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Braaten v. Steinbach9/28/2000
APPEAL FROM: District Court of the First Judicial District, In and for the County of Lewis and Clark, The Honorable Thomas Honzel, Judge presiding.
Submitted on Briefs: March 23, 2000
Pursuant to Section I, Paragraph 3(c), Montana Supreme Court 1996 Internal Operating Rules, the following decision shall not be cited as precedent but shall be filed as a public document with the Clerk of the Supreme Court and shall be reported by case title, Supreme Court cause number and result to the State Reporter Publishing Company and to West Group in the quarterly table of noncitable cases issued by this Court.
The plaintiffs, representatives of the Estate of Donald Braaten and his children (the Estate) brought this action in the First Judicial District Court in Lewis and Clark County to recover damages for the wrongful death of Donald Braaten arising from the alleged negligence of his landlord. A jury trial commenced and the jury found in favor of the defendant. The Estate appeals. We affirm.
The issues on appeal are as follows:
1. Whether the District Court erred by refusing to apply the legal duty of landlords established in the Montana Residential Landlord Tenant Act at § 70-24-303(1)(c), MCA.
2. Whether the District Court erred in denying a motion in limine by the appellant to exclude testimony made by the respondent regarding a statement that she made to the deceased when the dwelling was rented.
BACKGROUND
Donald Lee Braaten rented a house from the defendant Verna Steinbach in November of 1994 which was located on a portion of land at the edge of her larger ranch. The house and yard are fenced in. The house was to be occupied by Braaten, one other adult, and his six children. It contained electric heaters as well as a wood-burning stove. The lease agreement does not address whether the tenants were allowed to cut wood on the rented property or the adjacent area for use in the stove.
Several days after moving in, Donald Braaten was killed while cutting wood on a hillside near the house above his driveway, on land also owned by Steinbach. He died instantly when a dead tree and its root ball dislodged and rolled down the hillside and over him.
Representatives of Braaten's estate and children filed a claim against Steinbach for negligence, resulting in the death of Donald Braaten. The plaintiffs alleged that the dead tree constituted a dangerous condition which led to Braaten's death. During the trial, Steinbach wished to testify that she had instructed Braaten not to cut wood and the plaintiffs objected. The District Court Judge denied the plaintiffs' motion in limine to exclude Steinbach's testimony on that issue as barred by the parol evidence rule. The District Court also refused the plaintiffs' jury instruction relating to the landlord's duty to keep common areas in a clean and safe condition, found in § 70-24-303(1)(c), MCA.
The jury found that the defendant Steinbach was not negligent and a final judgment was entered for the defendant. It is from this judgment that the plaintiffs appeal.
DISCUSSION
The first issue is whether the District Court erred by refusing to apply the legal duty of a landlord as established by the Montana Residential Landlord Tenant Act (MRLTA), § 70-24-303(1)(c), MCA.
The standard of review for a district court's conclusions of law is whether the court's interpretation of the law was correct. Carbon County v. Union Reserve Coal Co., Inc. (1995), 271 Mont. 459, 469, 898 P.2d 680, 686.
At trial, the District Court Judge refused a jury instruction dealing with the lega
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