ST. PAUL — Three years ago in July of 2022, and just days before the scheduled closing on a 40-acre property intended to be a Chippewa County park, Robert W. Starbeck filed a civil lawsuit claiming adverse possession and a prescriptive easement to the property south of Montevideo, Minnesota.

On July 29, Starbeck was back to the Minnesota Court of Appeals for a second time in the civil litigation, this time with a new attorney. Two rulings by the Chippewa County District Court and a Court of Appeals decision, in the years since the initial lawsuit was filed, have denied his claims.

Attorney John Mack, of New London, Minnesota, raised two main issues in oral arguments before a three-judge panel hearing this latest appeal.

Mack challenged the $43,900 in damages that District Judge Thomas V

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