Life Care Ctr. of Casper v. Barrett

Decision Date05 May 2020
Docket NumberS-19-0211,S-19-0227
Citation462 P.3d 894
Parties LIFE CARE CENTER OF CASPER, Petitioner, v. Leah BARRETT, Respondent. In the Matter of the Wrongful Death of: Betty June Cochran, deceased. Life Care Center of Casper, Appellant (Respondent), v. Leah Barrett, as Wrongful Death Representative of Betty June Cochran, Appellee (Petitioner).
CourtWyoming Supreme Court

Representing Life Care Center of Casper: Lena K. Moeller and Amy M. Iberlin of Williams, Porter, Day, and Neville, P.C., Casper Wyoming

Representing Leah Barrett: Frank R. Chapman, Michael J. Lansing, Patrick J. Lewallen of Chapman Valdez & Lansing, Casper Wyoming

Before DAVIS, C.J., and FOX, KAUTZ, BOOMGAARDEN, and GRAY, JJ.

DAVIS, Chief Justice.

[¶1] The district court held Life Care Center of Casper (Life Care) in contempt after it failed to comply with an order compelling it to respond to a pre-suit subpoena served on it in an action for appointment of a wrongful death representative. Life Care filed a petition for review of the contempt order, and we granted the petition. We conclude that the district court lacked jurisdiction to compel discovery in the appointment proceeding and vacate the contempt order.

ISSUE

[¶2] We granted Life Care's petition in order to review the district court's contempt order and to consider a single issue, which we restate as follows:

Did the district court have jurisdiction under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-38-103 to compel pre-suit discovery directed to a potential defendant or other person possessing information concerning the merits of a potential claim?
FACTS

[¶3] Betty June Cochran resided at Life Care, a nursing and long-term care facility in Casper, Wyoming. Ms. Cochran died on May 6, 2018, allegedly after a fall at the facility. On July 3, 2018, Leah Barrett, Ms. Cochran's granddaughter, filed a petition to be appointed Ms. Cochran's wrongful death representative, and on August 10, 2018, the district court granted the petition.

[¶4] On August 29, 2018, Ms. Barrett, acting in the same proceeding, served Life Care with a subpoena, which demanded:

1) all reports and documentation of any type including but not limited to accident reports concerning trips and falls in and around the court yard at Life Care Center of Casper and any reports of uneven surfaces in and around the court yard at Life Care Center of Casper from April 30, 2013 to April 30, 2018;
2) the complete personnel file of the Certified Nursing Assistant(s) or other aide(s) who were responsible for Betty June Cochran's care on April 30, 2018, at the time of Ms. Cochran's fall at Life Care Center of Casper;
3) a copy of each and every document, accident report, medical records of any type including but not limited to physician records, nursing records, lab reports, radiology records, photographs, all materials and tangible evidence, interviews, notes, recordings of any kind, summaries, and communications in any form paper, electronic or otherwise provided by you, obtained by you, and ever in your possession, custody or control, which in any manner relates to Betty June Cochran's care and treatment from October 1, 2013 to May 1, 2018 ....

[¶5] On September 17, 2018, counsel for Ms. Barrett provided a signed release for Ms. Cochran's medical records, and the next day counsel for Life Care responded:

I am having my client comply with your request for the medical records of Ms. Cochran pursuant to the release and order sent below. However, I do not believe you have subpoena power allowing you to conduct presuit discovery through the civil action initiated to appoint the wrongful death representative. Therefore, we do not intend to respond to the subpoena you sent to LCC Casper. I would be happy to consider any support you can provide me to the contrary.

[¶6] Life Care thereafter provided Ms. Cochran's medical records but none of the other subpoenaed documents. On September 26, 2018, Ms. Barrett filed a motion to compel, and Life Care objected on the ground that the district court lacked jurisdiction to compel discovery. On November 8, 2018, the court issued an order granting the motion to compel in part. It ordered Life Care:

to produce all reports and documentation of any type including but not limited to accident reports concerning trips or falls of the Decedent Betty June Cochran in and around the court yard of Life Care Center of Casper (request number 1 of the subject Subpoena Duces Tecum), and copies of each and every document, accident report, medical records of any type including but not limited to physician records, nursing records, lab reports, radiology records, photographs, all materials and tangible evidence, interviews, notes, recordings of any kind, summaries, and communications in any form paper, electronic or otherwise obtained and/or in the possession, custody or control of Life Care Center of Casper, which in any manner relate to Betty June Cochran's care and treatment from October 1, 2013 to May 1, 2018 (request number 3 of the subject Subpoena Duces Tecum); and that Life Care Center of Casper to make production of such documents to counsel for the Wrongful Death Representative of Betty June Cochran within thirty (30) days from the date of hearing.

[¶7] On December 6, 2018, Life Care filed a motion for reconsideration, or in the alternative, for an extension of time in which to comply with the order. On December 12, the district court denied the motion for reconsideration but extended Life Care's deadline for complying to January 2, 2019. On January 29, 2019, Ms. Barrett filed a motion for order to show cause why Life Care should not be held in contempt for failing to comply with the order compelling production. On February 22, 2019, Life Care filed a renewed motion for reconsideration, and on March 12, 2019, it responded to Ms. Barrett's show cause motion and asked the court to stay proceedings on the motion until it ruled on the renewed motion for reconsideration.

[¶8] On March 26, 2019, the district court denied Life Care's renewed motion for reconsideration, and on April 12, 2019, Life Care filed a notice of appeal from that order. On June 25, 2019, this Court issued an order dismissing Life Care's appeal as untimely. In a footnote, the order dismissing the appeal stated:

Chief Justice Davis would have added language indicating that the means by which this appeal was dismissed should not be taken to imply that it was proper for Appellee to conduct discovery or for the district court to order it in this proceeding for appointment of a wrongful death representative. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-38-103(b) provides that "[t]he appointment shall be made in a separate action brought solely for appointing the wrongful death representative." Discovery directed to a potential defendant or other person possessing information relating to the merits of a claim does not appear to relate to the appointment of a wrongful death representative.

[¶9] On July 30, 2019, Life Care filed a W.R.C.P. 60(b)(6) motion requesting that the district court vacate its order compelling discovery. In support of its motion, Life Care cited the footnote to our order dismissing its appeal.

[¶10] The district court denied Life Care's Rule 60(b)(6) motion and held it in contempt for failing to comply with the order compelling production of documents. With respect to the contempt order, the court found Life Care to be in civil contempt and ordered it to "pay the Wrongful Death Estate of Betty June Cochran in the form of sanctions $250.00 per day for each day after August 30, 2019 that it does not comply with this Court's order."

[¶11] Life Care filed a notice of appeal from the order denying its Rule 60(b)(6) motion. It also filed a separate petition for writ of review, which sought review of the order holding it in contempt. On October 8, 2019, this Court granted Life Care's petition for writ of review, and we thereafter consolidated Life Care's appeal and petition for our review.1

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[¶12] Life Care contends that the district court exceeded its jurisdiction when it enforced discovery in the proceeding to appoint a wrongful death representative. The existence or non-existence of a court's subject matter jurisdiction is a question of law that we review de novo. Woodie v. Whitesell , 2019 WY 115, ¶ 8, 451 P.3d 1152, 1155 (Wyo. 2019) (quoting DeLoge v. Homar , 2013 WY 33, ¶ 10, 297 P.3d 117, 120 (Wyo. 2013) ). The question also requires that we interpret the statutes governing the appointment of a wrongful death representative, which is likewise a question of law that we review de novo. Sullivan v. State , 2019 WY 71, ¶ 7, 444 P.3d 1257, 1259 (Wyo. 2019) (citing Parkhurst v. State , 2019 WY 63, ¶ 9, 443 P.3d 834, 836 (Wyo. 2019) ).

DISCUSSION
A. District Court's Jurisdiction to Enforce Discovery

[¶13] "Subject matter jurisdiction is ‘the power to hear and determine the matter in controversy between the parties.’ " Linch v. Linch , 2015 WY 141, ¶ 17, 361 P.3d 308, 313 (Wyo. 2015) (quoting Brush v. Davis , 2013 WY 161, ¶ 9, 315 P.3d 648, 651 (Wyo. 2013) ). A district court's subject matter jurisdiction is invoked with the filing of a pleading "stating a case belonging to a general class over which the authority of the court extends." Harmon v. Star Valley Med. Center , 2014 WY 90, ¶ 46, 331 P.3d 1174, 1187 (Wyo. 2014) (quoting Brown v. City of Casper , 2011 WY 35, ¶ 44, 248 P.3d 1136, 1146 (Wyo. 2011) ). We have explained:

A court's subject matter jurisdiction lies dormant until it is called upon to exercise it by some sort of initiating procedural mechanism, such as a pleading, complaint, or information. At that point, the court "acquires jurisdiction" in the limited sense of procedurally having the authority to proceed and exercise its subject matter jurisdiction in a particular case.

CSC Grp. Holdings, LLC v. Automation & Elecs., Inc. , 2016 WY 26 ¶ 21, 368 P.3d 302, 307 (Wyo. 2016) (citing State v. Kusel , 29 Wyo. 287, 295-96, 213 P. 367, 368-69 (1923) ).

[¶14] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-38-101 creates a...

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