Cafferty v. State, Dept. of Transp.

160 P.3d 763, 144 Idaho 324, 2007 Ida. LEXIS 147
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedMay 31, 2007
Docket32818
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 160 P.3d 763 (Cafferty v. State, Dept. of Transp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cafferty v. State, Dept. of Transp., 160 P.3d 763, 144 Idaho 324, 2007 Ida. LEXIS 147 (Idaho 2007).

Opinion

BURDICK, Justice.

Appellant Camilla Cafferty appeals the district court’s dismissal of her claims for negligence and wrongful death against Respondent State of Idaho, Department of Transportation, Division of Motor Vehicle Services (DMV) based on immunity under the Idaho Torts Claims Act (ITCA). We affirm in part, reverse in part and remand.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The facts of this case are undisputed. On April 14, 2004, Timothy Hedges was released from prison after serving his entire five-year sentence for felony DUI, his eighth DUI. Only four months later, on August 18, 2004, Hedges, driving drunk, crossed the center-line of Highway 21 in Ada County and collided head-on with a vehicle driven by Patrick Cafferty. Patrick Cafferty was killed in the accident, and his wife, Camilla, and son, Allan, were injured. Hedges had a long history of DUI convictions; the accident resulted in Hedges’s tenth DUI conviction. 1 Although Hedges’s driver’s license had been suspended as part of his latest felony DUI conviction, prior to the collision he had applied to have it reinstated, and his license had been reinstated by DMV.

In addition to the aggregate five-year sentence on Hedges’s eighth felony DUI in 1999, the sentencing judge, The Honorable James C. Morfitt, suspended Hedges’s license for five years. The judgment, however, did not indicate when the suspension started, stating: “IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the defendants driving privileges are suspended for a period of five (5) years.” After initially receiving the judgment suspending Hedges’s license, DMV inputted a suspension start date of July 25, 2001 (five years from Hedges’s earliest possible release date). The DMV notified Hedges that his suspension would last through April 26, 2005. 2 Subsequently, however, Danny E. Reed, a records specialist of the DMV, reviewed the file and changed the start date of the suspension to July 20, 1999, the date the order was signed; this change was based upon the silence in the district court order as to the start date and the DMVs policy regarding such silence.

On May 12, 2004, the district judge issued Hedges a temporary restricted license. The temporary restricted driver’s license stated that Hedges’s five-year suspension began on July 9, 1999. DMV received a copy of the temporary restricted license on July 9, 2004. Once again, DMV records were changed, this time to reflect that the suspension began on July 9, 1999, and expired on July 9, 2004. *327 Less than three months after his release from prison, on July 13, 2004, after Hedges applied for a license and passed the relevant tests, DMV issued him an unrestricted license.

After the accident, Camilla Cafferty filed a complaint alleging gross negligence against DMV. Prior to trial, the parties made cross-motions for summary judgment. The district court then orally granted DMV’s motion for summary judgment, and Cafferty appeals this decision.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

When reviewing a motion for summary judgment, this Court uses the same standard employed by the trial court when deciding such a motion. Kolln v. Saint Luke’s Regl. Med. Ctr., 130 Idaho 323, 327, 940 P.2d 1142, 1146 (1997). “[I]f the pleadings, depositions, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law” summary judgment is proper. I.R.C.P. 56(c). The burden is on the moving party to prove an absence of genuine issues of material fact. Evans v. Griswold, 129 Idaho 902, 905, 935 P.2d 165, 168 (1997). In addition, this Court views the facts and inferences in the record in favor of the non-moving party. Id.

The interpretation of a statute is a question of law over which this Court exercises free review. See, e.g., Martin v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 138 Idaho 244, 246, 61 P.3d 601, 603 (2002).

III. ANALYSIS

In addition to the “strong line” of authority setting out the standards under which this Court reviews a motion for summary judgment, Harris v. State Dept. of Health & Welfare, 123 Idaho 295, 298, 847 P.2d 1156, 1159 (1992), when reviewing a motion for summary judgment against a governmental entity and its employees under ITCA, this Court must engage in a three step analysis. Coonse ex rel. Coonse v. Boise Sch. Dist., 132 Idaho 803, 805, 979 P.2d 1161, 1163 (1999); Harris, 123 Idaho at 298 n. 1, 847 P.2d at 1159 n. 1; Olguin v. City of Burley, 119 Idaho 721, 723, 810 P.2d 255, 257 (1991); Czaplicki v. Gooding Joint Sch. Dist. No. 231, 116 Idaho 326, 330, 775 P.2d 640, 644 (1989). First, we must determine whether “tort recovery is allowed under the laws of Idaho.” Harris, 123 Idaho at 298 n. 1, 847 P.2d at 1159 n. 1. Second, this Court determines if “an exception to liability under the ITCA shields the alleged misconduct from liability.” Coonse, 132 Idaho at 805, 979 P.2d at 1163. Finally, “if no exception applies, [we examine] whether the merits of the claim as presented for consideration on the motion for summary judgment entitle the moving party to dismissal.” Id.

Here, the parties concede that a cause of action for negligence exists under the laws of Idaho. They disagree, however, on whether an exception to the liability of ITCA provides DMV with immunity from Cafferty’s suit. Cafferty recognizes that DMV is only liable for issuing Hedges a license if its actions were grossly negligent or reckless, willful and wanton. See I.C. § 6-904B(3). 3 Importantly, the parties do not argue that there is a question of fact; instead they argue as to whether the facts show that DMV’s actions rose to a level of gross negligence so as to open DMV to liability. Cafferty maintains that because DMV failed to follow its statutory obligations when it issued the license it cannot claim immunity under ITCA.

First, Cafferty asserts that I.C. § 18-8005(5)(d) governs this situation, and DMV’s failure to follow its mandates amounts to *328 gross negligence or reckless, willful or wanton conduct. Moreover, Cafferty asserts that DMV’s failure to use the procedures set out in I.C. § 49-326A also amount to gross negligence or reckless, willful and wanton conduct. Finally, Cafferty argues that DMV’s failure to refuse Hedges a license under I.C.

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Bluebook (online)
160 P.3d 763, 144 Idaho 324, 2007 Ida. LEXIS 147, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cafferty-v-state-dept-of-transp-idaho-2007.