Taney County Circuit Court – Missouri Lawyers Media

Branson doctor prevails in Taney County medical malpractice case

A southwest Missouri jury has sided with a Branson doctor and physician’s assistant in a Taney County medical malpractice lawsuit filed by a 47-year-old woman who alleged that they failed to properly diagnose a severe neurological condition during a 2019 emergency room visit to Cox Medical Center-Branson.

Julee Fortner of Forsyth sued the hospital in 2021, as well as defendants Dr. Dennis Hughes and assistant Travis Bell. The hospital was voluntarily dismissed as a defendant in June, court records show, with the two remaining defendants facing a seven-day civil trial in late October 2025.

The complaint alleged that the medical center staff didn’t properly test Fortner following complaints of “excruciating pain” in her lower back and lower lumbar spine, including not requiring the patient to undergo an MRI scan until her primary care physician telephoned the E.R. and insisted on the test.

Two days later, the suit states, the patient went to the emergency room at Cox’s Springfield hospital, where she had immediate surgery to treat her Cauda Equina Syndrome, a neurological disease that occurs when the nerve roots at the bottom of the spine (cauda equina) become severely compressed, leading to loss of bladder/bowel control and numbness in the “saddle area” (buttocks, inner thighs, genital area), and weakness in the legs, requiring decompression surgery within 24-48 hours to prevent permanent paralysis or disability.

The jury deliberated for 4.5 hours before siding with the two defendants. An attorney for the plaintiff, who did not respond to requests for comment, sought a final demand of $500,000 during jury deliberations, defense counsel said, with a corresponding final offer of $150,000.

Box:

Jury verdict for the defendant

Medical malpractice

Case Number/Date: 2146-CC00084/November 25, 2025

Court: Taney County Circuit Court

Judge: Circuit Judge Jeffrey Merrell

Injuries: back, spine, leg, knee, ankle, foot, neurological

Injuries detail: Cauda Equina Syndrome, with focal neurological deficits in lower extremities

Caption: Julee Fortner v. Dennis Hughes, D.O. and Travis Bell, P.A.

Plaintiff’s attorneys: Justin Collins, The Collins Law Firm, Town & Country

Defendant’s attorneys: Scott Bellm and Bethany Parsons; Turner, Reid, Duncan, Loomer & Patton, Springfield (for Cox Medical-Branson); Lawrence Logback (lead) and J. Wesley Smith; Simpson Logback Lynch, Norris, PA, Overland Park, Kansas (for Hughes and Bell)

City of Branson hit with multi-million-dollar judgment in property rights case

The City of Branson, Missouri owes a family-owned company $30,000,000 after a Taney County jury determined it violated the landowner’s constitutional rights.

Cushman Properties, represented by solo practitioner Richard T. Ashe in Springfield, sued the city after it annexed the land in 2001 to provide and construct water services.

“When the City annexed the property in 2001, it agreed to provide a supply of water suitable for fire protection and commercial development,” according to Ashe. “That promise was made in exchange for David Cushman’s agreement to sell prime waterfront property needed to develop the Branson Landing and for agreeing to subject development of Cushman Properties’ land to City approval.”

Ashe said his clients discovered a lack of water pressure in 2014, and he began representing them in 2018. The current Branson water system only serves about 90 acres of Cushman’s property.

After Branson rejected a development project that Ashe says would have upgraded its infrastructure, Cushman Properties demanded the city provide water service or de-annexation.

Initially, Ashe said the city agreed to create a new water tower and some related improvements but abandoned the project in 2022. Ashe said they then filed suit against the city.

Ashe said his case was based on a constitutional doctrine known as Inverse Condemnation “which protects landowners when government actions deprive them of property use or value without just compensation.”

“Inverse condemnation occurs when the city does not go through the statutory process before it takes property and then it’s on the landowner to file suit against the city to prove, one, that the city took their property or the right to develop their property, and two, what that property right or property was worth,” Ashe said.

The jury ultimately sided with Cushman Properties and entered a judgment of $30,000,000. Ashe said the ruling transfers ownership of 202 acres of Cushman land to the city.

The attorney representing the city did not respond by deadline to a request for comment.

Amount of verdict, judgment or settlement: $30,000,000

Type of action: Other – Verdict for Plaintiff

Allocation of Fault: City of Branson

Breakdown: Damages equal market value of 202 acres of land in Branson with more than a mile of frontage along 76 Country Music Blvd

Venue: Taney County Circuit Court

Case Number/Date: 2246-CC000240 / 10/24/2025

Caption: Cushman Properties, LLC v City of Branson, Missouri

Plaintiffs’ Attorneys: Richard T. Ashe of Ashe Law in Springfield, Missouri.

Defendants’ Attorneys: James E. Meadows of Carnahan Evans in Springfield, Missouri.

Teen workers settle with Branson performer in sexual misconduct suit

A Branson illusionist and his employers have agreed to pay a total of $5 million to two teen workers who alleged that 38-year-old performer Reza Borchardt “systematically groomed” the women while minors to engage in inappropriate sexual contact.

According to a Taney County Circuit Court lawsuit, Borchardt (known professionally as Reza Illusionist) was accused of sending “hundreds of extremely sexually explicit messages” to the two 17-year-olds via Instagram and Snapchat, including videos and photographs of him masturbating.

He was further accused of routinely threatening the plaintiffs’ employment, disparaging them to coworkers, and improperly tracking their movements online and deleting incriminating messages on their cell phones.

“After successfully grooming plaintiffs over a period of months, defendant Borchardt used his position of power, both as an adult and as their work superior, to engage in inappropriate sexual contact with the minor children on numerous occasions,” a trial brief reads.

Court documents indicate that State Farm Insurance agreed in January to pay settlements in the case to each of the women — $3 million to Katie Van De Carr, a former Miss Teen Missouri, and $2 million to Jayden Harris — but that Borchardt and his three corporate codefendants sought to block the payments unless the two women signed confidentiality agreements preventing them from publicly discussing the matter.

The revised offer reportedly included an additional $50,000 in additional compensation.

The women declined, instead suing for breach of contract when the approved settlements were not fulfilled. The court brief notes that a recently passed state statute known as “Trey’s Law” prevents non-disclosure agreements related to childhood sexual abuse actions from being enforceable in Missouri.

Prior to the agreement, the defendants had also asked the court to restrict public access to court filings in the case, arguing that such disclosure would cause “damage and embarrassment” to Borchardt.

The lawsuit named as defendants Borchardt; Skyline Entertainment, LLC; Branson Theatre, LLC; Gracie Gray Entertainment, LLC and State Farm Fire & Casualty, alleging negligent infliction of emotional distress, negligent hiring, negligent retention, negligent supervision, and violations of the Missouri Human Rights Act while the two teens worked on the show, “Reza-Edge of Illusion.” Both women are no longer employed at the theater.

The settlements were subsequently agreed to on Aug. 1, five days before a scheduled court hearing, records provided by lead plaintiff’s attorney Samuel Wendt show.

Borchardt continues to perform in Branson, said lead defense attorney Warren Harris, adding that his client maintained his relationship with Van De Carr was consensual. The defense attorney is not related to the second plaintiff with the same last name.

$5 million settlement

Personal injury (sexual misconduct)

Breakdown and distribution of total value: $3 million to Van De Caar; $2 million to Harris

Venue: Taney County Circuit Court

Case Number/Date: 2546-CC00034/August.1, 2025

Insurer: State Farm (for defendant)

Caption: Katie Scarlett Van De Carr and Jayden L. Harris v. Reza Borchardt; Skyline Entertainment, LLC; Branson Theatre, LLC; Gracie Gray Entertainment, LLC; and State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.
Plaintiff’s attorneys: Samuel Wendt (lead) and Nick Hillyard; Wendt Law Firm, Kansas City

Defendant’s attorneys: Warren Harris (lead); Turner, Reid, Duncan, Loomer & Patton, Springfield; David Steelman; Steelman, Gaunt & Crowley, Rolla; Thomas Hearne; Hearne & Pivac; Springfield; Joseph Passanise; Wampler & Passanise, Springfield