Court Opinion

ID: 9393383
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-05-09 23:04:57.467777+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:18:52.971234
License: Public Domain

05/09/2023

            IN THE SUPREME COIJRT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA                                 Case Number: DA 23-0244

                                         DA 23-0244

 KIRK EAKIN and CATHY EAKIN,                                                   F LTFO
 husband and wife,
                                                                                MAY 0 9 2023
              Plaintiffs and Appellants,                                      Bowen Greenwood
                                                                            Clerk of Supreme Court
                                                                               State of Montana

       v.                                                               ORDER

 STAIL OF MONTANA, and KEVIN DOWNS,
 Lewis and Clark County Attorney,

              Defendants and Appellees.

       Kirk Eakin and Cathy Eakin (hereinafter the Eakins) have filed a verified Petition
for an Out-of-Time Appeal along with supporting documents. The Eakins indicate that
they discussed filing a timely appeal with their attorney but that he failed to file it for them.
       The Eakins provide that after spending a large amount on attorney fees, they "have
decided to bring this case on [their] own." The Eakins learned that "[o]n April 21, 2023[,]
[their] attorney wasn't interested in appealing the District Court ruling filed February 24,
2023." They state that they recently were advised that the sixty-day time frame for a timely
appeal expired. They further state that they seek to appeal the ruling not to award attorney
fees "since there never should have been a case to begin with." The Eakins include a copy
of the final judgment.
       M. R. App. P. 4(6) allows this Court to grant an out-of-time appeal "[i]n the
infrequent harsh case and under extraordinary circumstances amounting to a gross
miscarriage of justice[.]" Upon review, we conclude that the Eakins have demonstrated
extraordinary circumstances. Therefore,
       IT IS ORDERED that the Eakins' Petition thr an Out-of-Time Appeal is
GRANTED.
      IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Eakins shall prepare, file, and serve a Notice
of Appeal on or before Thursday, June 8, 2023.
      The Clerk of the Supreme Court is directed to provide a copy of this Order to counsel
of record and to Kirk Eaton and Cathy Eakin along with a copy of this Court's Civil
Appellate Handbook. .11.,
      DATED this            day of May, 2023.

                                                              Chief Justice

                                                                Justices

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