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Miller v. City of Red Lodge3/13/2003
Submitted on Briefs: April 18, 2002
Following a dog bite incident, Respondent City of Red Lodge ("City") filed criminal charges against the dog's owner, Appellant Barbara Miller, and obtained an order from Red Lodge City Judge Carol S. Anderson to seize and impound the allegedly vicious dog. The City served Miller with Judge Anderson's order and Miller elected to euthanize the dog instead of boarding it at a local veterinary clinic. Miller then filed suit against the City in the Thirteenth Judicial District Court, Yellowstone County, which was later removed to the Twenty-Second Judicial District Court, Carbon County.
Miller's complaint against the City included due process, equal protection, statutory infirmity, double jeopardy, and 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 claims. Upon motion by the City, the District Court granted summary judgment to the City on Miller's due process, equal protection, statutory infirmity, and double jeopardy claims but denied the City's motion for summary judgment on the §§ 1983 claim. Subsequently, the City filed a second motion for summary judgment regarding the §§ 1983 claim, on judicial and quasi-judicial immunity grounds, which the District Court granted. Miller appeals from the District Court's grant of summary judgment in regard to the §§ 1983 claim. We reverse and remand.
The sole issue on appeal is whether the District Court erred when it granted the City's motion for summary judgment on the §§ 1983 claim pursuant to the doctrines of judicial and quasi-judicial immunity.
BACKGROUND
In the summer of 1999, Miller resided in Red Lodge, Montana, in a rental property owned by Gene Culver. On July 22, 1999, Culver visited Miller's residence to perform an inspection on the property. As Culver attempted to inspect the property, Miller's dog, an Akita named Mocha, bit Culver causing serious bodily injury. As a result of the incident, the Red Lodge City Attorney filed a criminal complaint against Miller on July 23, 1999. The criminal complaint charged Miller with: maintaining a public nuisance, a misdemeanor, in violation of §§ 7.02.091(1)(a) of the Red Lodge Municipal Code; failure to keep a domestic animal within or upon her own property, a misdemeanor, in violation of §§ 8.02.010 of the Red Lodge Municipal Code; and maintaining a nuisance animal, fourth offense, a misdemeanor, in violation of §§ 8.04.080(E) of the Red Lodge Municipal Code. The City Attorney also moved the City Court to "order the Red Lodge Police to immediately seize [Miller's] dog, Akita, and to place the dog in a facility that keeps animals, at [Miller's] sole expense, pending the outcome of this case."
On July 23, 1999, City Court Judge Carol S. Anderson ordered Miller to post bond in the amount of $500.00 and ordered the Red Lodge Police Department to immediately seize Mocha and board it at Miller's expense. On the evening of July 24, 1999, Red Lodge City police officers went to Miller's residence to execute Judge Anderson's order. The police officers were unable to seize Mocha but successfully served Miller with a copy of the order. According to Miller, she did not have sufficient funds to pay the $500.00 bond or the estimated boarding fees. Therefore, on July 25, 1999, Miller had Mocha euthanized at a veterinary clinic.
On August 5, 1999, Culver filed a complaint against Miller which sought money damages, punitive damages, and reimbursement for medical expenses. On January 21, 2000, Miller filed: (1) an answer to Culver's complaint; (2) a counterclaim against Culver alleging violations of the Montana Uniform Residential Landlord-Tenant Act, harassment, and negligent infliction of emotional distress; and (3) a third-party comp
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