Court Opinion

ID: 9545135
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 17:06:59.110159+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:14:09.432253
License: Public Domain

MR. JUSTICE CASTLES,
(dissenting):
I dissent. I would find the district court action in granting summary judgment to be correct.
On Rehearing of No. 11891 Consolidated with Appeal from
No. 12154.
MR. JUSTICE HASWELL delivered the Opinion of the Court.
Subsequent to our opinion in cause No. 11891, Duchesneau et al. v. Silver Bow County et al. v. Mack Trucks, Inc. et al. *381reported in 28 St.Rep. 732, we granted rehearing. Additionally, we consolidated the appeal in cause No. 12154, Tallon v. Silver Bow County, with such rehearing as the rights of the parties in Tallon were directly affected by our opinion in Duchesneau.
Tallón is one of the plaintiffs whose case was consolidated 'in Duchesneau for pretrial determination of liability on motion for summary judgment. After the district court entered summary judgment for all plaintiffs against Silver Bow County on the issue of liability, Tallón was tried to a jury on the issue ■of damages alone and resulted in a jury verdict and judgment in his favor against Silver Bow County for $18,500. 'Thereafter the appeal in Duchesneau was argued before this Court at which plaintiff’s counsel in Tallón did not appear .and participate. Our opinion in Duchesneau followed on which we subsequently granted rehearing and consolidation with the .appeal in Tallón.
¥e now affirm our previous opinion in Duchesneau reported in 28 St.Rep. 732. Two matters require further comment herein.
Upon rehearing it was argued that the summary judgment of the district court against Silver Bow County on the issue of liability was not an issue upon appeal in Duchesneau, in view of our prior dismissal of the appeal of Silver Bow ■County on February 2, 1971. There would be merit to this contention if the Duchesneau appeal involved only the rights •of the plaintiffs against Silver Bow County. But Duchesneau also involves the rights of two plaintiffs, Wilson Motor Company and American Hardware Mutual Insurance Company, •directly against defendants Mack Trucks, Inc. and Roberts Rocky Mountain Equipment Company as well as against defendants Silver Bow County and Neil Bolton; it also involves the rights of third party plaintiffs Silver Bow County and Neil Bolton against third party defendants Mack Trucks, Inc. *382and Roberts Rocky Mountain Equipment Company. The respective liability of each of these parties to the plaintiffs is so inextricably interwoven with the corresponding rights and liabilities of each to the other that they defy any logical separation. Accordingly, the liability of Silver Bow County as a matter of law is definitely in issue upon appeal under the issues raised by Wilson Motor Company and American Hardware Mutual Insurance Company against the summary judgment dismissing Mack Trucks, Inc. and Roberts Rocky Mountain Equipment Company from the case. This latter summary judgment is tantamount to adjudicating Silver Bow County solely liable as a matter of law.
The second matter requiring mention herein is the appeal in Tallón. Prom what has been said heretofore in the original opinion in Duchesneau and affirmed on rehearing, the summary judgment against Silver Bow County on the issue of liability is incorrect and must be set aside as there are factual' issues requiring jury determination. As Tallón was tried to the jury on the issue of damages alone with Silver Bow County precluded from contesting liability, the judgment entered therein on March 29, 1971 is hereby vacated and set aside and the cause remanded to the district court of Silver Bow County for a new trial on all issues.
MR. CHIEF JUSTICE JAMES T. HARRISON, and MR. JUSTICE DALY, concur.