An 8.4-inch gap between two Capitol Hill homes has led to seven years of vicious litigation, with charges and counter-charges of harassment, libel, assault, tossed wine glasses, wicked hose-downs and even maliciously potty-trained cats.
“It was a neighborhood squabble,” said retired Georgetown professor R. Michael “Mike” Neuman, sighing as he explained his side of the lawsuits.
Court records tell a more complicated story: Neuman and his wife, Delia — library science professor — have been locked in a give-no-quarter struggle with neighbor Anne Wood since 1999.
It started when the Neumans, who own a town house at 121 E. St. SE, wanted to waterproof their home.
The problem was that they owned only 8.4 inches of property between their west wall and Wood’s patio, off her first-floor condominium in the historic Duddington Manor.
The Neumans asked Duddington’s condo board for permission to send their contractors onto Wood’s patio. The condo board agreed, but Wood vehemently objected.
Over the next 10 years, the dispute escalated until it reached all the way to the D.C. Court of Appeals. “Wood complained about damage to her garden. … The Neumans complained about Wood’s plantings encroaching onto their land,” appellate Judge Phyllis Thompson wrote in an opinion on the case Thursday. “Et cetera.”
Et cetera, indeed.
According to evidence that has accumulated in the cases: Wood posted nasty signs about the Neumans in her window. Mike Neuman dug up Wood’s plants.
Delia Neuman perched on a gate near the property and snapped photos of Wood.
Wood sprayed Delia with a garden hose (Delia had Wood arrested for that). Wood’s roommate tossed a glass of wine into the Neuman’s open window.
The Neumans claimed Wood trained her cats to use their garden as a litter box. In 2002, the Neumans sued Wood and her roommate.
A year later, Wood and her roommate countersued. There were separate trials. The Neumans won, but the jury awarded them nothing.
In Wood’s case, the jury ruled for her, but awarded her only $5,000.
Both sides appealed, arguing they deserved more. In a 22-page decision, a three-judge panel of the appellate court squashed both cases, praising the care — and patience — of the trial judges.
Efforts to reach Wood, her lawyer and her roommate were unsuccessful.
“It was enervating,” Mike Neuman said of the litigation. “Very time-consuming and expensive.” And how are things on the block now? “There’s a detente,” he said. “I think we’re both trying to be neighborly.”
