Opinion
DA 23-0664
05-29-2024
WALTER JOEY OVERSTREET, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. ERIC FETTERHOFF, in his official and individual capacities, JOHN DOES 3-7, MONTANA HIGHWAY PATROL, and PARK COUNTY, MONTANA, a political subdivision, Bruce Becker, individually, and as Park County Attorney, Shannan Piccolo, individually, and as Deputy Park County Attorney, STATE OF MONTANA, and KENDRA LASSITER, Individually, and in her official capacity as Park County Attorney, Defendants and Appellees.
ORDER
Mike McGrath, Chief Justice, Montana Supreme Court.
This Court reviews briefs to ensure compliance with Rules 11 and 12 of the Montana Rules of Appellate Procedure. After reviewing the response brief of Appellee Park County, filed electronically on May 28, 2024, this Court has determined that the brief does not comply with the below-referenced Rule and must be resubmitted.
Appellee's brief does not meet the requirements of M.R. App. P. 12(1)(b)-(d), (f)-(g). "The requirement that appellate briefs 'contain' a party's contentions unquestionably precludes parties from incorporating trial briefs or any other kind of argument into appellate briefs by mere reference. Simply put, appellate arguments must be contained within the appellate brief, not within some other document." State v. Ferguson, 2005 MT 343, ¶ 41, 330 Mont. 103, 117. (Emphasis added).
Appellee's brief adopts portions of another brief filed in this matter, including: a statement of the issues presented for review; a statement of the case; a statement of the facts relevant to the issues presented for review, with references to the pages or parts of the record at which material facts appear; a summary of the argument; and the argument itself. Appellee's brief must contain full versions of these sections that do not rely on other briefs filed in this matter to be understood.
Therefore, IT IS ORDERED that the referenced brief is rejected.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that within ten (10) days of the date of this Order the Appellee shall electronically file with the Clerk of this Court a revised brief containing the revisions necessary to comply with the specified Rule and that the Appellee shall serve copies of the revised brief on all parties of record;
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that no changes, additions, or deletions other than those specified in this Order may be made to the brief as originally filed; and
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the times for any subsequent briefing contained in M. R. App. P. 13 shall run from the date of filing of the revised brief.
The Clerk is directed to provide a true copy of this Order to the Appellee and to all parties of record.