Bach v. Miller, No. 31658.

• Court: Idaho Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: Burdick
• Citation: 158 P.3d 305,144 Idaho 142
• Parties: John N. BACH, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Katherine D. MILLER aka Katherine M. Miller dba R.E.M., Defendant-Appellant, and Alva Harris, individually & dba Scona, Inc., Jack Lee Mc Lean, Bob Fitzgerald, individually and dba Cache Ranch, Ole Olson, Bob Bagley & Mae Bagley, husband and wife, Blake Lyle, individually and dba Grand Towing, Galen Woelk and Cody Runyan, individually & dba Runyan & Woelk, Ann-Toy Broughton, Wayne Dawson, Mark Liponis, Earl Hamblin, Stan Nickell, Bret Hill & Deena R. Hill, and Does 1 through 30, inclusive, Defendants.
• Decision Date: 29 March 2007
• Docket Number: No. 31658.

158 P.3d 305 144 Idaho 142 John N. BACH, Plaintiff-Respondent,
v.
Katherine D. MILLER aka Katherine M. Miller dba R.E.M., Defendant-Appellant, and
Alva Harris, individually & dba Scona, Inc., Jack Lee Mc Lean, Bob Fitzgerald, individually and dba Cache Ranch, Ole Olson, Bob Bagley & Mae Bagley, husband and wife, Blake Lyle, individually and dba Grand Towing, Galen Woelk and Cody Runyan, individually & dba Runyan & Woelk, Ann-Toy Broughton, Wayne Dawson, Mark Liponis, Earl Hamblin, Stan Nickell, Bret Hill & Deena R. Hill, and Does 1 through 30, inclusive, Defendants. No. 31658. Supreme Court of Idaho, Boise, March 2007 Term. March 29, 2007. Rehearing Denied May 10, 2007.

[158 P.3d 307]

Runyan and Woelk, P.C., Driggs, and Aron & Hennig, LLP, Laramie, Wyoming, for appellant. Galen Woelk argued.

John N. Bach, Driggs, pro se respondent argued.

BURDICK, Justice.

Respondent John N. Bach and Appellant Katherine M. Miller both sought to quiet title to the same property. After the district court quieted title in Miller, Bach sought restitution for improvements he had placed on the property. The district court ordered Miller to pay Bach restitution pursuant to I.C. § 6-414. Miller appeals the award of restitution. We reverse.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In 2002 Bach filed suit against Miller and several other defendants. Bach sought, among other things, to quiet title to four tracts of real property in Teton County, Idaho. This property had been purchased using Miller's funds, but some tracts were titled in the name of a fictitious company. In March 2003 Miller answered Bach's complaint and filed counter and cross claims. She also sought to quiet title to the real property and asked the court to impose a resulting trust based on Bach's alleged fraud and breach of fiduciary duties.

In June 2003 a jury trial was held, and the jury returned a verdict in favor of Miller; it awarded her damages on her fraud and breach of fiduciary duty claims. The district court then concluded that Miller could elect to receive quiet title in lieu of the jury's verdict for damages. Miller elected to quiet title, and in October 2003 the district court entered a partial judgment quieting title in Miller. The district court also enjoined Bach from claiming any right, title or interest in these parcels, except as to any improvements he had installed in good faith.

In December 2003 the district court held a court trial to determine the value of improvements Bach installed in good faith. The district court then found that Bach was entitled to $23,650.00 — the reasonable value of the improvements he installed in good faith on the property. The court also determined that Miller could apply for a writ of assistance to remove Bach from the property after she had paid the restitution or posted a bond for 136% of that amount. Miller then posted a bond and timely appealed.

II. ANALYSIS

Miller raises a single issue on appeal: whether the district court erred by awarding Bach restitution. Bach, however, does not directly respond to this issue. Instead, he attacks the district court's jurisdiction and raises many other issues in his brief. We will turn first to the issues raised in Bach's brief before addressing the question presented by Miller's appeal.

A. The trial court had jurisdiction.

Bach contends that the district court lacked jurisdiction to consider Miller's claims against him. It is unclear from his brief whether he argues the district court lacked personal jurisdiction or subject matter jurisdiction. Questions of jurisdiction must be addressed prior to reaching the merits of

158 P.3d 308

an appeal. H & V Eng'g, Inc. v. Idaho State Bd. of Prof'l Eng'rs & Land Surveyors, 113 Idaho 646, 648, 747 P.2d 55, 57 (1987). Jurisdiction is a question of law, Pizzuto v. State, 127 Idaho 469, 471, 903 P.2d 58, 60 (1995), over which we exercise free review, State v. Barros, 131 Idaho 379, 381, 957 P.2d 1095, 1097 (1998). We will address each type of jurisdiction.

The district court had both personal jurisdiction over the parties and subject matter jurisdiction over the claims they presented. First, as the plaintiff in the action below, Bach consented to the personal jurisdiction of the district court. Hutchinson v. State, 134 Idaho 18, 21, 995 P.2d 363, 366 (Ct.App.1999). Likewise, Miller consented to the trial court's jurisdiction when she filed her answer, counterclaims and cross claims. Second, the district court also had subject matter jurisdiction over the claims presented by the parties. Subject matter jurisdiction is the power to determine cases over a general type or class of dispute. Boughton v. Price, 70 Idaho 243, 249, 215 P.2d 286, 289 (1950). Article V, § 20 of the Idaho Constitution provides that the district court shall have original jurisdiction to hear all cases, both at law and in equity. Thus, the district court had the subject matter jurisdiction to determine the claims presented by the parties. We hold, therefore, that the district court had both personal jurisdiction over Bach and Miller and subject matter jurisdiction over their claims.

B. This Court will not consider the remaining issues raised in Bach's brief.

Bach spends the majority of his brief and time at oral argument arguing issues that are not properly before this Court, and that this Court cannot and will not consider at this time. For instance, he argues that we should review actions taken in other appeals, also arising from the case below, filed by both Bach and other parties. Bach also contends that Miller did not raise any valid claims before the trial court, that her claims were barred by the statute of limitations, that she was not entitled to an equitable remedy, that the trial court ignored all of his defenses, and that the jury was improperly impaneled.

The issues Bach argues in his brief and during his time before this Court are not properly before us at this time. First, as to the...