Fred L. Gibson

In Featherman v. Kennedy, the dispute centered on whether a pleaded contract fell under real estate employment regulations. The opinion concluded that the contract did not involve employing the plaintiff to purchase or sell real estate, placing it outside the scope of subdivision 6, section 7519 of the Revised Codes of 1935. As a result, the justice dissented, arguing that the demurrer to the complaint should have been overruled.

business & regulatorypropertyprocedure

The case involved a defendant charged and convicted in district court under an older Montana statute for selling intoxicating liquor to a minor under age 21, resulting in a fine and suspended jail sentence. Following the precedent set in State v. Holt, the court held that the charging statute had been repealed by the State Liquor Control Act and that the Retail Liquor Dealers' License Act instead governed sales by licensed dealers or their employees. Under the new Act, such conduct by a licensee or employee constitutes a misdemeanor with different penalties, and the district court lacked original jurisdiction over the offense. The facts showed the defendant was a bartender employed by a licensed club and made the sale in that capacity, placing the case squarely under the Holt ruling. The court therefore reversed the judgment and remanded with instructions to dismiss the action.

criminal lawbusiness & regulatory

This case involves the Montana inheritance tax applicable to an irrevocable 1915 trust transfer of corporate stock by Augusta Kohrs, and whether a 1934 agreement among beneficiaries modified the transfer in a way that triggered a higher tax rate enacted in 1923. The district court had determined the tax using the 1915 rate on the ground that beneficial interests vested at the time of the original transfer. The dissent argues that the statute plainly imposes the tax when a person becomes beneficially entitled in possession or expectancy to the property by the transfer, which occurred in 1915, that the 1915 transfer divested the settlor of title without retained powers, and that the 1934 agreement did not constitute the taxable event for purposes of the estate tax determination before the court. Tax laws are to be strictly construed in favor of the taxpayer, and the district court's order applying the earlier rate should therefore be affirmed.

taxesproperty

The case concerned whether bonds and bank accounts belonging to a decedent were subject to taxation under Montana inheritance tax statutes governing joint ownership and transfers made shortly before death. The court held that the bonds were taxable because they were not held in the joint names of the decedent and alternate payees and had not been delivered to those payees, so they fell outside the statutory definition of joint property. As to the bank accounts totaling roughly $8,347, the opinion concluded that the statutory presumption for taxing transfers within three years did not apply, since those accounts were not a material part of an estate valued at more than $125,000, with only half therefore taxable under the joint-ownership provision.

taxesproperty

The case concerned a dispute over the transfer of territory between school districts in Blaine County, Montana, after the county superintendent abandoned district 34 and reassigned its lands, with some going to district 15. Resident taxpayers and electors in the reassigned portion petitioned to move that area to district 67; the superintendent denied the petition, but the board of county commissioners reversed on appeal and ordered the transfer. Plaintiffs, taxpayers in district 15, sued to invalidate the board's order as arbitrary and unsupported by evidence. The district court upheld the board, and the Montana Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the statute vested the board with discretion to consider factors such as geography, access to schools, number of children, and financial impacts, that the decision was supported by substantial evidence and not arbitrary, and that courts would not interfere with a proper exercise of that discretion.

procedureproperty

The case involved appellants Frank Holt, a tavern owner, and Elija Hall, his bartender, who were charged in separate informations with the crime of selling or supplying intoxicating liquor to a minor in June 1946. After a consolidated trial, the district court convicted both defendants under a repealed statute and sentenced each to a $400 fine plus six months in county jail. The Supreme Court reversed the convictions and dismissed the actions, reasoning that the charged statute had been repealed by subsequent legislation including the 1937 retail liquor dealers' license act, that the defendants could not be prosecuted for one crime and punished for another, and that the evidence tended to prove a different offense triable only as a misdemeanor in justice court rather than the charged felony.

criminal lawbusiness & regulatory

The case involved a petition for a writ of mandate to require the district court to summon a jury and set for trial a pending wrongful death damages action against Intermountain Transportation Company, which had been at issue since 1946. The district court had declined to act because neither party had requested or participated in a pretrial conference as required by the court's Rule XXX, adopted under authority of section 9327 of the Montana codes. The Montana Supreme Court held that the rule was validly promulgated, that it reasonably conditioned the setting of jury trials on completion of the conference process, and that no clear legal duty existed to call a jury or set the case until the parties complied. The court therefore denied the peremptory writ.

proceduretorts & liability

The case involved a petition for a writ of mandate to require the district court to summon a jury and set for trial a pending wrongful death damages action against Intermountain Transportation Company, which had been at issue since 1946. The district court had declined to act because neither party had requested or participated in a pretrial conference as required by the court's Rule XXX, adopted under authority of section 9327 of the Montana codes. The Montana Supreme Court held that the rule was validly promulgated, that it reasonably conditioned the setting of jury trials on completion of the conference process, and that no clear legal duty existed to call a jury or set the case until the parties complied. The court therefore denied the peremptory writ.

proceduretorts & liability

This case concerned whether Montana could impose inheritance tax on the interest of a deceased resident partner in a mining partnership that held real and personal property within the state. The majority held that the property was owned by the partnership and that the partner's interest in it was tangible property situated in Montana, rendering the transfer taxable there. The court declined to follow U.S. Supreme Court precedent classifying a general partnership interest as an intangible chose in action. The provided opinion is a dissent that agrees the assets were partnership property but maintains that the interest remained intangible and subject to taxation only in the decedent's domicile under reciprocal exemption statutes.

taxespropertybusiness & regulatory

This case concerned a dispute over whether tenants who had leased agricultural land in Montana were entitled to hold over for another full year under a state statute after their lease expired on April 1, 1942, without a demand for possession or notice to quit from the landlord. The dissenting justice concluded that a registered letter sent by the landlord less than 60 days after expiration, directing the tenants to contact her agent for any future rental or purchase, sufficiently rebutted the statutory presumption of renewal and established that the tenants were trespassers when they cut and harvested hay in July. The opinion reasoned that the statute creates only a rebuttable presumption, the notice made clear the lease was not renewed, and the landlord retained constructive possession of the unfenced grazing land, supporting affirmance of the judgment for the respondent buyer.

property

This case involves the scope of authority granted to Montana's commissioner of agriculture under state law to handle complaints by growers against licensed wholesale produce dealers, specifically an order requiring a dealer and its surety to pay damages for an alleged contract breach. The dissenting justice concludes that the commissioner lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate contract disputes or award damages, as the statute (section 2443.8) only authorizes dismissal of charges, license suspension or revocation, or similar license-related orders. The reasoning applies rules of statutory construction, including noscitur a sociis, to limit the commissioner's powers to regulatory functions concerning licenses, while noting that determinations of legal rights between private parties belong to the courts; appeals under the statute are similarly restricted to license matters.

business & regulatoryprocedure

This case concerned whether the City of Missoula could enter into a conditional sales contract to purchase and install parking meters and enact an ordinance regulating their use without submitting the matter to a vote of resident freeholders. Taxpayers sued to enjoin the contract and Ordinance 743, arguing that it granted an unlawful franchise or special privilege, violated constitutional limits on local laws, and was primarily a revenue-raising measure rather than a traffic regulation. The trial court agreed that the arrangement constituted a franchise and issued an injunction, but the Montana Supreme Court reversed. The court held that the contract was a valid conditional sale under which the city retained full control over meter placement, operation, and revenue collection, with no special privilege granted to the vendor. It further reasoned that cities possess police power under state statutes to regulate street parking and traffic, and that the meters were a permissible aid to enforcement rather than a franchise requiring voter approval.

business & regulatory

The case concerned a deputy sheriff appointed in Yellowstone County who, due to illness, performed no duties during April, May, and June 1945 but later sought a writ of mandamus to compel payment of his salary for those months. The board of county commissioners had refused the request, and the district court dismissed the action after sustaining a demurrer. The Montana Supreme Court affirmed, holding that a deputy sheriff is not a public officer under the rule that salary attaches to the legal title of an office regardless of service performed. Instead, deputies serve at the pleasure of the appointing power without a fixed term and function only as substitutes for the sheriff. Montana statutes, including the requirement under section 4891 that a deputy must file an affidavit confirming services rendered before compensation can be ordered, confirmed that payment depends on actual performance of duties.

labor & employment

The case concerned the City of Philipsburg's effort to redeem before maturity and refund water system bonds issued in 1937 and held by the state board of land commissioners, using proceeds from new lower-interest refunding bonds authorized under a 1945 statutory amendment. The court held that the city had no right to early redemption, affirming dismissal of its mandamus action against the state treasurer. The core reasoning was that the statute in force at the time of the original issuance governed the bonds' terms, requiring an explicit redemption option in the bonds themselves, which was absent, and that the later amendment did not apply retroactively to alter the contract.

business & regulatory

The case involved a dispute over the value of use and occupancy of land and fixtures in Conrad, Montana, where Pritchard Petroleum claimed ownership and sought recovery from Farmers Co-Op for operating a gasoline and oil business on the premises from 1935 onward after the plaintiff had ceased operations. The complaint alleged the defendant took possession under a defective tax deed and sold millions of gallons of product, seeking $31,250 in mesne profits based on a per-gallon and per-pound valuation. The trial court granted a nonsuit to the defendant, but the Montana Supreme Court reversed, holding that the occupying claimants statute (Rev. Codes 1935, sec. 9491) does not displace common-law equitable principles allowing credit for improvements that enhance the land's value against a claim for use and occupancy, and that such defenses (including estoppel or acquiescence) could apply on remand. The court remanded for a new trial to determine the facts regarding improvements and any applicable offsets, without permitting a judgment over if improvement value exceeded mesne profits.

property

In Chovanak v. Matthews, a Montana resident, citizen, taxpayer, and elector sued members of the state board of equalization under the Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act, seeking a ruling that Chapter 142 of the 1945 Montana Session Laws—which authorized licensing of slot machines operated by religious, fraternal, charitable, or nonprofit organizations—was unconstitutional as a lottery prohibited by the state constitution, as well as discriminatory and violative of single-subject rules. The district court sustained a demurrer, holding that the plaintiff lacked legal capacity to sue because the statute did not affect any of his personal legal rights. The Montana Supreme Court affirmed, reasoning that judicial power under the declaratory judgment statute extends only to actual cases or controversies involving a plaintiff's personal rights, not abstract questions or generalized citizen or taxpayer interests, and noting that other procedures such as abatement actions were available to test the law's validity.

criminal lawprocedure

This case involved automobile dealers who paid taxes under protest on two new cars purchased in March 1946 to replenish their stock after selling cars assessed earlier that year. The dealers sued to recover the taxes, claiming that Chapter 157 of the Laws of 1945 exempted such replenishments from additional taxation as long as the stock was not materially increased. The court interpreted the statute's exception provision and determined that the cars qualified for the exemption since they were brought in to replenish the assessed stock without a material increase. Therefore, the assessment and tax levy were improper, and the trial court's judgment in favor of the dealers was affirmed.

taxesbusiness & regulatory

This case involved a workers' compensation claim by a truck driver employed by Anaconda Copper Mining Co. who was injured while playing an impromptu game of handball with coworkers during his lunch break in the employer's garage. The opinion is a dissent arguing that the employee should not receive compensation under the Montana Employees’ Compensation Act. The core reasoning is that the injury did not arise out of and in the course of employment, as the game was not sponsored or encouraged by the employer, was not part of the employee's duties, and did not involve a hazard or risk peculiar to the job, unlike cases where employers actively supported such activities as incidental to work. The justice would reverse the district court's judgment awarding compensation.

labor & employment

The case involved the Montana State Board of Examiners in Photography seeking an injunction to stop a non-resident photographer from taking and selling school photos in the state without a license under Chapter 37 of the 1937 Session Laws, which defined the practice of photography, created a licensing board and examination process, and made unlicensed practice a misdemeanor punishable by fine or jail. The complaint alleged that criminal penalties were inadequate because the defendant lacked assets for collection, but the district court sustained the defendant's demurrer challenging the statute and dismissed the suit. The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal, reasoning that the board had no statutory authority to enforce the licensing requirement through equity or injunction, the law provided only for criminal prosecution, and no facts establishing a nuisance or other grounds for injunctive relief were alleged, so the constitutional validity of the statute did not need to be decided.

business & regulatorycriminal lawprocedure