Montana Supreme Court Decisions 2024

Justia Opinion Summary: The case revolves around the defendant, Luke Strommen, who was charged with Sexual Intercourse Without Consent (SIWC) and Sexual Abuse of Children. The charges stemmed from allegations made by two women, one of whom…

Justia Opinion Summary: Shane Maggi, an inmate at Montana State Prison, was convicted of aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, and possession of a deadly weapon by a prisoner. The charges stemmed from an incident where Maggi and another…

Justia Opinion Summary: Phoenix Capital Group Holdings, LLC, an oil and gas mineral rights investment firm, acquired mineral interests on two sections of real property in Richland County, Montana. The previous owner, Katherine Solis, had been…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case revolves around a dispute between Debra and Sidney Schutter (the Schutters) and the State of Montana Board of Land Commissioners (the Board) over the ownership of a water right, identified as Claim 13169. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: A group of plaintiffs, including former members of the Montana Board of Regents, faculty organizations, student groups, and individual students, challenged the constitutionality of three bills passed by the Montana…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case revolves around the petitioner, Tom Nichols, also known as Nikki, who is currently serving a prison sentence for sex crimes against children. Nikki, a transgender woman in the process of transitioning, filed a…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involves a dispute between neighbors Matthew Olds and Mark Huelskamp, which escalated into an altercation on July 18, 2018. The details of the incident are contested, with Olds alleging that Huelskamp pointed a…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case revolves around Kyle Severson, who was convicted for mitigated deliberate homicide after shooting Tyler Hayden. Severson, his girlfriend, her sister, and his daughter were at a convenience store when Hayden and…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves a group of plaintiffs, including Forward Montana, Leo Gallagher, Montana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and Gary Zadick, who challenged the constitutionality of two amendments to Senate Bill…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves T.S. (Mother) and A.A. (Father) who appealed the termination of their parental rights to their minor children (D.A., L.A., and F.A.) by the Montana Second Judicial District Court. The Child and Family…

Justia Opinion Summary: The parties, Nancy M. Steward and Joseph H. Steward, were married in 2006 and divorced in 2020, with two minor children. The court adopted their Stipulated Parenting Plan (SPP), which included a child support…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the Supreme Court of Montana reversed and remanded a decision of the Thirteenth Judicial District Court, Yellowstone County. The case involved Saddlebrook Investments (Saddlebrook), assignee of Stuart…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of the State of Montana ruled on a case involving a dispute over a proposed ballot initiative related to reproductive rights. In the case, Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights and Samuel Dickman, M.D.…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case concerns the constitutionality of several Montana election laws. The plaintiffs, a variety of political and human rights organizations, sued the Montana Secretary of State, arguing that certain election laws…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involves a dispute between members of Black Gold Enterprises, LLC, a company formed in 2013, including plaintiff Adam Pummill, plaintiff Kurtis Robertson, and defendant Joshua T. Patterson. The source of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case revolves around Eric Boudette, who was convicted of Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol, First Offense, following a jury trial on May 31, 2022. Boudette appealed the verdict, asserting that his motion to…

Justia Opinion Summary: In Montana, Robert Murray Gibbons was found guilty of driving under the influence, his fifth or subsequent offense. On appeal to the Montana Supreme Court, Gibbons raised three issues. First, he argued that the District…

Justia Opinion Summary: In a case before the Supreme Court of the State of Montana, the Montana Environmental Information Center sued the Montana Department of Public Service Regulation, Public Service Commission, and Northwestern Corporation,…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the defendant, Malinda Crazymule, was found to have violated her probation. The Sixteenth Judicial District Court, Rosebud County revoked her suspended sentence and ordered a four-year commitment to the…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involves a minor plaintiff, identified as S.W., who suffered severe injuries inflicted by her father's girlfriend. The State of Montana's Department of Public Health and Human Services was sued based on claims…

Justia Opinion Summary: In November 2019, Vietnam veteran Bruce Schroder was charged with criminal mischief, a felony, after he removed an Uber sign from driver Jamie Hauge's car and pounded on the vehicle when several younger women offered…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, Kaitlyn Holmes, a nurse, was convicted of theft and ordered to pay restitution for stealing credit cards from the personal belongings of several employees at a medical clinic in Bozeman, Montana. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, petitioners Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights and Samuel Dickman, M.D., sought a declaratory judgment on original jurisdiction against the Montana Attorney General and the Montana Secretary of State.…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involves an appeal against a judgment from the Montana Eighteenth Judicial District Court, Gallatin County, which committed the appellant, G.M., into the custody and care of the Montana State Hospital (MSH) for…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves Michael Goguen, an engineer and businessman, who was the subject of two civil suits alleging sexual and criminal misconduct. The New York Post published an article detailing these lawsuits, which Goguen…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of the State of Montana was presiding over a dispute regarding the reimbursement claim of Angela Mastrovito from the Estate of Rebekah Barsotti. Mastrovito, the mother of the deceased Rebekah Barsotti,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of the State of Montana affirmed a lower court decision that granted Dr. Gregory S. Tierney's motion to dismiss a medical malpractice lawsuit filed by Janice M. Dodds for insufficient service of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves an appeal from a defendant, Christopher Michael Welch, who was convicted of attempted incest, incest, sexual abuse of children, and unlawful restraint. Welch began dating the mother of three daughters…

Justia Opinion Summary: In a dispute arising from a failed subdivision in Missoula County, Montana, a group of property purchasers, led by Gilbert and Judith Johnston, claimed that Flying S Title and Escrow, Inc., breached a purported contract…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of Montana overturned the conviction of Daniel Christopher Rowe for sexual assault, a felony. Rowe was initially charged with the offense for multiple instances of abuse that allegedly took place over…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of the State of Montana affirmed a lower court's decision that an insurance agency, Rames Inc., formerly known as Central Insurance Agency, had a duty to procure additional insurance coverage for a…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involves an appeal by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Tintina Montana Incorporated (Tintina) of a district court's order revoking a permit granted to Tintina to construct and operate…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, defendant Bradley Alan Stokes appealed his convictions from the Fourteenth Judicial District Court, Musselshell County, for both burglary and assault with a weapon. Stokes was charged with these crimes…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the defendant, June Wolverine, was charged with six misdemeanor traffic violations, including a third offense of Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol (DUI). Wolverine was unable to attend her trial due to…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case was a negligence action brought by Dennis Vancos against the State of Montana, Department of Transportation, for injuries he sustained when struck by a car at an intersection. Vancos alleged that the traffic…

Justia Opinion Summary: The defendant, Jacob Palmer, was found guilty of felony Partner or Family Member Assault (PFMA) by the Eleventh Judicial District Court, Flathead County, following an incident where he attacked his girlfriend, K.Y., with…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves an appellant, M.T.H., who was arrested for criminal endangerment after he pulled the steering wheel in his mother's vehicle while she was driving. M.T.H. was diagnosed with major depressive disorder and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Shawn Fowler, a former Montana state trooper, sued the Department of Justice, Montana Highway Patrol (MHP) alleging constructive discharge in violation of the Wrongful Discharge from Employment Act (WDEA). He also…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of the State of Montana was tasked with determining whether the Municipal Court had sufficient evidence to enter a permanent order of protection against the appellant, Alda Bighorn. Bighorn was…

Justia Opinion Summary: Duane Burchill was convicted of two counts of robbery, one count of conspiracy to commit deceptive practices, and one count of possession of dangerous drugs in 2017. Following his conviction, Burchill filed a petition…

Justia Opinion Summary: In Montana, a group of plaintiffs, including Forward Montana, Leo Gallagher, Montana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and Gary Zadick, challenged two amendments to Senate Bill 319 (SB 319) on the grounds that…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the Supreme Court of the State of Montana addressed a dispute over a settlement agreement regarding the sale of a house and the subsequent release of construction-related claims. Daniel Perl and Sandra Perl…

Justia Opinion Summary: In the state of Montana, William James Rupnow Jr., a licensed bail bondsman, was accused of criminal offenses after he tried to apprehend a client, Victorianne Dahl, who had violated her bail conditions. Dahl had…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves Petitioner Victoria Deschamps who sought a writ of supervisory control over the Twenty-First Judicial District Court, Ravalli County, in Montana due to the court's denial of her request to waive court…

Justia Opinion Summary: David Abraham Lorenz was convicted in 2003 for operating an illegal drug lab and possessing illegal drugs in the state of Montana. His initial sentence was partially suspended, but multiple violations led to the…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case from the Supreme Court of the State of Montana, the defendant, Cody Ray Tunnell, appealed from his conviction and sentence for driving under the influence as a fourth offense and criminal endangerment. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of the State of Montana affirmed a lower court's ruling in a tax dispute between Bluebird Energy LLC and the State of Montana Department of Revenue. Bluebird Energy acquired three oil wells that had…

Justia Opinion Summary: In the Supreme Court of the State of Montana, defendant Nels Jerry Peterson appealed his conviction on the offense of sexual assault against his eleven-year-old step-granddaughter (Q.H.). The main contention was the…

Justia Opinion Summary: In the case before the Supreme Court of the State of Montana, the plaintiff, Billy Ann Merila, sought the expulsion of her business partner, Daniel Brian Burke, from their partnership, MBC. MBC is a business entity that…

Justia Opinion Summary: In Montana, Hannah Rose Kuntz was charged with Violation of a Protective Order and pleaded not guilty. The City of Great Falls requested multiple continuances due to witness unavailability, with the final one being due…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case is an appeal from a District Court order enforcing a Water Court decree related to water rights in Big Warm Creek, in Phillips County. Little Big Warm Ranch, LLC (LBWR) argued against the enforcement order and…