If you lose a tree cutting trial in Massachusetts, you usually cannot win on appeal with arguments you did not make, in the right way, at trial. Here the Appeals Court affirmed a jury verdict holding an individual and a company liable for willfully cutting a landowner’s trees, because the defendants never preserved their challenges to the evidence, the jury instructions or the verdict slip. This is an unpublished Appeals Court decision under Rule 23.0, which courts may cite as persuasive but not as binding precedent.
What happened
A landowner sued an individual and a bog company for cutting down trees, under the Massachusetts tree trespass statute. The defendants admitted they cut the trees. The real fight was whether the trees stood on the landowner’s land. The case went to a jury in the Superior Court, and the jury found the defendants liable for willful trespass to trees. The defendants appealed, arguing that the judge should have ended the case in their favor and that the jury instructions and verdict slip were flawed.
What the court decided
The Appeals Court affirmed in Britto v. Agrillo, No. 24-P-1271 (Mass. App. Ct. July 7, 2025) (Rule 23.0 decision). It did not reach the merits of any of the defendants’ arguments. Each one had been waived.
The tree statute. Under G.L. c. 242, § 7, a person who willfully cuts down or destroys trees on another person’s land without permission is liable for three times the damages. If the cutter had good reason to believe the land was his own, or that he was otherwise allowed to cut, the damages drop to single damages.
The directed verdict motion. After the landowner rested his case, the defendants asked the judge for a directed verdict, meaning a ruling that the evidence was too weak to go to the jury. The judge said no. The defendants then put on their own evidence but never renewed the motion at the close of all the evidence. They admitted this on appeal. Under long settled law, failing to renew the motion generally waives the right to claim the denial was error. Michnik-Zilberman v. Gordon’s Liquor, Inc., 390 Mass. 6 (1983). Without an effective motion, an appeals court cannot review whether the evidence was sufficient. Martin v. Hall, 369 Mass. 882 (1976).
The jury instructions. A party may not complain on appeal about a jury instruction unless it objected at trial and stated distinctly what it objected to and why. Mass. R. Civ. P. 51 (b); Muzzy v. Cahillane Motors, Inc., 434 Mass. 409 (2001). The defendants made no objection. In fact, the instruction they had asked for was the same in substance as the one the judge gave: the landowner had to prove the trees were on his land.
The verdict slip. Defense counsel did raise a worry that the verdict slip might read as all or nothing about the trees. But counsel also said he did not know how to fix that in the questions. The judge suggested the lawyers address it in closing argument, and no one disagreed. When the judge sent the final slip and asked whether counsel was satisfied, the defense raised no objection. The court held that objections to the form of a verdict slip must be raised in time, and these were not.
What this means for you
If a neighbor cut your trees, this decision shows that a jury verdict in your favor can be hard to undo. An appeal is not a second trial. The appeals court mostly looks at errors that were properly raised in front of the trial judge.
If you are the one being sued, the lesson is the reverse, and it is a trap. Raising a concern in passing is not the same as making an objection. Agreeing to a judge’s workaround, or staying silent when the judge asks if you are satisfied, can give up the issue for good. Motions made early in trial may need to be renewed at the end.
The case also shows how tree cases are often decided. When cutting is admitted, the trial turns on the boundary line. A good survey and clear proof of where each tree stood matter most.
What to do now
- Before cutting near a property line, get a survey and written permission from the neighbor. Under the statute, willful cutting can cost three times the damages.
- If your trees were cut, photograph the stumps, measure them, and keep records of what was there before.
- If you are going to trial, know the preservation rules. Object on the record, state the grounds, and renew motions at the close of all the evidence.
- Review the proposed jury instructions and verdict slip carefully before they go to the jury. Silence can be treated as agreement.
- If you are considering an appeal, have a lawyer review the trial record for what was preserved before you file.
If this is your situation, call Doubleday Law at (617) 575-2006 or tell us what happened. These cases move on short deadlines.
