City wins skateboarding lawsuit

The city of Columbia Falls is not responsible for the 2008 skateboarding death of Casey Kent, a Flathead District Court jury decided Monday.

Kent, 35, died June 14, 2008, while skateboarding on a steep bike path in the Cedar Pointe Estates subdivision. His wife, Sara, sued the city of Columbia Falls, claiming the city was negligent in its role overseeing the design and development of the subdivision.

The jury deliberated for less than two hours before reaching its verdict, following a trial spread over six days. Two members of the 12-person jury dissented.

Columbia Falls City Manager Susan Nicosia was present at the defendant’s table throughout the trial and said afterwards she was pleased with the verdict. Nicosia was not the city manager at the time of the accident.

“Obviously the jury understood the case and we are grateful for that understanding,” Nicosia said. “It was a complicated case, with a lot of information, but they clearly understood it.”

Both lawyers addressed the issue of personal responsibility during their closing statements.

Kent’s attorney, John Lacey, argued that the city was unwilling to admit having a hand in the approval and planning that led to the creation of the steep hill where Casey Kent fell.

“The city of Columbia Falls stepped into its zoning responsibility and it cannot escape, in that context, its obligation on all our behalves — its obligation to address public heath, safety and general welfare,” Lacey said. “This is about assuring that when the city has that responsibility, it does so with its eyes open.”

Lacey acknowledged that Casey Kent made a conscious decision to skateboard down the hill, but maintained that “his accident is not just a function of one person’s choice.”

In her closing, defense attorney Marcel Quinn again reminded the jurors of Casey Kent’s reputation as an accomplished athlete fond of skiing and snowboarding in steep terrain.

“Casey took on a challenge that day, and that challenge was that hill, that steep hill, and that was his choice to make,” Quinn said. “When does it not become about personal accountability and personal responsibility?”

She also argued that while the city approved the path, it did not weigh in on the specifics of the design, only approving the preliminary and final plats, as it would for any other subdivision.

“In those conditions, the city simply required the engineer to do what they said they would do,” she told the jury. “What you haven’t seen in this case is any evidence that says the city knew of any problem.”

Nicosia said that while the case was a tragedy, the ruling boiled down to the fact that the city wasn’t liable for a path that was put in and maintained by the subdivision homeowners’ association.

There is one public path the city does oversee, but it’s at the south end of the subdivision along the Flathead River.

The path Kent died on has since been removed.

If the city had lost, it could have been a significant expense. The city has insurance, but there could have been costs that went beyond the coverage.

The case returned to District Court after the Montana Supreme Court in May 2015 reversed the lower court’s earlier decision dismissing Kent’s complaints.

Kent’s widow originally sued Columbia Falls along with eight other parties. The other defendants settled their cases out of court.

Lacey declined to say whether Kent would appeal Monday’s verdict.