SUBSTITUTE OPINION. THE COURT'S PRIOR OPINION DATED NOVEMBER 3, 2011 IS HEREBY WITHDRAWN W. JONES, Justice. I. NATURE OF THE CASE Idaho Development, LLC ("Idaho Development") advanced $1,100,000.00 to Teton View Golf Estates, LLC ("Teton View"), a joint venture made up of Idaho Development as a 33.3% owner and Rothchild Properties, LLC as a 66.7% owner. Teton View granted Idaho Development a promissory note secured by a deed of trust that specified a set monthly payment and stated that the...
J. JONES, Justice. This is an appeal from the dismissal of an information against John Schulz, who was charged with felony domestic battery under I.C. 18-903 and -918(2) and attempted strangulation under I.C. 18-923 of his 15-year-old daughter, E.S. Both charges required the State to prove that E.S. was Schulz' "household member" as defined in I.C. 18-918(1)(a). The district court granted Schulz' motion to dismiss based on the fact that she did not fall within that definition. Because we...
J. JONES, Justice. This is T.J.T., Inc.'s second appeal from a summary judgment in favor of Ulysses Mori, in which the district court found that the non-competition agreement Mori allegedly breached was unenforceable under California law. Because we find that the district court erred in failing to consider whether and to what extent the agreement could be "blue penciled" to make it enforceable, we vacate the summary judgment and award of attorney fees and remand the case for further...
J. JONES, Justice. This is an appeal from the dismissal of an information against John Schulz, who was charged with felony domestic battery under I.C. 18-903 and -918(2) and attempted strangulation under I.C. 18-923 of his 15-year-old daughter, E.S. Both charges required the State to prove that E.S. was Schulz' "household member" as defined in I.C. 18-918(1)(a). The district court granted Schulz' motion to dismiss based on the fact that she did not fall within that definition. Because we...
EISMANN, Justice. This is an appeal from a summary judgment dismissing a complaint by an engineering professor who alleged that Idaho State University had retaliated against him because of his comments criticizing the administration that had been published in a local newspaper over several years and that the University had breached his employment contract. We affirm the summary judgment, but remand for determination of reasonable attorney fees on the breach of contract claim. I. Factual...
EISMANN, Justice. This personal injury action arising out of a traffic accident was dismissed against the owners of the truck driven by the person who was allegedly at fault on the ground that he was an employee of the owners and was outside the course and scope of his employment. Because that is not a defense to the claims alleged in the complaint, we vacate the judgment of the district court. I. Factual Background 1 Christian Rivas-Del Toro is a Mexican citizen who was residing and...
J. JONES, Justice. John Doe (Father) and Jane Doe (Mother) appeal from an order terminating their parental rights. The two appellants have three children together, and Mother has an additional child with another man. The magistrate terminated the parental rights of both parents as to all children, holding that both Father and Mother neglected the children and that termination is in the children's best interest. We affirm the magistrate court. I. BACKGROUND Father and Mother have three...
J. JONES, Justice. This is an insurance coverage dispute between the County of Boise (the County) and its insurer, Idaho Counties Risk Management Program (ICRMP). ICRMP refused to defend the County in Fair Housing Act (FHA) litigation in federal court, which the County claimed breached its insurance agreement. The district court determined the FHA claims against the County were excluded from the policy and granted summary judgment to ICRMP. We affirm the district court. I. BACKGROUND Alamar...
BURDICK, Chief Justice. The issues raised on this appeal are: (1) whether the district court abused its discretion in determining that Respondent was the prevailing party for the purpose of awarding attorney fees below; (2) whether the jury verdict dismissing Appellant's counterclaim for breach of a grazing lease was not supported by the evidence; (3) whether the district court erred in declining to grant Appellant's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) either on the ground...
BURDICK, Chief Justice. This case concerns a permissive appeal from the district court's interlocutory entry of a protective order, holding that certain documents related to the suspension of Appellant Paul J. Montalbano's privileges at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center (SARMC) are not discoverable by Montalbano. The interlocutory order comes from Dr. Montalbano's lawsuit filed against SARMC in district court with ten causes of action including breach of fiduciary duties and...
EISMANN, Justice. This is a permissive appeal from an order of the district court holding that the statute making peer review records privileged applies, by its terms, to a lawsuit brought against a hospital claiming that the hospital acted in bad faith in refusing to renew a physician's privileges. We affirm the order of the district court. I. Factual Background Joseph Verska, M.D., (Physician) is an orthopedic spine surgeon licensed in the State of Idaho. On January 22, 1996, he was...
W. JONES, Justice. I. NATURE OF THE CASE Brian Sopatyk petitions for judicial review of the Lemhi County Board of Commissioners' decision to validate Anderson Creek Road, which runs the length of his property. He contends the road never became public and, if so, was abandoned. He also maintains that the validation was an unconstitutional taking, that it was error for the road easement to be validated at fifty-feet wide, that one of the commissioners was biased against him, that the road...
W. JONES, Justice. I. NATURE OF THE CASE The City of Lewiston ("City") enacted Ordinance No. 4512, creating a stormwater utility and stormwater fee for the operation and maintenance of the City's stormwater system. Five government entities 1 ("Entities") subject to the stormwater fee brought suit seeking a declaratory judgment that the fee was an unconstitutional tax requiring authorization by the Legislature. The Entities thereafter filed their motion for summary judgment. The City filed...
BURDICK, Chief Justice. This case comes before this Court on a petition for review from the Court of Appeals' decision. Two Jinn, Inc. (Two Jinn) seeks review of the district court's decision affirming the magistrate court's denial of Two Jinn's motion to set aside a bond forfeiture. Two Jinn argues that it demonstrated a defense of impossibility of performance based on the deportation of Rosendo Arriago Navarro (Navarro). Two Jinn also argues that the district court abused its discretion in...
EISMANN, Justice. This is an appeal by the employer from the decision of the Industrial Commission holding that the employee's final injury caused him to be permanently and totally disabled, without considering his prior injuries, so that the employer, rather than the Industrial Special Indemnity Fund, is liable for the employee's total disability payments. I. Factual Background David Tarbet (Claimant) worked for the J.R. Simplot Company (Employer) for thirty-six years. It is undisputed...
HORTON, Justice. This appeal arises from a petition for judicial review of the Camas County Board of Commissioners' (Board) decision to approve a preliminary subdivision plat. The district court held that the Board's findings of fact and conclusions of law did not amount to a reasoned statement as required by I.C. 67-6535 and that the lack of a reasoned statement violated the petitioners' substantial right to due process. The district court also held that the Board erroneously interpreted a...
EISMANN, Justice. This is an appeal from a judgment dismissing a challenge to a city's action in rejecting a bid for a public works project on the ground that the low bidder lacked sufficient experience for the project. Because the city chose to follow the Category A procedures set forth in Idaho Code section 67-2805(3) rather than the Category B procedures, the district court erred in holding that it could reject the bid on that ground. We therefore vacate the judgment of the district court...
J. JONES, Justice. This case involves an action for breach of contract and attendant claims of breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, unjust enrichment, fraud, and indemnification. After a bench trial, Harris, Inc. (Harris), the plaintiff, lost on all claims. We affirm the district court's judgment, except for its attorney fee awards, which we vacate. I. BACKGROUND In early 2002, David Egan, a business manager for Foxhollow Construction and Trucking, Inc. 1 (Foxhollow), met...
EISMANN, Justice. Defendant was convicted of the murder of his three-month-old son and was sentenced to a fixed life sentence based upon the jury's finding that he exhibited utter disregard for human life. On appeal, he challenges the trial court's ruling barring alleged impeachment evidence of the child's mother, statements made by the prosecuting attorney during closing argument, and the jury instruction defining "utter disregard." We affirm the judgment of the district court. I. Factual...
J. JONES, Justice. This is an appeal from a summary judgment against Landscapes Unlimited, LLC (LU) in which the district court: (1) applied I.C. 45-508 to postpone LU's lien claim in golf course property to Hopkins Northwest Fund, LLC's (Hopkins) deed of trust covering the same, and (2) alternatively apportioned LU's lien amount. Because we find that I.C. 45-508 is inapplicable to LU's lien claim and that equitable apportionment is not an appropriate alternative remedy where I.C. 45-508...
