Opinion ID: 1394266
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Judgment on Partial Findings

Text: The consignors allege that their constitutional right to have due process was violated when the district court granted judgment against them before they had finished presenting their case. They argue that they were not afforded a meaningful opportunity to be heard by the district court. A party is entitled to be accorded due process of law pursuant to the Fifth Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment, Section 1 of the United States Constitution and Article 1, Section 6 of the Wyoming Constitution. This Court articulated the constitutional principles concerning procedural due process in Amoco Production Company v. Wyoming State Board of Equalization, 882 P.2d 866 (Wyo.1994): Our cases hold that procedural due process is satisfied if a person is afforded adequate notice and an opportunity to be heard at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner. In White v. Board of Trustees of Western Wyoming Community College, 648 P.2d 528 (Wyo.1982), cert. denied 459 U.S. 1107, 103 S.Ct. 732, 74 L.Ed.2d 956 (1983), we summarize the constitutional principles that are demanded by the Constitution of the United States and prescribe that, where a state seeks to terminate a life, liberty, or property interest, the state must afford notice and an opportunity for hearing, appropriate to the case, before termination. 882 P.2d at 872 (quoting Robbins v. South Cheyenne Water and Sewage District, 792 P.2d 1380, 1385 (Wyo.1990) (citation omitted)). The consignors' due process rights were not violated in this case. W.R.C.P. 52(c) provided authority for the district court's actions: (c) Judgment on partial findings. If during a trial without a jury a party has been fully heard with respect to an issue and the court finds against the party on that issue, the court may enter judgment as a matter of law against that party on any claim, counterclaim, cross-claim, or third party claim that cannot under the controlling law be maintained or defeated without a favorable finding on that issue, or the court may decline to render any judgment until the close of all the evidence. The party against whom entry of such a judgment is considered shall be entitled to no special inference as a consequence of such consideration, and the court may weigh the evidence and resolve conflicts. Such a judgment shall be supported by findings as provided in subdivision (a) of this rule. This Court ruled in the first appeal in this case that the risk-of-loss provision of the consignment agreement was ambiguous and directed the district court to determine how the parties intended to allocate the risk of loss. McNeiley, 855 P.2d at 1245. At trial, the consignors presented several witnesses. Near the conclusion of the time which had been allocated for the trial, the district judge interrupted the consignors' case and stated: THE COURT: Let me interrupt you a moment here. We have been here three hours and I still don't understand how the [consignee and Mr. Ayres] could be held liable on this case. Let me tell you why I think that ...[.] [T]he Supreme Court said some ambiguity [exists] in the consignment agreement concerning risk of loss that leads us to determine the intentions of the parties who entered in that agreement. All the evidence indicates the intention was the [consignors] undertook to do that, [the consignee] gave them the appraisal for insurance purposes, there is no other evidence to show any other intention. So I don't see how we can conclude anything but the risk of loss was upon the [consignors].... .... THE COURT: Well, the Supreme Court said it was ambiguous with respect to theft, so you have to go back to the intentions of the parties, and it seems to me the intentions, all risk of loss including theft, were to rest upon the [consignors]. That is why they were to get insurance[.] That was why they were given the insurance appraisal. So, I think, on the basis of the evidence that we have there, that the [consignee and Mr. Ayres] cannot be held liable, so I will sign a judgment to that effect. If you prepare one. [THE CONSIGNORS' ATTORNEY]: Even though we are not finished presenting our case? THE COURT: Do you have something else to present resolving those? [THE CONSIGNORS' ATTORNEY]: I am not saying I am finished with the examination of Mr. Ayres, not finished with presenting evidence of Carol Thatcher, during this time period, to show the only person there, the only way that Kelly Ayres was in there, showing again evidence of the standard, Fred Bruhner, who is going to testify to the fact this insurance cannot be obtained by anyone other than [the consignee] because they are the ones who are in possession of it. So we have that evidence to present, and again we feel that we have met the burden of going forward, I mean they have established the standard, this is what they do in their store and they didn't follow those policies, but if you are going to, I guess, dismiss us right now, I guess that is your prerogative. Although the consignors indicated that they had more evidence to present concerning other aspects of the case, they did not state that they had any further evidence to present regarding the parties' intentions with reference to the risk-of-loss provision, nor did they make an appropriate offer of proof. The district court had, therefore, fully heard the consignors on that issue. W.R.C.P. 52(c). The issue regarding the parties' intentions as to the risk-of-loss provision was dispositive. The consignors were given all the process they were due. The district court did not violate the consignors' due process right when it granted a judgment to the consignee and Mr. Ayres without allowing the consignors to finish presenting their case.