W. WILLIAM LEAPHART delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 The Gordons filed an Application for Dissolution of Half Breed, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), with the District Court pursuant to 35-8-902, MCA. Joseph Kim Kuzara (Kuzara), a managing member of Half Breed, filed a Motion to Compel Arbitration based on an arbitration clause in the Half Breed Operating Agreement (OA). The District Court denied Kuzara's motion. Kuzara appeals. 2 We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 3...
Justice JIM RICE delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Robert Lambert (Lambert) was resentenced in August 2007 by the Twenty-First Judicial District Court, Ravalli County, following an order from this Court in November 2006, which declared a portion of Lambert's prior sentence from the Sentence Review Division (SRD) illegal and remanded for resentencing. Pursuant to our grant of Lambert's motion for an out-of-time appeal, he appeals the District Court's 2007 sentence. We affirm. 2 We...
Justice MICHAEL E. WHEAT delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Following a jury trial in the Fourth Judicial District Court, Mineral County, Timothy D. Johnson (Johnson) was convicted of felony intimidation. Johnson appeals his conviction and sentence. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this Opinion. BACKGROUND 2 In January 2009, the State filed an Information charging Johnson with felony intimidation, in violation of 45-5-203, MCA....
Justice MICHAEL E. WHEAT delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 The Eleventh Judicial District Court, Flathead County, granted summary judgment to Kaufman, Vidal, Hileman & Ramlow, P.C. ("KVHR"), concluding that Robert Ehrman's (Ehrman) legal malpractice claim against KVHR was barred by the three year statute of limitations. 2 We reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent with this Opinion. BACKGROUND 3 In January 2002, Ehrman sought legal advice from KVHR regarding whether...
Justice BRIAN MORRIS delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) appeals from the judgment of the First Judicial District Court, Lewis and Clark County, dismissing BNSF's petition for judicial review. We reverse and remand. 2 We review the following issue on appeal: 3 Does the 14-day filing deadline in 49-2-505(3)(c), MCA, deprive a district court of jurisdiction over matters arising between the parties after the deadline has expired FACTUAL AND...
Chief Justice MIKE McGRATH delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Pursuant to Section I, Paragraph 3(c), Montana Supreme Court 1996 Internal Operating Rules, as amended in 2006, the following decision shall not be cited as precedent. It shall be filed as a public document with the Clerk of the Supreme Court and its case title, Supreme Court cause number and disposition shall be included in this Court's quarterly list of noncitable cases published in the Pacific Reporter and Montana Reports....
Justice BRIAN MORRIS delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Bradley Howard (Howard), through the Howard Family 1995 Trust (Trust), appeals the Workers' Compensation Court's (WCC) refusal to dismiss Shelly Weidow's (Weidow) WCC petition as untimely. Howard also appeals the WCC's determination that Weidow's employment did not constitute "casual employment" as defined by 39-71-116(6), MCA (2005). We affirm. 2 We review the following issues on appeal: 3 Did the WCC correctly deny the...
Justice W. WILLIAM LEAPHART delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 A Missoula County jury returned a verdict awarding Peggy Stevens (Stevens) $3,200,000.00 in compensatory damages in Stevens' action for negligence against Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation (Novartis). Stevens alleged that Novartis failed to properly warn that its drug, Zometa, causes osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) in patients who undergo dental surgery while taking the drug. The District Court denied Novartis' motions for...
Justice BRIAN MORRIS delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Glacier Bancorp, Inc. (Glacier) appeals the order of the Thirteenth Judicial District Court, Yellowstone County, granting summary judgment to Eide Bailly LLP (Eide). Western Security Bank (Western) appeals the judgment of the District Court awarding a special jury verdict in favor of Eide. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings. 2 We review the following issues on appeal: 3 Did the District...
W. WILLIAM LEAPHART delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 The Gordons filed an Application for Dissolution of Half Breed, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), with the District Court pursuant to 35-8-902, MCA. Joseph Kim Kuzara (Kuzara), a managing member of Half Breed, filed a Motion to Compel Arbitration based on an arbitration clause in the Half Breed Operating Agreement (OA). The District Court denied Kuzara's motion. Kuzara appeals. 2 We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND...
Justice BRIAN MORRIS delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Appellant Colton Lee Wilson (Wilson) appeals from an order of the Twentieth Judicial District Court, Lake County, denying and dismissing his petition for postconviction relief. We affirm. 2 We review the following issue on appeal: 3 Whether Wilson's medical treatment at Montana State Prison constitutes cruel and unusual punishment or offends his right to dignity under the U.S. Constitution or Montana Constitution. FACTUAL...
Justice JAMES C. NELSON delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 MM & I, LLC (MM & I) appeals an order of the District Court for the Eighteenth Judicial District, Gallatin County, granting the Gallatin County Board of County Commissioners' (the Commission) Motion for Summary Judgment regarding its denial of MM & I's subdivision application. 2 MM & I raises three issues on appeal which we have restated as follows: 3 1. Whether the District Court abused its discretion in refusing to...
Justice W. WILLIAM LEAPHART delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Plaintiff and Appellant Park Place Apartments, LLC ("PPA") appeals from the order of Flathead County District Court granting summary judgment in favor of Farmers Union Mutual Insurance Company (FUMIC) and its former agent Bud Wilhelm (Wilhelm), and denying PPA's cross-motion for summary judgment. PPA sued FUMIC, Wilhelm, and Montana Farmers Union Insurance Agency (MFU) when FUMIC denied coverage on a claim made by PPA. This...
Justice PATRICIA O. COTTER delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Stanley D. Dethman (Dethman) appeals from a jury verdict in the Third Judicial District Court, Powell County, convicting him of assault on a peace officer and resisting arrest. We affirm. ISSUES 2 A restatement of the issues on appeal is as follows: 3 1. Did the District Court abuse its discretion when it denied Dethman's motion for substitution of counsel and allowed Dethman to proceed pro se 4 2. Did the District...
Justice MICHAEL E. WHEAT delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) brought suit under Montana's Comprehensive Environmental Cleanup and Responsibility Act (CECRA), seeking to compel BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) to abate contamination at three former industrial sites. The First Judicial District Court, Lewis and Clark County, found BNSF jointly and severally liable for contamination as an owner, past owner and operator, and arranger under CECRA....
Justice JIM RICE delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Plaintiffs Robert and Lynn Hilten (Hiltens) appeal the order entered by the District Court for the Twenty-Second Judicial District, Stillwater County, granting in part Defendant Roy Bragg's (Bragg) motion for sanctions. We affirm. We restate the issue on appeal as follows: 2 Did the District Court err in ordering sanctions against plaintiffs, holding them jointly and severally liable for defendant's attorney fees and costs...
Chief Justice MIKE McGRATH delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Gayle A. Morris pleaded no contest in the District Court of the Eighth Judicial District, Cascade County, to Accountability to Prostitution and Obstructing a Peace Officer or Other Public Servant. He now appeals his sentences. We affirm. ISSUES 2 We restate Morris' issues as follows: 3 1. Whether the District Court illegally sentenced Morris in violation of his constitutional rights and Montana sentencing policy. 4 2....
Chief Justice MIKE McGRATH delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Amy Blehm appeals from the District Court's April 7, 2010 order granting summary judgment to St. John's Lutheran Hospital on her claim for wrongful discharge from employment. We affirm. 2 Blehm presents issues for review that we restate as follows: 3 Issue 1. Whether the District Court erred in determining that she was a probationary employee under 39-2-904(2), MCA. 4 Issue 2: Whether the District Court erred in...
Justice MICHAEL E. WHEAT delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 The Twentieth Judicial District Court, Sanders County, entered a decree dissolving the marriage of Dieter Scholz (Scholz) and Jill Lundstrom (Lundstrom) and distributing their marital estate. Scholz appeals. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this Opinion. 2 The present appeal marks the third occasion this Court has been involved in this divorce case. See In re Marriage of...
Justice MICHAEL E. WHEAT delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 David Brinley (David) appeals an order entered by the Tenth Judicial District Court, Fergus County, requiring him to pay retroactive child support to his ex-wife Ida Brinley (Ida), from October 1, 2007, forward. We affirm, but remand for clarification of the amount owed. 2 David and Ida's marriage was dissolved on October 29, 2007, by Decree of Dissolution (Decree) of the District Court. They have one child. The Decree did not...
