Justia Montana Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Gregory Ternes purchased a residential property from Keith and Sue Eberhard. The Eberhards were insured by State Farm when the house received water damage. Sue reported the damage, and State Form listed the claim on a website report. The Ternes purchased the home without being aware of the website report. The Ternes later attempted to sell the property to the Giardinos, who backed out of the deal. Afterwards, Ternes learned of the website report. Ternes filed a complaint with the state commissioner of insurance, alleging that State Farm put false information on the website, causing the sale of the residence to the Giardinos to fall through. The commissioner advised Ternes that State Farm had not submitted a false report as per State Farm's understanding at the time of the loss. Ternes then filed an action in the district court against State Farm and the Eberhards. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of defendants. On appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the district court did not err in granting summary judgment for State Farm and the Eberhards because there were no genuine issues of material fact and both defendants were entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

The Montana Department of Revenue (Department) issued final ad valorem assessments of Puget Sound Energy (Puget) for several tax years, after which Puget petitioned the State Tax Appeal Board (STAB) for review of the Department's assessments. STAB determined the Department inaccurately assessed Puget's value and assessed Puget's value in excess of the Department's original assessment. Puget petitioned the district court for review, and the court concluded that STAB could not adopt an assessment value exceeding the Department's original assessment. On appeal, the Supreme Court reversed, holding that the district court incorrectly concluded that STAB may not assess Puget's market value in an amount that exceeds the Department's original assessment. The Court held that STAB has the constitutional and statutory duty to hear Puget's appeal and make an independent determination of Puget's market value even if STAB's assessment exceeds the Department's original assessment. Remanded.

David Johnson, a life and disability insurance provider, entered a plea agreement in which he agreed to plead guilty to two counts of felony theft and to pay restitution for the loss incurred as a result of his fraudulent acts. At an evidentiary hearing to determine restitution, the state did not present sworn affidavits from victims. The district court ultimately adopted the rationale for calculating restitution proposed by the state and ordered that Johnson pay $71,374 in restitution. On appeal, Johnson argued that without victim affidavits the restitution order was unlawful and his sentence must be corrected. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Johnson failed to preserve his objection to the omission of victim affidavits. Except for his objection on the date of sentencing, Johnson did not alert the trial court to any claim that victim affidavits were required for an order of restitution, and Johnson's plea agreement expressly consented to the court's determination of restitution upon hearing.

Gregory Schindler purchased insurance from USAA for a house he owned. The house was destroyed by fire a year and a half later. USAA denied coverage on the basis that Schindler had committed fraud during his application conversation. Specifically, USAA determined that Greg had misrepresented that the house was his primary residence and a single family dwelling when instead it was a rental divided into eight apartment units. Schindler and his wife filed suit against USAA asserting breach of insurance contract and implied obligation of good faith and fair dealing. USAA defended on the basis of fraud. The jury found for USAA and awarded USAA the monies it had advanced to the Schindlers. The Schindlers appealed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the district court did not err in denying the Schindlers' motion for summary judgment; (2) the district court did not abuse its discretion in allowing testimony from a USAA employee; (3) the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the Schindlers' motion in limine to preclude USAA from introducing evidence of fraud; and (4) the district court did not abuse its discretion in requiring the Schindlers to order and pay for additional transcripts.

A jury in the district court concluded that plaintiff did not breach its homeowners insurance policy with defendants and that one defendant had committed fraud when applying for the policy. Defendants appealed a district court order denying their motion for summary judgment and motions in limine and granting plaintiff's motion that defendants order and pay for additional transcripts on appeal. The court held that defendants were not entitled to estopp plaintiff from defending itself because genuine issues of material fact existed regarding whether the one defendant applied for the policy in good faith. The court held that the district court appropriately permitted plaintiff's customer service representative to testify as to her recollection of the defendant's statements. The court further held that the district court acted within its discretion in permitting plaintiff to defend itself via section 33-15-403, MCA, by allowing the customer service representative to testify about the defendant's alleged fraudulent statements. Accordingly, the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendants' motion in limine. The court finally held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in ordering additional transcripts under Montana Rule of Appellate Procedure 8(3)(b).