Opinion ID: 498211
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Nature of Lower Court's Ruling

Text: 16 The DSHS/McLaughlin motion granted by the district court was styled Motion for Dismissal Based on Failure to State a Claim, Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction, Judgment on the Pleadings and/or Summary Judgment. The district court apparently treated the motion as one for dismissal under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). 17 If a party moving for dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) presents to the court matters outside the pleading and such matters are not excluded by the court, then the motion shall be treated as one for summary judgment and disposed of as provided in Rule 56 .... Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b). See Fort Vancouver Plywood Co. v. United States, 747 F.2d 547, 552 (9th Cir.1984) (motion to dismiss treated as one for summary judgment where pleadings were accompanied by affidavits). 18 In moving for dismissal, DSHS and McLaughlin presented to the district court a variety of matters outside the pleadings, including McLaughlin's affidavit, the state court's order directing immediate apprehension of Christina, the state court's findings and order for permanent deprivation in an earlier proceeding concerning another child of Coverdell, and other matters. In ruling on defendants' motion, the district court did not exclude such matters. To the contrary, the court relied upon facts set forth in the materials accompanying the motion. 19 In substance, therefore, defendants' motion to dismiss was converted into a motion for summary judgment. Court v. Hall County, 725 F.2d 1170, 1172 (8th Cir.1984) (motion to dismiss was converted into one for summary judgment where it was accompanied by affidavits and district court did not exclude affidavits from its consideration); 10 C. Wright, A. Miller & M. Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure Sec. 2713 at 599-604 (1983). Accordingly, we will treat the district court's ruling as a granting of the DSHS/McLaughlin motion for summary judgment.