Court Opinion

ID: 9741808
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 21:02:26.269768+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:58:14.586560
License: Public Domain

ZASTROW, Justice
(concurring specially).
Although I agree with the result reached in the majority opinion, the treatment of the collateral estoppel issue is in error. The majority appears to dismiss the collateral estoppel claim on the basis of lack of privity and a differing burden of proof.
In Sunshine Anthracite Coal Co. v. Adkins, 310 U.S. 381, 60 S.Ct. 907, 84 L.Ed. 1263 (1940), the Supreme Court stated:
There is privity between officers of the same government so that a judgment in a suit between a party and a representative of the United States is res judicata in relitigation of the same issue between that party and another officer of the government, (citation omitted) The crucial point is whether or not in the earlier litigation the representative of the United States had authority to represent its interests in a final adjudication of the issúe in controversy. 310 U.S. at 402, 403, 60 S.Ct. at 917, 84 L.Ed. at 1276.
The decision makes it clear that the representative may be an officer or agency which may bind the other government officer or agency:
But here the authority of the Commission is clear. ... It [the Commission] represented the United States in that determination and the delegation of that power to the Commission was valid, as we have said. That suit therefore bound the United States, as well as the appellant. Where a suit binds the United States, it binds its subordinate officials, (emphasis supplied) 310 U.S. at 403, 60 S.Ct. at 917, 84 L.Ed. at 1276.
See also United States v. Willard Tablet Co. (C.A.7), 141 F.2d 141 (1940); George H. Lee Co. v. Federal Trade Commission (C.A.8), 113 F.2d 583 (1944).
Although it is not applicable in all instances, the state and its agencies and officers are subject to the principles of res judicata and collateral estoppel. The State of South Dakota and its agency, the Department of Public Safety are in privity *198and are bound by the judgment, Trustees of Stigmatine F., Inc. v. Secretary of A. & F., Mass., 341 N.E.2d 662 (1976); Crumpler v. Board of Administration Emp. Retire. Sys., 32 Cal.App.3d 567, 108 Cal.Rptr. 293 (1973); River Valley, Inc. v. Dubuque County (C.A.8), 507 F.2d 582 (1974); unless for some other reason, the principles of res judicata or collateral estoppel do not apply.
The principle of collateral estoppel, or issue preclusion as it is now denominated, is stated in Restatement of the Law (Second), Judgments, Tentative Draft No. 1, § 68:
When an issue of fact or law is actually litigated and determined by a valid and final judgment, and the determination is essential to the judgment, the determination is conclusive in a subsequent action between the parties, whether on the same or a different claim.
The exceptions to the principle are stated in § 68.1 of the Restatement of the Law (Second), Judgments, Tentative Draft No. 1:.
Although an issue is actually litigated and determined by a valid and final judgment, and the determination is essential to the judgment, relitigation of the issue in a subsequent action between the parties is not precluded in the following circumstances:
(a) The party against whom preclusion is sought could not, as a matter of law, have obtained review of the judgment by an appellate court in the initial action; or
(b) The issue is one of law and (i) the two actions involve claims that are substantially unrelated, or (ii) a new determination is warranted in order to take account of an intervening change in the applicable legal context or otherwise to avoid inequitable administration of the laws; or
(c) A new determination of the issue is warranted by differences in the quality or extensiveness of the procedure followed in the two courts or by factors relating to the allocation of jurisdiction between them; or
(d) The party against whom preclusion is sought had a significantly heavier burden of persuasion with respect to the issue in the initial action than in the subsequent action; the burden has shifted to his adversary; or the adversary has a significantly heavier burden than he had in the first action; or
(e)There is a clear and convincing need for a new determination of the issue
(i) because of the potential adverse impact of the determination on the public interest or the interests of persons not themselves parties in the initial action, (ii) because it was not sufficiently foreseeable at the time of the initial action that the issue would arise in the context of a subsequent action, or (iii) because the party sought to be concluded, as a result of the conduct of his adversary or other special circumstances, did not have an adequate opportunity or incentive to obtain a full and fair adjudication in the initial action.
The state’s position (which is adopted by the majority opinion) is essentially that which is stated in § 68.1(d). However, the burden of proof differences of a criminal case and a civil case are not involved in the resolution of this case. The judgment in the original criminal action was not based upon an acquittal but was based upon the determination by the trial court (from undisputed facts) that the arrest was improper and that therefore the trial court lacked jurisdiction over the defendant. It was not based upon a failure of the state to prove facts beyond a reasonable doubt. Rather, it was a question of law in both cases to be passed upon by the trial court. The exception to the application of collateral estoppel based upon a variance of the burden of proof is inapplicable to the issue sought to be precluded from relitigation in this case.
The reason that collateral estoppel does not apply to the arrest issue determined in the original action is because of the inability of the state to obtain appellate review of the trial court’s determination as a matter of right. Restatement of the Law (Second), Judgments, Tentative Draft No. 1, § 68.-1(a). Under this court’s recent decision of State v. Nuwi Nini, S.D., 262 N.W.2d 758 *199(1978), the dismissal of the original criminal charge for lack of jurisdiction could not be appealed by the state as a matter of right. Therefore, the state is not precluded from relitigating the issue of the legality of the arrest in the subsequent action.
The majority opinion cites Beare v. Smith, 82 S.D. 20, 140 N.W.2d 603 (1966); Blow v. Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, 83 S.D. 628, 164 N.W.2d 351 (1969); and Kirby v. State, Dept. of Public Safety, S.D., 262 N.W.2d 49 (1978), in support of its position that collateral estoppel does not apply. However, a review of those cases clearly indicates that the issue of collateral estop-pel was not raised nor decided. The footnote from the Kirby case is, at best, dictum on the issue of collateral estoppel, if it was even addressed to the issue of collateral estoppel which is uncertain. The Beare and Blow decisions merely indicate that the criminal charges and revocation proceedings are different causes of action. That does not defeat the collateral estoppel doctrine, but is one of its requirements.
For the reasons stated, the circuit court’s decision is properly reversed.
I am hereby authorized to state that Justice MORGAN joins in this special concurrence.