Producer's blog: Could a simple search have saved two lives?
Posted: Monday, June 08, 2009 6:17 PM by Elizabeth Chuck
By Luz Villarreal, Dateline NBC Producer
When I first saw this story in a local newspaper, I couldn’t believe what I was reading - two people killed over a small strip of land in Carmel Valley. All those involved were active in their community and well-liked. What drove them to this point? Why was that strip of land so important? Why couldn’t the neighbors settle this matter in court?
We set out to answer these questions in our report, and discover how this could have happened in a town known more for its rustic and serene wilderness, than murder. One lingering question remains: Did anyone have the legal right to cross this land owned by John F. Kenney?
It’s about 4 feet by 10 feet in size and right in front of a carport belonging to Mel and Elizabeth Grimes. Prosecutor Berkley Brannon’s team did a title search before the trial got underway to find out. It turns out the Grimes had an easement over the land in question.
The error that could have cost lives
“Kenney had absolutely no right to place a boulder there,” Berkley Brannon told us in an interview. “There's a lot more to say about it. Number one, we weren't allowed to bring it in, because we couldn't show that either side knew that this existed.”
The reason, Brannon said, that nobody knew about it was due to a scrivener’s error on the Grimes' deed. It was left off the deed by mistake. But it was on every prior deed and conveyance of the land up until Mel Grimes bought his property. A simple title search would have revealed that.
This all kind of makes you wonder: What if both neighbors knew? What we do know is this: When John Kenney decided to place a one-ton boulder on this small patch of dirt, it came to represent the line drawn in the sand between these neighbors. And the course of action that followed forever changed their lives and those in their community. Even the jurors involved said this case changed them. It changed the way they feel about neighbors and how they deal with neighborly disputes.
Almost everyone can relate to having issues with their neighbors. I know when my neighbors make a lot of noise in the wee hours of the morning, I think of John Kenney and the Grimes and I let it roll off my sleeve. I’m annoyed at times, but I don’t allow myself to get angry. Not anymore.
Click here to read the "Trouble on the Hill" transcript.
Click here to see a slideshow of the people involved in this case.