Opinion ID: 2632335
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Larson-Murphy v. Steiner Distinguished

Text: [¶ 35] The plaintiffs rely heavily on Larson-Murphy v. Steiner, 303 Mont. 96, 15 P.3d 1205 (2000), a plurality decision which reversed years of Montana case law precedent to the effect that the open range doctrine relieved livestock owners of a duty to keep their livestock from wandering onto the roadways. The court concluded the open range doctrine was intended to preclude liability for property damage occasioned by trespassing livestock. This led the court to the further conclusion that, even if livestock owners are not under a duty to maintain a legal fence, they still have a common-law duty to exercise control of their livestock to a particular standard of conduct in order to protect motorists, as foreseeable plaintiffs, against unreasonable risks of harm under the circumstances whether within a herd district or on open range. Larson-Murphy, 15 P.3d at 1228. This case can be distinguished on both its facts and the Montana statutes applied. [¶ 36] In the first place, the accident occurred within a herd district. [17] The Steiners' black Angus bull escaped at night from two fenced enclosures and ended up on a two-lane paved highway, within a herd district, where it was hit by a car driven by Ms. Larson Murphy. The case did not involve application of the open range doctrine to a collision with livestock on a posted open range highway. [¶ 37] Further, the Montana statutes on herd districts (Mont.Code Ann. §§ 81-4-301 to 310), animals unlawfully running at large (Mont.Code Ann. §§ 81-4-201 to 220), and grazing of livestock on highways (Mont.Code Ann. §§ 60-7-201 to 205) address only willful acts and fail to explicitly consider an inadvertent or accidental escape of animals from the owner's premises. The statutes also fail to provide liability for all damages incurred and therefore imply, particularly in regard to the herd district and at large provisions, that damages are related only to property damage occasioned by the trespass. [¶ 38] Conversely, the pertinent Wyoming statutes provide much broader liability. The Livestock District Statutes provide in pertinent part: The owner of animals permitted or allowed to run at large ... is liable to any person who suffers damage from the depredations or trespasses of the animals. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 11-33-108 (LexisNexis 2001). The Fences and Cattle Guards Statute sets out in relevant part: Any person owning or having in his possession ... any livestock ... which breaches into any lawful enclosure belonging to someone other than the owner of the animal, is liable to the party sustaining the injury for all damages sustained by reason of such breaching. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 11-28-108(a) (LexisNexis 2001). And the Strays in Fenced Public Highways Statute provides no owner shall permit livestock to run at large in fenced public highways and deems the owner has permitted picketed animals which escape to run at large. It sets out fines and also requires payment for all damage done by the livestock. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 11-24-108 (LexisNexis 2001). Hence, each of the Wyoming provisions requires payment of all damages incurred due to violation of the statutes, and they are not limited to only property damage caused by trespass as the Montana statutes provided at the time Larson-Murphy was decided. [¶ 39] The persuasive value of the Larson-Murphy case is also undermined by Justice Gray's highly critical dissenting opinion by which she chastises her brethren for overreaching the court's authority and undermining the Montana legislature's lawmaking authority. We agree with the Larson Murphy court that there is a general duty of reasonable care owed by the livestock owner and the motorist alike. However, that duty does not require a livestock owner to prevent livestock from wandering onto public highways in posted open range. [¶ 40] The plaintiffs also rely on Shively v. Dye Creek Cattle Co., 29 Cal.App.4th 1620, 35 Cal.Rptr.2d 238 (1994), Grubb v. Wolfe, 75 N.M. 601, 408 P.2d 756 (1965), and Carrow Company, 167 Ariz. 18, 804 P.2d 747, to demonstrate some other states have suggested livestock owners have a duty to keep their animals off public highways in open range. The reasoning in these cases is inconsistent with Wyoming's common law and statutory framework. [¶ 41] The Shively case, out of California, involved another motorist/black Angus bull collision in open range. The California Court of Appeals relied in part on its precedent established in Jackson v. Hardy, 70 Cal. App.2d 6, 160 P.2d 161, 165 (1945), that suggests a cattle owner can be considered negligent if he fails to keep his cattle from straying upon an unfenced highway in open range. It is difficult to reconcile this standard with our Wyoming precedent. See Hinkle, 361 P.2d 37. [¶ 42] In Grubb, a motorist hit a calf on a posted open range road in a forest area permitted for grazing. The New Mexico Supreme Court relied on the California court's reasoning in the Jackson case. As noted above, that standard implies a lack of such care merely because the calf was on the road in posted open range which is in direct conflict with our state's law. [¶ 43] The Arizona Supreme Court supported its decision in Carrow Company by reasoning: We need not decide whether the early English common law governed the situation presented in this case, but we suspect that any such rule would not be particularly persuasive in light of the vastly different conditions existing in modern Arizona. Inherent in the common law is a dynamic principle which allows it to grow and to tailor itself to meet changing needs. Ontiveros v. Borak, 136 Ariz. 500, 504, 667 P.2d 200, 204 (1983), quoting Douglas, Stare Decisis, 49 Colum.L.Rev. 735, 736 (1949). As mandated by our legislature, we define and apply the common law to be consistent with and adapted to the natural and physical conditions of our state. 804 P.2d at 752. Given the thorough treatment of the issue by our statutes and the relatively small number of automobile/livestock collisions in open range, we see no reason to modify or expand existing Wyoming common law.