Court Opinion

ID: 9579102
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:51:28.360633+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:34:17.605827
License: Public Domain

LANSING, Chief Judge,
specially concurring.
While I join in the foregoing opinion, I write separately to address what I consider to be a specific fatal deficiency in the growers’ trial evidence.
In Crown v. State Department of Agriculture, 127 Idaho 175, 898 P.2d 1086 (1995), the Idaho Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s summary judgment against the growers with respect to all claims except those relating to “the loss of bean inventory before July 1, 1988, due to negligent inspections.” Id. at 182, 898 P.2d at 1093. The Court held that as to any losses occurring after that date, the trial court had properly granted summary judgment based on I.C. §§ 6-904B, and 6-904C. Therefore, the Court reversed the summary judgment “only as it relates to loss of bean inventory before July 1, 1988.” Id. at 180, 898 P.2d at 1091. Thus, upon remand following that Idaho Supreme Court decision, it should have been abundantly clear to plaintiffs’ counsel that in any ensuing trial it would be incumbent upon the plaintiffs to prove they suffered some loss between May 9,1988, the date that the allegedly negligent inspection was completed, and July 1, 1988. However, the record here is devoid of evidence of any losses occurring during that short time frame, either through additional deposits of commodities by the growers or additional thefts committed by Hawkins. Therefore, regardless of the correctness of other bases stated by the district court for its decision, the lack of this element of proof was fatal to the plaintiffs’ claims.