Justia Idaho Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

In this case, the district court reversed the order of the magistrate court which granted a motion to renew a judgment for child support. Upon review of the matter, the Supreme Court reversed the district court’s holding that the motion to renew the judgment was barred by the statute of limitations. View "Peterson v. Dept of H&W" on Justia Law

Defendant-respondent New Sweden Irrigation District mowed canal banks on plaintiff-appellant Bradley Morgan's property. Plaintiff claimed New Sweden negligently damaged his property. New Sweden counterclaimed for a declaratory judgment as to its easement's existence and scope, and then moved for summary judgment. The district court granted partial summary judgment, holding that New Sweden's easement was sixteen feet wide and New Sweden was not liable for damaged items within its easement. The district court denied summary judgment as to plaintiff's claim for damaged items outside the easement. Plaintiff appealed. Upon review, the Supreme Court remanded this case back to the district court for that court to enter a judgment that described the precise location where the easement's sixteen-foot width measurement began. The Supreme Court affirmed the district court in all other respects. View "Morgan v. New Sweden Irrigation" on Justia Law

Defendant Alisha Murphy was convicted in 2001 of first degree murder of her husband, James. She appealed the conviction and sentence, which were affirmed in an unpublished opinion. Defendant filed a pro se application for post-conviction relief asserting numerous claims of ineffective assistance of counsel, police misconduct, prosecutorial misconduct, and judicial misconduct, together with a motion for the appointment of counsel. The Court of Appeals concluded defendant had made a successive petition for post-conviction relief and denied it. On appeal, defendant argued that the district court erred in denying her request for counsel, summarily dismissing her successive petition, and denying her I.R.C.P. 60(b) motion for reconsideration. She argued that her ineffective assistance of trial counsel claims were properly before the district court on successive petition because, under the Supreme Court’s decision in "Palmer v. Dermitt," (635 P.2d 955 (1981)), ineffective assistance of post-conviction counsel constituted sufficient reason to bring a successive petition under I.C. 19-4908. The Court of Appeals reversed in part and affirmed in part, concluding that the district court properly dismissed three out of the four ineffective assistance of counsel claims without appointing counsel. As to the remaining claim, the Court of Appeals held that defendant alleged sufficient facts to raise the possibility of a valid claim and remanded that claim to the district court for appointment of counsel. Defendant argued to the Supreme Court that she was entitled to relief from the district court’s orders denying counsel and summarily dismissing each of the claims in her successive petition. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded that that ineffective assistance of post-conviction counsel was not a sufficient reason under I.C. 19-4908 for allowing a successive petition, and thus, overruled Palmer v. Dermitt. Accordingly, the Court of Appeals’ decision was reversed and the district court’s order of summary dismissal of defendant's successive petition for post-conviction relief was reinstated. View "Murphy v. Idaho" on Justia Law

Defendant-appellant Samuel Glenn appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to dismiss a 2010 driving under the influence (DUI) charge. The State sought an enhanced sentence based upon a 2001 DUI conviction. The district court had previously dismissed that 2001 DUI conviction. Defendant argued on appeal that the district court erred because Idaho Supreme Court precedent holds that cases dismissed pursuant to I.C. 19-2604 are a nullity and cannot later be used as sentencing enhancements. The State contended that the district court erred in considering the merits of Defendant's untimely motion to dismiss and that precedent allowed an enhanced sentence based on a previously dismissed DUI conviction. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Idaho v. Glenn" on Justia Law

Alan and Diane Johnson were shot and killed in their home. The Johnsons' sixteen-year-old daughter Sarah was home at the time of the shooting. She consistently denied any involvement, but gave several different accounts of what she was doing, what she saw, and what she heard prior to and after the murders. After a lengthy trial, a jury found Johnson guilty of first-degree murder of her parents. The district court sentenced Johnson to concurrent life sentences, plus fifteen years for a firearm enhancement. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed her conviction and sentence. View "Johnson v. Idaho" on Justia Law

The issue before the Supreme Court in this case was a judgment dismissing an action wherein the plaintiff sought damages for injuries sustained as a result of contracting certain infections. The district court employed a differential diagnosis analysis and held that plaintiff's medical experts were required to rule out possible sources of the infections, other than the defendant's care. The district court determined that plaintiff's medical experts' opinions were inadmissible because they did not address the other possible sources of the infections that were suggested by defendant's medical expert. After its review, the Supreme Court concluded that the district court's determination was in error. Accordingly, the Court vacated the district court's judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings. View "Nield v. Pocatello Health Services" on Justia Law

Appellant appealed the grant of a summary judgment that dismissed his claim seeking to enforce a vendee’s lien in real property. Because the appellant only addressed on appeal one of two possible grounds upon which the district court granted summary judgment, the Supreme Court affirmed the district court. View "Cuevas v. Barraza" on Justia Law

The issue on appeal before the Supreme Court in this case was a trial court's order denying a motion to compel nonparties to a contract to arbitrate pursuant to an arbitration clause in the contract. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Clearwater REI v. Boling" on Justia Law

The Idaho Department of Labor determined that Western Home Transport, Inc. owed unemployment insurance taxes and penalties because the owners/operators who hauled goods interstate for Western were engaged in covered employment under Idaho’s Employment Security Law. Western now appealed that determination. Finding that the commission erred in its calculation of the taxes owed, the Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case for further proceedings. View "Western Home Transport v. Dept of Labor" on Justia Law

In 2009, plaintiff Craig Mulford filed a complaint against his employer Union Pacific Railroad (UP) seeking relief under the Federal Employer’s Liability Act (FELA). Plaintiff alleged he sustained injury to his knees as a result of UP's negligence. The case went to trial in 2012. The jury reached its verdict, unanimously concluding that UP was not negligent. The district court issued its final judgment and dismissed plaintiff's claims. In this appeal, plaintiff claimed that the district court erred on two separate grounds: (1) failing to disqualify a juror for cause; and (2) admitting evidence that he received disability benefits from the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) to impeach statements made by plaintiff on direct examination. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Mulford v. Union Pacific Railroad" on Justia Law