183755P.pdf   12/11/2019  Keller Farms  v.  Colin Stewart
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  18-3755
   U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - Cape Girardeau   
   [PUBLISHED] [Gruender, Author, with Arnold and Grasz, Circuit Judges] 
   Civil case - Torts. In action alleging defendants had negligently applied 
   herbicides allowing them to drift onto plaintiff's property and cause 
   damage to plaintiff's crops and trees, the district court did not err in 
   directing a verdict for defendants on plaintiff's statutory trespass 
   count; first, the court properly interpreted the Missouri trespass statute 
   to exclude plaintiff's claim for crop damage; second,the court did not err 
   in determining plaintiff had not presented sufficient evidence to make a 
   submissible case for its statutory trespass claim concerning damage to its 
   windbreak and ornamental trees; the district court did not err in 
   excluding a warning letter concerning the incident prepared by the 
   Missouri Department of Agriculture and testimony concerning it under Rule 
   403 based on its determination the evidence would be unfairly prejudicial 
   and invade the province of the jury; the district court did not abuse its 
   discretion in denying plaintiff's motion for a new trial on the ground the 
   verdict was against the weight of the evidence; claim defendant's 
   counsel's closing argument required a new trial rejected as the court 
   properly instructed the jury arguments were not evidence and plaintiff had 
   an opportunity to respond to the argument.