Melinda Deiter v. Donald Coons

394 P.3d 87, 162 Idaho 44, 92 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 681, 2017 WL 1549946, 2017 Ida. LEXIS 116
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedMay 1, 2017
DocketDocket 42634-2014
StatusPublished

This text of 394 P.3d 87 (Melinda Deiter v. Donald Coons) 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
Melinda Deiter v. Donald Coons, 394 P.3d 87, 162 Idaho 44, 92 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 681, 2017 WL 1549946, 2017 Ida. LEXIS 116 (Idaho 2017).

Opinions

EISMANN, Justice.

This is an appeal out of Gem County from a judgment dismissing claims against the person who sold a steer for slaughter that was later contaminated with E. coli bacteria by the slaughterer and against the persons to whom the slaughterer delivered the carcass for processing into packages of meat. We affirm the judgment of the district court.

I.

Factual Background.

Patty Anderson agreed to sell a 4-H steer for her eighteen-year-old granddaughter Danielle Bryant, who had purchased and raised the steer. Ms. Anderson placed an ad on Craigslist, and Joseph Deiter responded to the ad, but he only wanted to purchase one-half of the steer. He and Ms. Anderson communicated regarding various issues, and she ultimately prepared a handwritten contract (“Deiter Contract”), which they both signed. The contract provided:

This is a contract iniated [sic] on Aug. 14, 2010 between Patty A Anderson and Joseph and Melinda Deiter ... Meridian, ID.
A deposit of $100.00 (check # 1178) has been received by Patty A. Anderson for 1/2 of a beef in (carcass weight). Once the beef has been killed and delivered to Don’s Meat in Emmett, ID, the carcass weight will be known and Sharon Coons (owner of Don’s Meat) will tell us what that weight is. At that time Joseph and Melinda Deiter will pay me (Patty Anderson) the amount of $2.26 lb for 1/2 the beef. When the meat has been cut + wrapped by Don’s Meat Joseph and Melinda Deiter will pay Sharon Coons 45<t lb for that service and will pick up their half of the beef.

Once Mr. Deiter had paid the $100.00 deposit and returned the signed contract, Ms. Anderson then had to find someone who was willing to purchase the other half of the steer before it was slaughtered. She placed another ad on Craigslist seeking a purchaser for the other half of the steer. A Mrs. Kirk i-esponded to that ad, paid a $100.00 deposit, and signed a handwritten contract dated August 17, 2010, that had been prepared by Ms. Anderson.

Ms. Anderson contacted Donald Janak, who along with his wife own Janak, Inc., a mobile slaughtering business. He was asked to slaughter the steer on behalf of Mr. Deiter and Mrs. Kirk and to deliver the carcass to Don’s Meats, which was a custom meat processing business that was owned and operated by Donald and Sharon Coons and their daughter Penny Coons. Mr. Janak and an employee of Janakj Inc., went to Ms. Anderson’s property, where Ms. Anderson’s ex-husband delivered possession of the steer to Mr. Janak. Mr. Janak and the employee slaughtered and skinned the steer, cut the carcass in half down the middle, and delivered the two halves of the carcass to Don’s [47]*47Meats, where the meat was processed. Mr. Deiter’s half of the carcass was processed first, and then Mrs. Kirk’s half of the carcass was processed. Ms. Anderson paid Mr. Ja-nak’s fee. Mr. Deiter and Mrs. Kirk informed Don’s Meats how they each wanted their respective halves of the carcass butchered and wrapped, and they each picked up their respective quantities of cut-and-wrapped meat from Don’s Meats. Each package of meat was marked “Not for Sale.” After eating the meat, the members of the Deiter family became ill due to becoming infected with E. coli bacteria.

On January 9, 2012, the Deiters filed this action against Ms. Anderson, Mr. Janak and his corporation, and the Coonses. Ms. Anderson filed a motion for summary judgment as to the claims against her, and, after briefing and argument, the district court granted her motion. The Deiters filed a motion for reconsideration, but the court denied their motion. The Coonses moved for summary judgment as to the claims against them and, after briefing and argument, the district court granted their motion. The Deiters settled with Mr. Janak and Janak, Inc., and they appealed the judgment in favor of Ms. Anderson and the Coonses. After oral argument, this Court requested that the parties submit additional briefing on the issue of when title to the steer passed under the Uniform Commercial Code, and the parties did so.

II.

Did the District Court Err in Granting Summary Judgment to Ms. Anderson?

In them complaint, the Deiters alleged various theories of liability against Ms. Anderson, but the only theory they argue on appeal is that she was negligent per se for violating the Federal Meat Inspection Act, specifically 21 U.S.C. § 610(c). They argued to the district court that she violated the act because she sold adulterated meat; the steer was slaughtered under insanitary conditions; and she did not sell, slaughter, or prepare the steer for her own use. On appeal, the Deiters argue additional alleged violations of the Act that they contend would be a basis for a finding of negligence per se. Because those additional theories were not argued in the district court, we will not consider them on appeal. “An appellant is bound by the issues and theories upon which the case was tried below. Although a judgment may be sustained upon any legal theory, a new theory cannot be employed on appeal to attack the judgment.” Clements Farms, Inc. v. Ben Fish & Son, 120 Idaho 185, 207, 814 P.2d 917, 939 (1991).

The Deiters argued to the district court that Mr. Anderson was negligent per se for violating section 610(c) of the Act, which provides:

No person, firm, or corporation shall, with respect to any cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines, or any carcasses, parts of carcasses, meat or meat food products of any such animals—
[[Image here]]
(c) Sales, transportation, and other transactions
sell, transport, offer for sale or transportation, or receive for transportation, in commerce, (1) any such articles which (A) are capable of use as human food and (B) are adulterated or misbranded at the time of such sale, transportation, offer for sale or transportation, or receipt for transportation; or (2) any articles required to be inspected under this subehapter unless they have been so inspected and passed
[[Image here]]

In order to violate this provision, Ms. Anderson would have had to “sell, transport, offer for sale or transportation, or receive for transportation, [the described articles] in commerce.” When initially enacted, the Act did not apply to intrastate transactions. The word “commerce” was defined to mean only interstate transactions. 21 U.S.C. § 601(h). The Act was later amended to permit the Secretary of Agriculture to designate a State as one in which the Act applies to operations and transactions wholly within the State if it has failed to develop or is not enforcing requirements equal to those imposed by the Act. 21 U.S.C. § 661(4)(c)(1). The Secretary designated Idaho as subject to the Act in 1981. Designation of the State of Idaho un[48]*48der the Federal Meat Inspection Act, 46 Fed. Reg. 28837-01 (May 29, 1981). Years later, the Idaho Legislature repealed Idaho’s meat inspection laws. Ch. 94, § 1, 2006 Idaho Sess. Laws, 267, 267.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
394 P.3d 87, 162 Idaho 44, 92 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 681, 2017 WL 1549946, 2017 Ida. LEXIS 116, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/melinda-deiter-v-donald-coons-idaho-2017.