Arlington couple wins suit over neighbor’s signs
Published 12:21 pm Tuesday, July 8, 2008
KALISPELL, Mont. — A couple from Arlington, Wash., has won a lawsuit forcing a neighboring landowner to remove “no trespassing” signs with swastikas that the couple says scared away prospective buyers of their Lake County property.
On June 11, District Judge Kim Christopher ruled that John Stokes could not display the signs on a rural road running by both properties and that he must pay $5,853 in legal costs to Donna and Peter Poeschel.
The Poeschels own 80 acres of land next to Stokes’ land.
The Poeschels filed a lawsuit after they said their “For Sale” signs were torn down last August 2007 and replaced with signs bearing small swastikas.
The new signs read:
“Keep out. No entry. No stopping. No hunting. No travel. No trespassing. If you stop long enough to read the sign, we’ve had enough time to put a rifle scope on your head and vehicle. Get out and stay out. This property protected by The Brotherhood.”
The Poeschels put their property up for sale in May 2007. Stokes offered to buy the land, but the couple found the offer unacceptable, according to their lawsuit.
Stokes filed a countersuit seeking $4.1 million in damages and a $4.2 million punitive award, claiming that a real estate agency discriminated against him by rejecting his offer for the land. A conference to set a trial date is scheduled Aug. 7.
Information from: Daily Inter Lake, http://www.dailyinterlake.com
