Appeal from a judgment of the Civil Court of the City of New York, Queens County (Bernice Daun Siegal, J.), entered March 23, 2005. The judgment, after a nonjury trial, awarded plaintiff the principal sum of $5,000.

Judgment affirmed without costs.

Upon a review of the record, we are of the opinion that substantial justice was done between the parties in this small claims action for property damage resulting from defendant's alleged trespass onto plaintiff's property and destruction of a tree thereon (CCA 1804, 1807). The deference which an appellate court normally accords to the credibility determinations of a trial court applies with greater force in a small claims action, given the limited scope of review (see Farkas v Schwarzenberger, 11 Misc 3d 129[A], 2006 NY Slip Op 50296[U] [App Term, 2d & 11th Jud Dists]). After hearing the trial testimony, the court apparently believed plaintiff's version of the facts to be more credible than defendant's version, and there is no reason for this court to disturb the court's findings on that basis (id.).

Weston Patterson, J.P., Golia and Belen, JJ., concur.
Decision Date: June 22, 2006