Opinion ID: 2273691
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: In their second and third points on appeal, Defendants assert Plaintiffs failed to introduce sufficient evidence of nonuse. As discussed above, there was substantial evidence supporting the trial court's judgment. The trial court was free to credit Lynn and Darren McCullough's testimony that Plaintiffs had used Tract A as their own and that no one else, including Defendants, had used the road on Tract A in the last 40 years. Defendants argue that the foregoing evidence is insufficient because the public's nonuse of Tract A was a result of Plaintiffs' efforts to obstruct public access. Obstruction of a public road is unlawful. Kleeman, 167 S.W.3d at 205. Nonetheless, the baseline for analyzing an abandonment claim under section 228.190.1 is whether the public continued to use the road. Id. Assuming for the sake of argument that Plaintiffs did obstruct public access to the road unlawfully, the focus is on the Defendants' behavior and that of the public at large in determining whether the disputed area was abandoned. Id.; see also, Lee v. Smith, 484 S.W.2d 38, 44 (Mo.App.1972)(while encroachment upon or obstruction of a public highway is an unlawful act ... evidence that access to a public road has been entirely blocked and cut off for ten years and that the encroachment has been submitted to by the public may be taken as evidence that the road has been abandoned.)(citing 39 C.J.S. Highways § 133, p. 1040). In this case, if Defendants or other members of the public had sought to access Tract A and were denied by Plaintiffs, then Plaintiffs' efforts to obstruct access would be relevant. Kleeman, 167 S.W.3d at 206. The evidence, however, shows that Plaintiffs prevented neither Defendants nor any members of the public from accessing Tract A. As a result, there was substantial evidence demonstrating that the public abandoned Tract A. Finally, Defendants assert the road on Tract A could not have been abandoned because Plaintiffs are members of the public and Plaintiffs admit they used the road. Plaintiffs' use of the road on Tract A, however, does not constitute use by the public for purposes of analyzing an abandonment claim under section 228.190.1. Kleeman, 167 S.W.3d at 205 (public road held to be abandoned even though plaintiffs used the disputed land for their cattle operations). The trial court's judgment is not against the weight of the evidence. The judgment is affirmed. All concur.