Montana Supreme Court

The court affirmed Miller’s convictions, concluding that the District Court acted within its discretion in permitting uniformed law-enforcement officers to attend trial and that Miller failed to preserve his challenge to the court’s failure to poll the jury.

The Court affirmed the termination of T.J.S.’s parental rights and the stepparent adoption of A.M.S. It held that the District Court erred by accepting the parties’ stipulation that the Indian Child Welfare Act did not apply, but the error was harmless because the record did not provide reason to know that A.M.S.

The court affirmed the denial of Wilderness Preserve’s post-trial motions, concluding that substantial credible evidence supported the jury’s contract-damages award and that the verdict complied with the jury instructions.

The Montana Supreme Court held that a Youth Court exceeds its authority under § 41-5-208, MCA, when, at the conclusion of a transfer hearing, it imposes a new disposition — here a DOC commitment until age 25, an extended supervision period, and a Tier II sex-offender registration requirement.

The court affirmed that the Kultgens hold an express 60-foot ingress-and-egress easement benefiting Lot 4, that the easement was neither modified by the 2021 Easement Agreement nor extinguished by abandonment, and that the identified western fence unlawfully obstructed access.

The Montana Supreme Court reversed the First Judicial District Court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the State of Montana in an interpleader action. The State, as the alleged tortfeasor through its employee Jose Ruiz, had filed a petition in interpleader and complaint for declaratory relief seeking to deposit…

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed Willie Veltkamp's convictions for two counts of felony incest following a jury trial. The Court held that the narrative statements in the SANE Report were erroneously admitted under the medical-diagnosis hearsay exception (an error the State conceded) and that submitting the report…

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed Robert Lee Morrissey Jr.'s convictions for three counts of felony sexual assault, rejecting his contention that the evidence was insufficient to support Count I, the third ('standing') incident.

The Montana Supreme Court reversed Allen Martinez's misdemeanor criminal mischief conviction for spitting inside a highway patrol vehicle, holding the State presented no evidence his spit 'injured, damaged, or destroyed' the vehicle under § 45-6-101(1)(a), MCA, because it caused no physical harm, loss, substantial…

The Court upheld Proctor’s conviction after concluding that the district court properly admitted testimony concerning nonaccidental trauma under Montana’s expert-evidence framework.

The Court affirmed a discovery sanction limiting the mother's counselor's testimony about treatment and records created after the parenting evaluator's report. It held that the mother's deliberate failure to produce current mental-health records, despite discovery obligations and a court-approved stipulation, caused…

The Court affirmed partial summary judgment determining that the Second Lease Amendment was ambiguous about whether it removed both purchase options in Section 5 of the original lease or only the fee-simple option.

The court affirmed the exclusion of evidence concerning the victim’s prior sexual history and alleged infidelity, upheld the discovery sanction barring undisclosed investigator notes, and rejected the challenge to the evidentiary rulings.

The Court affirmed Twardoski’s convictions and sentence. It declined to review his ineffective-assistance claim on direct appeal because the record did not explain counsel’s failure to object and supported plausible tactical justifications.

The Court affirmed the deemed denial of Taralyn DeCock’s Rule 60(b)(6) motion seeking relief from the dissolution decree. It held that the motion improperly attempted to relitigate the previously rejected challenge to the marital property agreement and that Taralyn independently failed to show that she was blameless…

The Court affirmed summary judgment upholding the Conservation District’s denial of the Burtons’ permit application. It held that the proposed dredging and berm project fell within the District’s jurisdiction because the historically modified pond and channel were connected to the Flathead River and the project could…

The court held that Hagberg did not waive appellate review of the $5,000 fine by agreeing to it in his plea agreement and at sentencing. It affirmed the statutory fine but vacated the portion of the judgment addressing the fine and remanded for the District Court to make appropriate ability-to-pay findings before…

The Court affirmed Johnson’s misdemeanor conviction after concluding that officers had particularized suspicion to initiate the traffic stop and expand it into a DUI investigation.

The court affirmed the denial of Arrington’s request to relocate A.M.G. to Idaho and the resulting parenting-plan modification placing A.M.G. primarily with Father if the move occurred.

The Court affirmed the denial of Arrington’s request to relocate with the child to Idaho and the adoption of a parenting plan placing the child primarily with Father if the move occurred.

The Supreme Court of Montana affirmed dismissal with prejudice of McCaul’s amended complaint under Rule 12(b)(6). It held that McCaul could not prosecute contract claims belonging to his business entities, failed to plead viable whistleblower, False Claims Act, or abuse-related claims, and filed any other potential…

The Court affirmed the District Court’s dismissal of Williams’s Montana Consumer Protection Act claim and its limitation of negligence damages to $35,000 for patio-related repairs.

The Court held that the Idaho court lacked personal jurisdiction over the Cook-Reynolds Partnership because Gerald Cook was not authorized to appear for or bind the Partnership and the Partnership lacked sufficient contacts with Idaho.

The Court held that Montana law governed the insurance dispute, that NUFI breached its duty to defend by refusing to continue defending claims that potentially implicated its policy, and that the resulting stipulated settlements were subject to review for substantive reasonableness.

The Montana Supreme Court reversed summary judgment for the lenders, holding that MERS was not a beneficiary under Montana's Small Tract Financing Act because the deed of trust secured the lender's obligation, not an obligation owed to MERS.

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s award of a portion of Kevin Funk’s inherited lakefront property, the valuation of that property, and the award of the 2005 Toyota Sienna to June Funk, while remanding for further findings on the statutory factors and the maintenance award.

The Montana Supreme Court granted supervisory control and reversed an order requiring the plaintiff to choose between negligence and strict-liability claims. It held that Montana's seatbelt statute does not bar evidence of seatbelt use or nonuse when the alleged injuries arise from a defect in the vehicle's…

The Court upheld Gunderson’s convictions and his combined sentences of life imprisonment and 100 years as a persistent felony offender, holding that the persistent-felony-offender sentence replaces the sentence for the underlying felony but may be imposed on each felony in a multiple-felony proceeding.

The Court held that a third-party claimant may not recover attorney fees or settlement costs as damages in a common-law or statutory insurance bad-faith action absent an applicable exception to the American Rule.

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed Beverly Cybulski's convictions for misdemeanor DUI and felony criminal endangerment arising from her driving westbound in the eastbound lane of Interstate 94 for roughly fifty miles in August 2006.

The court held that the trial court improperly admitted repeated references to Derbyshire's probationary status and the witnesses' status as probation officers. The evidence was not admissible under the applicable other-acts rule or the transaction rule because the legality and circumstances of the search were not…

The court held that the state District Court had subject-matter jurisdiction and that evidence of the parties’ pre-1999 dealings was relevant and could not be excluded on claim- or issue-preclusion grounds.

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for the State, holding that the statutory prohibition on FWP employees using official authority to influence political actions applies only to partisan political activity.

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the judgment, holding that Herman did not present a record‑based claim of ineffective assistance of counsel and that the district court did not err by refusing to consider a psychological report that was never properly before the court.

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the denial of Whitlow’s postconviction petition, holding that counsel’s performance during voir dire regarding jurors J.B. and E.F. was not constitutionally deficient.

The Montana Supreme Court held that probation conditions must be reviewed first for legality and then for reasonableness under an abuse-of-discretion standard. It expanded the required nexus to permit a condition related either to the offense or to the offender, but held that Ashby's alcohol and drug restrictions…

The court revised Montana's framework for evaluating speedy-trial claims, replacing the prior burden-shifting approach with a case-specific balancing of four factors: delay length, reasons for delay, the accused's responses, and prejudice.

The court held that restoration damages for contamination of real property may exceed the property's pre-tort market value when diminution in value would not fully compensate the owners, and that CECRA does not preempt a common-law restoration claim.

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for Cenex, holding that the easement language unambiguously authorized Cenex to bury and use a fiber optic cable without limiting its use to pipeline operation or monitoring and permitted assignment of easement rights.

The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the judgment because the appellant failed to provide a trial transcript sufficient to permit review of the evidentiary challenges to the damages verdict and jury submission.