Murphy v. State

809 P.2d 16, 248 Mont. 82, 48 State Rptr. 335, 1991 Mont. LEXIS 85
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedApril 11, 1991
Docket90-271
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 809 P.2d 16 (Murphy v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Murphy v. State, 809 P.2d 16, 248 Mont. 82, 48 State Rptr. 335, 1991 Mont. LEXIS 85 (Mo. 1991).

Opinions

CHIEF JUSTICE TURNAGE

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

The plaintiff, L.C., brought this action in the District Court of the First Judicial District, Lewis and Clark County, to recover damages from the State of Montana as a consequence of her confinement and treatment in the Montana State Hospital at Warm Springs. Here, she appeals an order granting partial summary judgment to the State for all acts or omissions before July 1, 1973. We affirm.

The issues are:

1. Did the District Court err in ruling that the State’s purchase of insurance for a later time period did not waive sovereign immunity for torts occurring prior to 1973?
2. Did the court err in ruling that the statutory bond requirements for state employees do not waive sovereign immunity?
3. Did the court err in holding that the daily operation of Montana State Hospital at Warm Springs was not a proprietary function which would preempt the defense of sovereign immunity?

[84]*84The State moves to strike references in L.C.’s recitation of the facts to a deposition of Dr. Harr. That deposition is not in the record on appeal. This Court frowns upon references in briefs to matters not in the record. Such matters will not be considered by the Court. Garza v. Peppard (1986), 222 Mont. 244, 248, 722 P.2d 610, 612-13. The statements attributed to Dr. Harr have not been considered in reaching this Opinion.

L.C. was placed in the state mental institution, Montana State Hospital at Warm Springs, in 1963 at the age of thirteen. Except for brief periods, she remained there until 1975. In 1986, through her guardian ad litem, she filed this suit, alleging that she became seriously mentally ill as a result of being confined in the Montana State Hospital. Her complaint includes claims of false imprisonment; cruel and inhumane punishment; denial of freedom, due process, education and equal protection; outrageous conduct; negligence; and negligent supervision.

In March 1987, the District Court granted the State’s motion to dismiss this action, ruling that the statute of limitations had run before the complaint was filed. Concluding that L.C.’s double disability of minority and mental illness had tolled the statute of limitations, this Court reversed the lower court’s ruling and remanded the case for further proceedings. Murphy for L.C. v. State (1987), 229 Mont. 342, 748 P.2d 907.

On remand, the State moved for partial summary judgment that sovereign immunity bars recovery for any of its acts before July 1, 1973. After briefing and oral argument, the court entered an order granting that motion. L.C. obtained certification of the order under Rule 54(b), M.R.Civ.P, and appeals.

I

Did the District Court err in ruling that the State’s purchase of insurance for a later time period did not waive sovereign immunity for torts occurring prior to 1973?

L.C. argues that an insurance policy purchased to cover the State for personal injury and other claims for the period from July 1,1973, through July 1,1976, relates back to her claims because some of her damages were manifested during that period. The District Court noted that under § 1-2-109, MCA, no law is retroactive unless expressly so declared and that prior to July 1, 1973, the State could not be sued for injury caused by its actions or those of its officers. Under the [85]*851889 Montana Constitution, the State had sovereign immunity. The court found no indication in legislative history of an attempt to extend a waiver of sovereign immunity to pre-1973 torts committed by the State. Further, it reviewed federal case law and concluded that because L.C.’s injury manifested itself prior to the insurance policy period, the insurance policy does not cover the injury.

After the District Court made its ruling, this Court issued its opinion in Crowell v. School Dist. No. 7 (Mont. 1991), [247 Mont. 38,] 805 P.2d 522, 48 St.Rep. 81, [10 Ed Law 8]. In Crowell, the Court held that the purchase of insurance may waive sovereign immunity to the extent of the insurance coverage. Therefore, we must examine the terms of the insurance policy.

L.C. maintains that her claims fall under coverage “E,” personal injury Lability, of the State’s insurance policy. She argues that the policy contains no time limitation on when an injury under coverage “E” occurred.

Coverage “E” applies to damages for false arrest, detention, imprisonment, malicious prosecution, libel or slander, publication or utterance in violation of an individual’s right of privacy, and wrongful entry or eviction or other invasion of the right of private occupancy. It provides that “damages” means “only those damages which are payable because of personal injury arising out of an offense to which this insurance applies.” The insurance policy provides at endorsement #1 that

“(b)... the total liability of the company for all damages because of all... personal injury and other damages to which this policy applies which occur during each annual period while this policy is in force commencing from its effective date shall not exceed the limit of liability stated in the Schedule of this endorsement ...” [Emphasis supplied.]
Endorsement #1 clearly encompasses personal injury under coverage “E” and limits damages to those which occur “during each annual period while this policy is in force commencing from its effective date.”

L.C. also argues that, under the insurance policy’s definition of “occurrence,” her claim constitutes one “occurrence” lasting from her initial hospitalization in 1963 to her eventual release in 1975. The policy language upon which she relies appears in endorsement #1:

“(c) For the purpose of determining the limit of the company’s liability, all... personal injury, and other damages to which this policy applies arising out of continuous or repeated exposure to [86]*86substantially the same general conditions shall be considered as arising out of one occurrence.”

The policy defines “occurrence” as:

“an event, or a continuous or repeated exposure to conditions, which results in bodily injury or property damage during the policy period that is neither knowingly nor intentionally caused by or at the direction of the insured.”

L.C. argues that all of her damages arise from one “occurrence” which is covered under the policy.

In interpreting the term “occurrence” in insurance policies, courts have developed several theories of exception to the basic principle that an insurance policy provides coverage only for incidents occurring during the policy period. These theories were developed in cases involving delayed manifestation of injury, as in exposure to asbestos. Coverage has been allowed if the act causing the injury occurred during the policy period or if the injury initially manifested itself during the policy period. See Hancock Laboratories, Inc. v. Admiral Ins. (9th Cir. 1985), 777 F.2d 520.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
809 P.2d 16, 248 Mont. 82, 48 State Rptr. 335, 1991 Mont. LEXIS 85, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/murphy-v-state-mont-1991.