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Swanson v. Swanson6/30/2000
becomes the law of the case and is controlling both in the lower court and on subsequent appeals as long as the facts are substantially the same." Office of State Eng'r v. Curtis Park Manor, 101 Nev. 30, 692 P.2d 495, 497 (1985). The decision on an issue of law made at one stage of a proceeding becomes precedent to be followed in successive stages of that same litigation. " ike stare decisis it protects against relitigation of settled issues and assures obedience of inferior courts to decisions of superior courts." NAACP, Detroit Branch v. Police Officers Ass'n, 676 F.Supp. 790, 791 (E.D. Mich.1988). Frazier v. Nielsen & Co., 118 Idaho 104, 106, 794 P.2d 1160, 1162 (Ct. App. 1990) (emphasis added).
We hold, therefore, that the "law of the case" doctrine applies here even though the first appeal was not taken to this Court.
George also argues that the "law of the case" rule does not apply here because there was no final order or judgment from which he could have appealed to this Court, citing State Dept. of Law Enforcement v. One 1955 Willys Jeep, 100 Idaho 150, 595 P.2d 299 (1979). This argument is unpersuasive. In Willys Jeep, the defendant appealed to the district court an order denying summary judgment entered by the magistrate court. The district court ruled that summary judgment should have been granted, and reversed and remanded to the magistrate. The state did not appeal the district court's decision at that time, but appealed the judgment that was subsequently entered by the magistrate to the district court. The district court affirmed, and the state then appealed to this Court.
The Willys Jeep Court held that the dismissal was improper because the district court erred in conducting the first intermediate appeal from the magistrate court's order denying summary judgment. The Court also observed that the state's failure to appeal from the district court's first appellate decision did not preclude the second appeal because "an order denying a motion for summary judgment is not a final judgment for purposes of appeal." 100 Idaho at 152, 595 P.2d at 301. Appeal was possible in this case, however, even though the district court remanded the decision to the magistrate's division after the first intermediate appeal. Idaho Appellate Rule 11(a)(2) provides that an appeal as a matter of right may be taken to this Court from " ecisions by the district court dismissing, affirming, reversing or remanding an appeal." Since George did not avail himself of this avenue for appealing the trial court's ruling on the characterization issue, we hold that the "law of the case" doctrine precludes him from reopening the issue at this time.
2. The trial court did not err in refusing to reopen the characterization based on the proceedings before the United States Tax Court.
George argues that the trial court abused its discretion in applying the "law of the case" doctrine in refusing to re-open the characterization of the M-K settlement proceeds.
The magistrate court believed it was within its discretion to reconsider the characterization issue, citing Davison's Air Service, Inc. v. Montierth, 119 Idaho 967, 812 P.2d 274 (1991). In that case, this Court wrote that " he trial court's decision to reopen case and take new evidence prior to entry of judgment was within its discretion...." See id. at 968, 812 P.2d 275. The Davison case, however, did not implicate the "law of the case" doctrine because the motion to reopen was made before an appeal was taken. In Davison, the trial judge issued a memorandum opinion, but had not entered a judgment, at the time one of the parties made a motion to reopen. On appeal, the Davison Court recognized the trial court's
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