Lutes v. Yellow Kidney

2 Am. Tribal Law 55
CourtConfederated Salish & Kootenai Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 15, 1999
DocketNo. AP 98-175-CV
StatusPublished

This text of 2 Am. Tribal Law 55 (Lutes v. Yellow Kidney) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Confederated Salish & Kootenai Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lutes v. Yellow Kidney, 2 Am. Tribal Law 55 (salishctapp 1999).

Opinion

OPINION

Chief Justice SMITH:

Sarah A. Lutes filed a Petition for Writ of Supervisory Control and sought to stay the lower court proceedings. We accepted jurisdiction of the case and stayed the lower court proceedings pending our review of this matter.

The underlying case is a negligence action filed by Petitioner in the Tribal Court against Respondents George Lefthand and Reliance National Indemnity Company, the uninsured motorist carrier, in connection with an automobile accident that occurred on May 20, 1997, on Highway 93 near Pablo, Montana. According to the Petition, Mr. Lefthand’s vehicle, while proceeding south on Highway 93 near Pablo, collided with Lutes’ vehicle when the latter entered the highway from a cross-street. Petitioner' contends that the collision was caused by Lefthand’s negligence and that Lefthand’s intoxication was a factor in the cause of the accident.

A jury trial in the matter was scheduled for January 14, 1999. At a pre-trial conference conducted on January 13, 1999, the presiding judge in the case, Charleen Yellow Kidney, ruled that the Petitioner would not be permitted to submit evidence at trial concerning Mr. Lefthand’s con[57]*57sumption of alcohol or his related plea of guilty to driving while under the influence of alcohol. Judge Yellow Kidney concluded that the DUI plea and evidence of intoxication was prejudicial to the Respondent and, therefore, granted the Respondent’s motion in limine to exclude this evidence from the jury- We grant the Petitioner’s request for supervisory control.

In our January 25, 1999, order accepting jurisdiction over the Petition, we noted that the recognition by this Court of a Writ of Supervisory Control was a case of first impression. We concluded that Tribal Ordinance No. 90B could fairly be interpreted to allow the Court to recognize this Writ. Section 3-2-301 of this ordinance states:

The Court of Appeals ... is empowered to hear and determine such original and remedial writs as may be necessary or proper to the complete exercise of its jurisdiction. The institution of such original proceedings in the Court of Appeals is sometimes justified by circumstances of an emergency nature, as when a cause of action or a right has arisen under conditions making consideration in the Tribal Court and due appeal to the Court of Appeals an inadequate remedy, or when supervision of the trial court other than by appeal is necessary and proper.

We do not accept jurisdiction lightly, nor do we intend to accept jurisdiction under this writ on a frequent basis. The writ of supervisory control is an extraordinary writ and shall only be used in extraordinary circumstances. In view of our decision on the issue presented here, if the lower court’s ruling were allowed to stand, it would result in a substantial injustice and waste of judicial resources. Following an appeal, the entire matter would need to be relitigated.

Because this matter has not gone to trial and is still pending before the lower court, we limit our discussion of the facts to those relevant to the immediate issue before this court. The Petitioner alleges thirteen facts relating to alcohol evidence which she believes are relevant to her claims that George Lefthand was intoxicated and-negligent in the cause of the accident. All thirteen alleged facts are supported by Lefthand’s deposition wherein he admits to certain facts, or are contained in the deposition of Tribal Officer Vernon Fisher, who investigated the accident. The fourteen points offered by Petitioner are:

1. Lefthand had been drinking straight for about 48 hours.
2. Lefthand had not slept during that time.
3. Lefthand had consumed approximately 30 one-ounce drinks of one type or another of alcoholic beverage during that time.
4. Lefthand’s post-accident blood-alcohol concentration was 0.194.
5. Lefthand had three passengers with him in the front seat of his pickup, all of whom were either drinking or intoxicated.
6. Lefthand failed to deactivate his right turn signal as he approached the Highway 93 intersection with 2nd Street.
7. Lefthand forgot to deactivate the turn signal because he was “under the weather” (drunk).
8. Lefthand slowed as he approached 2nd Street, as though preparing to make a right turn.
9. Lefthand was distracted in talking with his occupants just before the accident with Lutes, admitting that he was not looking ahead or side-to-side.
[58]*5810. Lefthand’s intention was to make a left, not a right, further south on Highway 93 at Joe’s Jiffy Stop.
11. Officer Vern Fisher testified that alcohol intoxication slows a driver’s perception/reaction time.
12. Officer Vern Fisher testified that accident avoidance may have been a possibility had Lefthand not been impaired by alcohol.
13. Lefthand pled guilty to DUI in Tribal Court.

Reliance National Indemnity Company (referred to as “Respondent” for convenience) argues that the Petitioner has failed to prove that Lefthand’s intoxication was a proximate cause of the accident, and relies on Havens v. State, 285 Mont. 195, 945 P.2d 941 (1997). That case is distinguishable from our facts. In Have/ns, the plaintiff made a pre-trial motion to exclude evidence relating to his alcohol consumption, which was denied. The question of whether the alcohol blood content was sufficient to impair the driver was a contested matter.1 The Montana Supreme Court held that the District Court did not, err in allowing the alcohol consumption evidence to be heard by the jury. Havens, at 201, 945 P.2d 941. The error was in the trial court’s refusal to grant a motion for a new trial when, after promising it would do so at pre-trial, the State failed to introduce the evidence on alcohol effects during the trial.

In contrast, the driver’s blood alcohol content in this case is three times that of the party in Havens, the driver pled guilty to DUI, and substantial evidence has been offered showing that alcohol may have affected his ability to drive.

In Simonson v. White, 220 Mont. 14, 713 P.2d 983 (1986), the Montana Supreme Court affirmed a lower court’s use of a two-part test regarding admissibility of evidence of drugs used prior to an automobile accident. The evidence was held admissible if a foundation is submitted showing: (1) the driver was under the influence at the time of the collision, and (2) the driver’s negligence was the proximate cause of the injuries to the plaintiff. We adopt this test.

The first part of the test is easily satisfied here. Lefthand admits he was drunk and pled guilty to DUI.2 There is substantial corroborating evidence. Under the second prong of the test, the Petitioner must provide a foundation that the driver’s negligence is the proximate cause of the accident. Petitioner has easily satisfied this prong here.

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Related

Sikora v. Sikora
499 P.2d 808 (Montana Supreme Court, 1972)
Aasheim v. Humberger
695 P.2d 824 (Montana Supreme Court, 1985)
Simonson v. White
713 P.2d 983 (Montana Supreme Court, 1986)
Havens v. State
945 P.2d 941 (Montana Supreme Court, 1997)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2 Am. Tribal Law 55, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lutes-v-yellow-kidney-salishctapp-1999.