133 results for 'court:"Montana Supreme Court"'.
J. Baker holds that defendant failed to preserve his claim that the trial court improperly denied his motion to dismiss since he subsequently made a deal to plead guilty to criminal endangerment. Claims of pretrial error are not automatically appealable after a plea and the right to appeal pretrial rulings must be expressly reserved during the plea process. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Baker, Filed On: May 14, 2024, Case #: DA 21-0648, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Dui, Plea
J. Baker finds that the trial court properly determined that it lacked personal jurisdiction over a Brazilian living in Brazil who was sued for breaching a contract with a Montana plaintiff and his company. The only connection to Montana is the plaintiff and his company since the Brazilian did not seek the application of Montana law and the dispute did not arise from his actions in Montana. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Baker, Filed On: May 14, 2024, Case #: DA 23-0294, Categories: Jurisdiction, Contract
J. McKinnon finds that defendant was not entitled to a mental health evaluation before he pleaded guilty for aggravated assault and attempted sexual assault since the record shows the plea was knowingly and voluntarily entered. His double jeopardy rights were not violated since the two offenses do not share the elements of sexual contact and serious bodily injury. But the trial court must revisit his ability to pay jury costs and the fee for a presentence investigation report. Reversed in part.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: McKinnon, Filed On: May 14, 2024, Case #: DA 21-0571, Categories: Assault, Double Jeopardy, Plea
J. Rice holds that the district court properly concluded that a one-year statute of limitations applied to a county's contract claim against the state corrections department over the $69 daily rate cap for county jail reimbursement costs. The county failed to show a special relationship with the department to support its bad faith claim, as the county has the corporate power to enter contracts, was represented by counsel and any damages could be recouped without seeking tort damages. The county's unjust enrichment claim also failed because it cannot seek equitable relief after letting a valid contract claim expire. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Rice, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0427, Categories: Tort, Contract
J. Sandefur finds that the trial court improperly allowed a state expert to remotely testify over video about the typical behavior of minor sexual abuse victims. No case-specific finding regarding Covid-19, the weather or other concern about the expert's availability to testify in person supported the exception to defendant's confrontation right. Instead, the state wanted remote testimony for witness convenience and for trial tactics. Reversed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Sandefur, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: DA 21-0086, Categories: Confrontation, Sex Offender, Experts
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J. Gustafson finds that the trial court erred in sentencing defendant to life for aggravated assault based on a a persistent felony offender designation. Defendant's record supported the designation but he was only declared a persistent violent offender when he was sentenced, and was not on notice of a potential enhanced penalty when he stabbed a fellow inmate with a broken pen. Reversed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Gustafson, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0364, Categories: Sentencing, Assault
J. Rice finds that the district court properly upheld a state board decision to grant forced pooling and risk penalties to an oil and gas well operator. The operator made an unsuccessful, good faith attempt to have the owner of the mineral interests voluntarily agree to pooling, as required by law before seeking forced pooling. And the operator made valid written demands giving the owner the opportunity to particpate in the costs of drilling before seeking risk penalties. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Rice, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: DA 23-0289, Categories: Energy, Property
J. Baker finds that the water court properly determined that the state is a partial owner of a water right whose source is a groundwater well on private land. The well supplies water to irrigate privately owned parcels and an adjacent 160-acre parcel of school trust land. The state has an ownership right to the water that is diverted from private land for the beneficial use of irrigating school trust land, which was reserved to the state in 1864. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Baker, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: DA 23-0314, Categories: Property, Water
J. Gustafson finds that the trial court properly held that faculty and student organizations have constitutional and prudential standing to challenge the constitutionality of recent legislation regarding college students. The groups' roles in higher education are sufficient to support their argument that bills regulating student organizations and student speech will cause ongoing injury from discrimination and lack of recourse. A student organization showed it would be injured by a bill limiting the places where student organizations can register students to vote through "opt-out" fee assessments. And representative groups showed that the "Save Women’s Sports Act,” which would regulate the biological sex of student athletes, will cause injury by excluding transgender athletes from participation. The Act infringes on the Board of Regents’ authority under the Montana Constitution to determine the priorities of the Montana University System, and the state concedes that the other two bills are also unconstitutional. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Gustafson, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0586, Categories: Constitution, Elections
J. Gustafson finds that the trial court improperly excluded an expert from testifying in support of an individual accused of tortious assault and battery. The individual disclosed the expert more than a year before trial and the trial court twice denied motions to bar the expert. But the trial court changed course on the second day of trial, leaving the individual at a disadvantage since his defense had been built on the expert's anticipated testimony about the justifiable use of force. Reversed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Gustafson, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: DA 23-0200, Categories: Experts, Assault
J. Baker holds that defendant is entitled to a new trial because cumulative errors led to his conviction for deliberate homicide. The state implicitly suggested to the jury that defendant and his girlfriend were drug dealers. The state also failed to disclose that defendant's home was burglarized by associates of the homicide victim on the night of the homicide, and it failed to attempt to unlock the victim's phone, which may have shown a broader conspiracy against defendant. Reversed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Baker, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: DA 21-0290, Categories: Evidence, Murder, Prosecutorial Misconduct
J. Gustafson finds that the trial court was within its discretion to modify a child support order downward before a mother received actual notice from the state division of child support services. The mother was on already on actual notice when the father filed a request for a hearing to modify child support and served it on the mother, and she was given an opportunity to oppose retroactive application of the modification in a subsequent trial court hearing. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Gustafson, Filed On: April 2, 2024, Case #: DA 23-0118, Categories: Family Law
J. Baker finds that the trial court properly allowed an investment fund to first plead its affirmative defense of judicial estoppel on an investor's malicious prosecution claim after the pretrial deadline. However, it was error to grant the fund's motion for summary judgment since the investor's claim did not accrue until an underlying federal bankruptcy suit was dismissed and the claim was assigned to the investor. Reversed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Baker, Filed On: April 2, 2024, Case #: DA 23-0246, Categories: Bankruptcy, Civil Procedure, Malicious Prosecution
J. Gustafson finds that the Attorney General's ballot statement, which was prepared in response to an order from this court, fails to meet the statutory requirement to inform voters about an initiative's provisions. Instead, the statement covers topics not addressed by the initiative. And the ballot statement prepared by the authors of the initiative also misstates the scope of the proposed constitutional amendment, which would create an explicit right to make and carry out decisions about one's own pregnancy, including the right to abortion. Therefore, a ballot statement prepared by the court is certified by the court.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Gustafson, Filed On: April 1, 2024, Case #: OP 24-0182, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Elections
J. McGrath finds that the district court properly held that four bills passed in the 2021 legislative session unconstitutionally restrict voter access.
Ending election day voter registration would interfere with the right to vote without efficiently promoting a compelling state interest. Banning paid ballot collection would also interfere with the right to vote, particularly for Native Americans. Disqualifying the use of student IDs from in-person voting would impose a minimal burden on student voting but the Secretary of State failed to show the law reasonably eases administrative burdens or improves voter confidence. Ending the practice of sending ballots to voters under 18 who will turn 18 by election day would impermissibly remove the opportunity for absentee voting for a subclass of voters. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: McGrath, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0667, Categories: Constitution, Elections
J. McKinnon finds that the trial court properly instructed the jury that it could conclude defendant was in actual physical control of his vehicle while intoxicated for the purposes of a DUI count even if he was unconscious. It was also proper to allow the state to rebut a closing argument in which counsel argued the state was dishonest in deciding not to introduce a photo of defendant asleep across the bench seat of his truck. However, the imposition of a $5,000 fine violated the constitutional proportionality requirement since it did not take into account defendant's ability to pay. Reversed in part.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: McKinnon, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: DA 21-0413, Categories: Sentencing, Dui, Jury Instructions
J. Shea holds that the district court properly found that statutory savings and retroactivity clauses did not apply to an electric utility's 2015 and 2016 applications for Community Renewable Energy Project waivers. It also properly found that the public service commission erred in granting the utility a waiver of its Project obligation for 2015. However, further proceedings are needed to determine whether the commission properly waived its Project obligation for 2016 and whether the utility must pay a penalty. Vacated in part.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Shea, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0436, Categories: Administrative Law, Energy
J. Gustafson finds that the trial court properly imposed a $2,000 restitution order for damage defendant caused when he removed an Uber sign from a car during a fit of pique. Though a more thorough look at his ability to pay would have helped, his guilty plea to criminal mischief included an acknowlegment that he could pay. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Gustafson, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0165, Categories: Restitution, Plea
J. Shea finds that the district court properly determined that immunity applies only to individuals and not the state in a case alleging that the state's Health and Human Services Department failed to protect an infant from permanent injuries. But it was error to find that the injuries were foreseeable and the state was liable as a matter of law, so a jury must determine if the state's child abuse investigation was negligent. Also, the district court's sanction for spoliation over some missing photos of bruising was disproportionately harsh since there was no evidence of bad faith and other evidence was available to show bruising. The jury's $16.6 million damages award is vacated in light of the new trial order. Reversed in part.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Shea, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0018, Categories: Sanctions, Immunity, Negligence
J. Rice finds that defendant's conviction for stealing social security cards was based on strong circumstantial evidence of her contemporaneous theft of the victims' credit cards. But a restitution award for the cost of Lifelock subscriptions for the victims was not supported by a close connection to an actual economic loss. Reversed in part.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Rice, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0699, Categories: Theft, Restitution
J. Gustafson finds that the attorney general erroneously disqualified as legally insufficient a proposed ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to create an explicit right to make and carry out decisions about one's own pregnancy, including the right to abortion. The initiative meets the constitutional separate vote requirement since it does not make two or more substantive and unrelated changes to the constitution. Also, the attorney general lacked statutory authority to append a fiscal statement to the proposed initiative, as the state budget director had already determined it would have no impact on state finances. And the attorney general shall review and prepare ballot statements in compliance with statute.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Gustafson, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: OP 24-0052, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Elections
J. McKinnon finds that New York's fair report privilege, not Montana's, applies to a Montana resident's defamation claim against the New York Post. Statements published by the Post were fair and substantially accurate reports of underlying court proceedings, so the trial court erred in holding that a jury would have to decide their fairness and accuracy. The Post article made clear that allegations that the resident kept a harem, committed sexual assaults, engaged in bribery and planned a murder were contained in civil complaints. The fair report privilege protects reporting even if the allegations prove to be false, reporters are not required to independently investigate allegations made in an official proceeding, and colorful or hyperbolic characterizations of proceedings are protected if substantially true. Reversed in part.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: McKinnon, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0512, Categories: Defamation, Choice Of Law, First Amendment
J. Gustafson finds that the trial court was within its discretion to deny a patient's motion to alter or amend a judgment. She failed to provide any briefing in support of the motion, which she filed in an attempt to substitute a doctor's insurance company as the real party in interest to her medical malpractice complaint. Also, bankruptcy law did not prevent the patient from serving process on the doctor, so the trial court properly dismissed her complaint for failure to serve. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Gustafson, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: DA 23-0319, Categories: Bankruptcy, Civil Procedure, Medical Malpractice
J. Sandefur holds that the district court's involuntarily commitment order was not based solely on the hearsay statements of the patient's husband. A mental health nurse practitioner, medical staff and a court-appointed professional counselor supported commitment. The husband's out of court statements to the counselor were not legally hearsay since they were not offered to prove the truth of the matter but were relevant to the counselor's expert opinion. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Sandefur, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: DA 21-0476, Categories: Evidence, Commitment, Experts
J. Rice finds that the district court properly denied a mother's claim for reimbursement of expenses from her deceased daughter's estate. She failed to support her claim with evidence that would allow the district court to determine the reasonableness of claimed costs. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Rice, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: DA 23-0300, Categories: Wills / Probate
J. McKinnon finds that defendant's unpreserved prosecutorial misconduct claims that the state improperly vouched for the victim's credibility and made inappropriate emotional appeals to the jury do not warrant plain error review. Also, probation restrictions prohibiting him from alcohol, drugs, gambling, casinos and bars were standard conditions and within the trial court's sentencing discretion. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: McKinnon, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0030, Categories: Prosecutorial Misconduct, Sentencing, Sex Offender
J. Gustafson finds that the trial court properly found an insurance broker liable for failing to procure insurance its client specifically requested and which it represented it had obtained. A professional services policy exclusion did not apply to the client's work as a general contractor. The trial court's rulings properly excluded evidence about unrelated insurance policies that would have confused the jury. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Gustafson, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0731, Categories: Insurance
J. McKinnon holds that the trial court erred in admitting an uncharged act of sexual assault to show a common scheme with charged counts of sexual assault. The uncharged acts could not prove a common motive or plan since they occurred after the charged acts. Also, the jury was improperly instructed on the mental state required for sexual assault. Reversed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: McKinnon, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0547, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender, Jury Instructions
J. Rice finds that the district court properly concluded that a title company was not contractually liable to provide title insurance based on pro forma documents it created showing that it would issue title insurance on the subject properties. The documents expressly instructed that insurance would be issued only after further requirements were met. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Rice, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0486, Categories: Insurance, Property, Contract