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Family Split On Settling City Lawsuit

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By TODD LESKANIC and NICOLA M. WHITE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 10, 2008

ZEPHYRHILLS - The three adult children of a woman killed by a falling tree limb in Zephyr Park have agreed to settle their wrongful death lawsuit against the city.

David, Glenn and Callie Booth, the children of Nancy and Charles Booth, will be paid $5,000 apiece. Another $30,000 will be paid to their mother's estate, said City Manager Steve Spina.

Charles Booth, Nancy's husband of more than 40 years, rejected the city's $5,000 offer, and his claim could be headed for trial.

"We're certainly trying to work with the city to resolve it," said the Booths' attorney, W. Clinton Wallace, "but right now, it's in a posture where it will go to trial."

The claims will be paid through a statewide municipal insurance pool.

Nancy Booth, 63, died July 18, 2005, after a branch from a large oak tree snapped and fell on her as she was sitting at a picnic table. The family sued the city seven months later, claiming city officials should have known the tree was rotting and likely to snap.

When workers cut the tree later, they found 17 inches of rot inside.

The case turned on the expert opinions of arborists, said Donovan Roper, the city's Apopka-based attorney.

Two arborists retained by the city said the disease afflicting the tree came in through the roots and was rotting it slowly from the inside. That made it impossible to recognize the disease just by looking at the tree and absolved the city from responsibility, Roper said.
Roper said an arborist for the plaintiffs had the opposite view, concluding the tree was afflicted with a vascular disease that was rotting it from the outside in.

"Our arborists were a lot more credible and logical about the fact the city could never have really been on notice about the condition of this tree," Roper said.

The arborists' testimony could again become important if Charles Booth opts to take his case to trial. Wallace wouldn't comment specifically about the amount Booth would accept to settle his claim.

None of the Booths could be reached Wednesday for comment.

Nancy Booth rode her bicycle to Zephyr Park every night to rest in the shade under the oaks, where Callie and Glenn Booth would join her.

The Booths lived on Auric Terrace, about a mile southwest of the park.

The day Nancy Booth died, she was sitting at the picnic table with her husband, Callie and Glenn Booth. David Booth was nearby. Then a limb shading the table cracked and fell, trapping the woman underneath it.

People tried to move the limb, but it was too heavy, according to police reports. Callie and Glenn Booth were cut and scraped by the limb but weren't seriously injured.

Reporter Todd Leskanic can be reached at (352) 521-3156 or tleskanic@tampatrib.com. Reporter Nicola M. White can be reached at (813) 779-4613 or nwhite1@tampatrib.com.

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