Justice BRIAN MORRIS delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 MCR, LLC (MCR) filed an action for condemnation of a compressor station site on property owned by appellees David and Lenora McEwen (McEwens). McEwens counterclaimed against MCR for damage to McEwens' property. McEwens also claimed punitive damages. McEwens sought restoration costs as the measure of damages for their contract, trespass, and nuisance claims. The parties stipulated to the substitution of MCR Transmission, LLC (MCR-T)...
Justice MICHAEL E. WHEAT delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Charles Kelly Kluver, Karson Kluver, and Genie Land Company (collectively the "Kluvers") appeal two orders of the Sixteenth Judicial District Court, Rosebud County; one involving rulings on evidentiary motions, and the other granting a motion to enforce a settlement agreement in favor of PPL Montana, LLC, Puget Sound Energy, Inc., Northwestern Corporation, the Clark Fork and Blackfoot, LLC, the Montana Power Company, LLC, Avista...
Justice BRIAN MORRIS delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Appellant Montana Department of Labor and Industry (the Department) appeals from the order of the Ninth Judicial District Court, Glacier County, that granted summary judgment to Appellees Big Sky Colony, Inc., and Daniel E. Wipf (collectively Colony). The District Court determined that the requirement to provide workers' compensation coverage for the Colony's members engaged in certain commercial activities contained in House Bill...
Justice BRIAN MORRIS delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Shannon Marsden (Marsden) filed this action in which she alleges that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana (BCBSMT) wrongfully discharged her in violation of the Montana Wrongful Discharge from Employment Act (WDEA), 39-2-901 to 39-2-915, MCA. BCBSMT sought to compel arbitration pursuant to an employment agreement that required arbitration of disputes. The District Court enforced the arbitration clause and transferred the matter to...
Justice Beth Baker delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Jessica L. Tonner (Tonner) appeals an order of the Nineteenth Judicial District Court, Flathead County, granting summary judgment to Holly Ann Cirian (Cirian). The sole issue on appeal is whether Cirian is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. We reverse and remand for trial on Tonner's claim of negligence. PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND 2 On March 19, 2007, Tonner was driving her Nissan Titan pickup truck east on Balsam...
Justice PATRICIA O. COTTER delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Holly and Robert Labair (the Labairs) appeal from an order and judgment of the Montana Fourth Judicial District Court, Missoula County, granting summary judgment to Steve Carey and Carey Law Firm (collectively "Carey") and dismissing the Labairs' claims of legal malpractice. We reverse and remand. ISSUES 2 The Labairs raised the following issue on appeal: whether a plaintiff alleging legal malpractice based on a missed...
Justice MICHAEL E. WHEAT delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Defendant appeals from the judgment of the Twenty-First Judicial District Court, Ravalli County, denying his motion to dismiss due to invalidity of prior DUI convictions. We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 2 On September 13, 2010, Kenneth Maynard Nixon (Nixon) was charged with Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol/Drugs (DUI) (fourth or subsequent offense). The Information provided that Nixon was previously...
Justice JAMES C. NELSON delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Plaintiffs are a group of landowners or former landowners with properties on the shores of Flathead Lake and a portion of the upper Flathead River (Landowners). They commenced the instant action in 1999 in the Eleventh Judicial District Court, Flathead County, against Montana Power Company (MPC) and MPC's successor, PPL Montana, LLC (PPLM). 2 The present appeal is the third in the course of this litigation. In Mattson v. Mont....
Justice JAMES C. NELSON delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 A jury in the Second Judicial District Court, Silver Bow County, convicted Benny Roe Stewart of one count of incest. Stewart now appeals, seeking to have his conviction reversed and vacated and the case remanded for a new trial. Stewart raises the following issues on appeal: 1. Whether Stewart is entitled to a new trial due to law enforcement's warrantless monitoring and recording of his telephone conversations with his daughter....
Justice JIM RICE delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Pursuant to Section I, Paragraph 3(d), Montana Supreme Court Internal Operating Rules, this case is decided by memorandum opinion and shall not be cited and does not serve as precedent. Its case title, cause number, and disposition shall be included in this Court's quarterly list of noncitable cases published in the Pacific Reporter and Montana Reports. 2 Steven D. Dow and Munson Radio, Inc. (Dow) appeal from the orders culminating in...
Justice JAMES C. NELSON delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Joseph Geren appeals his conviction in the District Court for the Sixth Judicial District, Park County, of ten felony sexual offenses. We affirm. 2 Geren raises three issues on appeal which we have restated as follows: 3 1. Whether the District Court abused its discretion when it failed to conduct a hearing on Geren's allegations that some jurors slept through critical portions of the trial testimony. 4 2. Whether Geren...
Justice PATRICIA O. COTTER 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 PATRICIA O. COTTER delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 David Schraudner, deceased, was the uncle of Dana Fink and her brother, Dustin Badgett. In 2000, Schraudner executed his Last Will and Testament and devised his estate to Fink and Badgett. In April 2009, approximately seven weeks before his death, Schraudner signed a Quitclaim Deed conveying substantial real property to himself and Roberta Williams as joint tenants with right of survivorship. After Schraudner's death, Fink...
Chief Justice MIKE McGRATH delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Tiffany Gatlin (Gatlin) appeals from the District Court's order dated February 7, 2012, granting summary judgment to the City of Miles City (City). We reverse. 2 We restate the issue on appeal as follows: 3 Whether the District Court properly applied the public duty doctrine to grant summary judgment to the City. PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND 4 The following facts are taken from the District Court's order on...
Justice BETH BAKER delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Petitioners appeal an order of the Thirteenth Judicial District Court, Yellowstone County, denying their motions for assessment of costs against Respondent Northwestern Energy and for an immediate temporary rate reduction, and remanding this matter to the Public Service Commission (PSC). We affirm. 2 The issues on appeal are: (1) whether the District Court erred in denying Petitioners their costs for the initial proceedings in the...
Justice PATRICIA O. COTTER delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Nicole and Helen Alexander appeal several rulings of the Eighteenth Judicial District Court, Gallatin County, regarding jury instructions, a motion in limine, and a subsequent jury verdict finding that Bozeman Motors, Inc. and its employees were not liable to Michael Alexander. We affirm. ISSUES 2 Appellants Nicole and Helen Alexander raise the following four issues on appeal: 3 1. Does 39-71-413(2), MCA, create an...
Justice BRIAN MORRIS delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Pursuant to Section I, Paragraph 3(d), Montana Supreme Court Internal Operating Rules, this case is decided by memorandum opinion and shall not be cited and does not serve as precedent. Its case title, cause number, and disposition shall be included in this Court's quarterly list of noncitable cases published in the Pacific Reporter and Montana Reports. 2 In April of 2011, Michael Ellenburg filed this action setting forth civil...
Justice JIM RICE delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Pursuant to Section I, Paragraph 3(d), Montana Supreme Court Internal Operating Rules, this case is decided by memorandum opinion and shall not be cited and does not serve as precedent. Its case title, cause number, and disposition shall be included in this Court's quarterly list of noncitable cases published in the Pacific Reporter and Montana Reports. 2 Lee C. Cook and Brenda Cook (Cooks) appeal from the Judgment entered by the...
Justice BRIAN MORRIS delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Pursuant to Section I, Paragraph 3(d), Montana Supreme Court Internal Operating Rules, this case is decided by memorandum opinion and shall not be cited and does not serve as precedent. Its case title, cause number, and disposition shall be included in this Court's quarterly list of noncitable cases published in the Pacific Reporter and Montana Reports. 2 Peter William Harper (Harper) was convicted in 1996 of various drug-related...
Justice BETH BAKER delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 On October 17, 2006, Tyson Murray was a passenger in a car driven by Kyle Dean Whitcraft. Whitcraft lost control of the vehicle, causing a single vehicle collision in which Murray was injured. Murray filed a complaint against Whitcraft seeking damages for injuries allegedly caused by Whitcraft's negligence. Following a three-day jury trial in August 2011, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Murray and awarded him $27,000. The sole...
