the motions usually are filed to buy more time for attorneys to prepare an appeal or in hopes that a judge will reconsider a ruling.

About Andy Johns

Andy Johns is the mobile reporter for The Star. He is a graduate of Berry College in Rome, Ga.

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