NO. 91-114 

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA 

1991 

JUNE ENRIGHT, 

Plaintiff and Appellant, -TI!=..- _ 

ROSEBUD COUNTY, a political subdivision of the 

State of Montana; ROBERT CORBIN, individually 

and as Deputy Sheriff of Rosebud County; CHRIS 

ELWOOD. individuallv and as Deautv Sheriff of 

Rosebud County: and- WILLIAM HUkKIkS , individually 

and as Deoutv * - Sheriff of Rosebud Countv. _. 6’1 - 

Defendants and Respondents. 

APPEAL FROM: District Court of the Sixteenth Judicial District, 

In and for the County of Rosebud, 

The Honorable Kenneth R. Wilson, Judge presiding. 

COUNSEL OF RECORD: 

For Appellant: 

June Enright, Pro Se, Black Eagle, Montana 

For Respondent: 

Susan Fisher Stevens; Wright, Tolliver & Guthals, 

Billings, Montana 

Filed: 

Submitted on Briefs: August 29, 1991 

Decided: October 21, 1991 

.. 

I Clerk 
Justice William E. Hunt, Sr., delivered the opinion of the Court. 

Appellant June Enright appeals from an order of the Sixteenth 

Judicial District Court, Rosebud County, granting Rosebud County's 

motion for summary judgment. 

We affirm. 

Appellant, appearing pro se, raises three issues for appeal. 

1. Whether the District Court erred in granting defendants' 

motion for summary judgment on the issue of negligence against the 

Rosebud County Sheriff's Department. 

2. Whether the District Court erred in granting defendants' 

motion for summary judgment on the issue that defendants violated 

appellant's civil rights under 42 U.S.C. 5 1983. 

3. Whether the District Court erred in granting defendants' 

motion for summary judgment on the issue that they intentionally, 

negligently, and recklessly inflicted emotional distress upon the 

appellant. 

Briefly, the uncontroverted facts are as follows. Between 

December 1984 and July 21, 1986, Robert Corbin, Chris Elwood, and 

William Huckins were employed as deputies by the Rosebud County 

Sheriff's Department. On July 21, 1986, at 11:27 p.m., Deputies 

Elwood and Corbin, who were on their regular patrol, received a 

radio message of shots being fired at the Ashland Bar. A few 

minutes later they arrived at the premises where they were met by 

Evette Archambeault who told them appellant had fired shots at 

Georgia Wilson. Deputy Corbin entered the bar and asked appellant 

2 
to come outside to talk with him. Appellant explained to Deputy 

Corbin that Georgia Wilson was standing outside the bar harassing 

her and would not leave. Appellant admitted that she had fired 

shots at Ms. Wilson. Deputy Corbin immediately told appellant not 

to relate any further details, as he had not read her the Miranda 

warning. He then told appellant to go back into the bar. After 

discussing the best way to handle the situation, Deputies Corbin 

and Elwood decided to arrest Georgia Wilson on an outstanding 

felony warrant from Big Horn County. They believed by arresting 

Wilson and removing her from the scene, it would diffuse the 

situation. The deputies told several witnesses to go home and 

advised them they would be contacted the next day for their 

statements. The deputies arrested Wilson, placed her in the patrol 

car, and proceeded to the Sheriff's Office in Colstrip. 

The deputies had just left town when they received a radio 

call of another shooting at the bar and immediately called for 

backup. Off-duty Deputy William Huckins was called to assist them. 

He arrived, in uniform, in his patrol car. The deputies determined 

that appellant and Evette Archambeault had gotten into a fight 

outside the bar and inflicted serious bite injuries upon one 

another, after which appellant shot at Archambeault. They found 

appellant at her residence next door to the bar where she was 

nursing a bite wound above her eye. Deputy Huckins determined the 

wound to be serious and called for an ambulance, which appellant 

refused, so Deputy Huckins cancelled it. Appellant then called her 

3 
son to come and get her. The deputies stayed and checked on her 

condition regularly until her son arrived. Appellant and her son 

proceeded to count the money in the till and closed the bar before 

going to the hospital. 

In July 1989, appellant filed suit against Rosebud County, 

Deputies Robert Corbin, Chris Elwood, and William Huckins, 

individually and as deputy sheriffs of Rosebud County. Appellant's 

complaint claimed negligence by Rosebud County, a violation of her 

civil rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and emotional distress by the 

respondents. 

In July 1990, after adequate time for discovery by the 

parties, the respondent filed a motion for summary judgment and 

supporting brief. Appellant's attorney filed an answer brief. Due 

to the discrepancies in appellant's complaint, respondents 

requested and were granted an evidentiary hearing for the purpose 

of determining their status during the incident. The evidentiary 

hearing and motion for summary judgment hearing were scheduled on 

the same day. Neither the appellant nor her attorney attended the 

hearing, and no additional briefs or affidavits were filed by 

appellant. On January 28, 1991, the District Court granted 

respondent's motion for summary judgment and dismissed the case 

with prejudice. Appellant appeals from that order. 

Appellant did not attend the hearing to offer evidence and 

testimony in support of her allegations. By not attending the 

hearing, appellant waived her right to cross-examine defense 

4 
counsel's witnesses and present her own evidence. The court was 

forced to rely on the pleadings in the file and defendants' 

responses to appellant's discovery requests. In failing to provide 

the District Court with affidavits, sworn testimony, or other 

evidence, as contemplated by Rule 56(c), M.R.Civ.P., appellant only 

invited the decision of the court. 

We affirm the District Court in holding that no genuine issue 

of material fact existed and that the defendant was entitled to 

judgment as a matter of law. 

Pursuant to Section I, Paragraph 3(c), Montana Supreme Court 

1988 Internal Operating Rules, this decision shall not be cited as 

precedent and shall be published by its filing as a public document 

with the Clerk of the Supreme Court and by a report of its result 

to Montana Law Week, State Reporter and West Publishing Company. 

Justice 

We concur: / 

5 
October 21. 1991 

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

I hereby certify that the following order was sent by United States mail, prepaid, to the 

following named: 

June Enright 

123 11th St. 

Black Eagle, MT 59414 

Susan Fisher Stevens 

Wright, tolliver& Guthals 

P.O. Box 1977 

Billings, MT 59103 

ED SMITH 

THE SUPREME COURT 

F MONTANA ~k7f!! BY 

Deputy