explaining standard of review of a discretionary determination by the district court
How later courts described this case
- explaining standard of review of a discretionary determination by the district court
- ‘[W]e will not review the actions of a trial court, unless the action has been listed as an issue on appeal, especially where no authorities are cited and no argument is contained in the appellate briefs. I.A.R. 35(a)(4) (1987); State v. Hoisington, 104 Idaho 153, 159, 657 P.2d 17, 23 (1983).”
- both holding that trial court abused its discretion when imposing sanctions under I.R.C.P. 11 because it applied incorrect legal test
- quoted in Gubler v. Brydon, 125 Idaho at 113-14, 867 P.2d at 987-88 and adopting the analysis of Cooter & Gell v. Hartmarx Corp., 496 U.S. 384, 110 S.Ct. 2447, 110 L.Ed.2d 359 (1990)
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
BOYLE, Justice,
dissenting.
I concur fully in Parts I, II and IV of the Court’s decision, however, I respectfully dissent to Part III.
The rule set forth in J.M.F. Trucking, Inc. v. Lewiston Carburetor & Electric, 113 Idaho 797 , 748 P.2d 381 (1987), is preferable to that established in the majority opinion. In addition, the circumstances of this case are significantly different from Anderson v. Ethington, 103 Idaho 658 , 651 P.2d 923 (1982), upon which the majority relies. In this case the trial court denied both a motion for summary judgment and a motion to dismiss at the end of plaintiffs case. The motion to dismiss in this case was made and denied after all of the plaintiff’s evidence had been received and heard by the court and jury at trial. Given the difference between the two motions, “[i]t is conceivable that a party may prevail on a motion for summary judgment and still have brought the claim without reasonable foundation,” Anderson v. Ethington, 103 Idaho 658 , 651 P.2d 923, 925 (1982), but to deny a motion to dismiss after all of plaintiff’s evidence has been heard is essentially a determination that a factual conflict exists sufficient to allow the case to be resolved by the jury. To thereafter make a post-trial determination that the case was brought frivolously and without foundation is inconsistent with this Court’s decision in J.M.F. Trucking, Inc. v. Lewiston Carburetor & Electric, 113 Idaho 797, 799 , 748 P.2d 381, 383 (1987). The legal principle set forth in J.M.F. Trucking, provides a certain degree of uniformity and guidance to both the district courts and trial bar, and, in my opinion, is preferable to the rule established in Part III of the majority opinion. Thus, I respectfully dissent to Part III.