Murdock v. Ute Indian Tribe of Uintah and Ouray Reservation

• Decision Date: 09 September 1992
• Docket Number: No. 91-4112,91-4112
• Citation: 975 F.2d 683
• Parties: Glen Mac MURDOCK, Jr., Mac Eugene Murdock, Affiliated Ute Citizens of the State of Utah, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. UTE INDIAN TRIBE OF UINTAH AND OURAY RESERVATION, a Federal corporation; Luke J. Duncan, Stewart Pike, Gary Poowegup, Sr., Floyd Wopsock, Alvin Pinnecoose, Curtis Cesspooch, in their official capacity as members of the Business Committee of the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation, Defendants, and UTE Distribution Corporation, a Utah corporation; Manual Lujan, Jr., Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

Page 683

975 F.2d 683

Glen Mac MURDOCK, Jr., Mac Eugene Murdock, Affiliated Ute Citizens of the State of Utah, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. UTE INDIAN TRIBE OF UINTAH AND OURAY RESERVATION, a Federal corporation; Luke J. Duncan, Stewart Pike, Gary Poowegup Sr., Floyd Wopsock, Alvin Pinnecoose, Curtis Cesspooch, in their official capacity as members of the Business Committee of the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation, Defendants and UTE Distribution Corporation, a Utah corporation; Manual Lujan, Jr., Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 91-4112.

United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit.

Sept. 9, 1992.

Kathryn Collard (Stephen Russell, with her on the briefs), of Collard & Russell, Salt Lake City, Utah, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Stephen Roth, Asst. U.S. Atty., Salt Lake City, Utah, Robert S. Thompson, III, of Whiteing & Thompson, Boulder, Colo., and Max D. Wheeler of Snow, Christensen & Martineau, Salt Lake City, Utah (Dee V. Benson, U.S. Atty., and Camille N. Johnson of Snow, Christensen & Martineau, Salt Lake City, Utah, with them on the brief), for defendants-appellees.

Before EBEL, Circuit Judge, McWILLIAMS, Senior Circuit Judge, and EISELE, Senior District Judge. ^*

EBEL, Circuit Judge.

In this appeal, we must determine whether collateral estoppel precludes the litigation of claims brought by the Affiliated Ute Citizens of the State of Utah and two individuals asserting that the Affiliated Ute Citizens of the State of Utah, and not the Ute Distribution Corp., is the authorized representative of the mixed-blood Utes for purposes of managing the mixed-blood Utes' portion of the Ute Tribe's indivisible assets. We conclude that the Supreme Court's opinion in Affiliated Ute Citizens v. United States, 406 U.S. 128, 92 S.Ct. 1456, 31 L.Ed.2d 741 (1972), precludes the appellants from relitigating this issue. Accordingly, we affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the Ute Distribution Corp. and its co-appellee.

I. Background

Mixed-blood Utes are those members of the Ute tribe who either possess less than one-half degree of Ute Indian blood, or who possess more than one-half degree but choose to become members of the mixed-blood group. Full-blood Utes possess at least one-half degree of Ute Indian blood and do not make such a choice. ¹ See 25 U.S.C. §§ 677a(b) & 677a(c). Glen Mac Murdock, Jr., one of the appellants in this case, is a mixed-blood Ute. His son, Mac Eugene Murdock, is the second appellant. The third appellant is the Affiliated Ute Citizens of the State of Utah ("AUC"), which is an unincorporated organization of mixed-blood Utes. The appellees are the Ute Distribution Corporation ("UDC"), which manages the mixed-blood Utes' mineral interests, and the United States Secretary of the Interior. ²

The Ute Indian Tribe was divided into full-blood and mixed-blood Utes by the Ute Indian Supervision Termination Act of August 27, 1954 ("Ute Partition Act"), 68 Stat. 868 (codified at 25 U.S.C. §§ 677-677aa). The Ute Partition Act partitioned tribal assets between the full-blood and the mixed-blood Utes and terminated federal supervision of mixed-blood property. The Act directed that the tribe's business committee, on behalf of the full-blood Utes, and the "authorized representatives" of the mixed-blood Utes should together divide the tribe's assets, and in the case of the mixed-blood Utes, distribute the pro-rata shares. See 25 U.S.C. § 677i. Certain indivisible assets, consisting primarily of mineral rights and unliquidated claims, were to be managed jointly by the business committee for the full-blood Utes and by an authorized representative of the mixed-blood Utes.

The mixed-blood Utes' "authorized representative" for purposes of the indivisible tribal assets was initially the AUC. The AUC allegedly delegated this authority to the UDC in 1959; the AUC now disputes the validity of this delegation. The UDC issued ten shares of stock to each member of the mixed-blood group to represent his or her interest in the indivisible tribal assets. A number of mixed-blood Utes subsequently sold their shares at prices later determined to be substantially less than the stock's actual value.

For almost twenty-five years, the AUC has sought to challenge the legitimacy of the UDC's status as authorized representative of the mixed-blood Utes for purposes of managing their portion of the indivisible tribal assets. In a 1972 opinion, the Supreme Court concluded that the AUC had permanently delegated that authority to the UDC and stated, "Clearly it is UDC and not AUC that is entitled to manage the oil, gas, and mineral rights with the committee of the full-bloods." Affiliated Ute Citizens v. United States, 406 U.S. 128, 144, 92 S.Ct. 1456, 1467, 31 L.Ed.2d 741 (1972).

In the instant case, the appellants filed suit seeking various relief, including a declaratory judgment that the AUC and not the UDC was the mixed-blood Utes' authorized representative for purposes of the indivisible tribal assets. The UDC and the Secretary of the Interior argued that collateral estoppel now prevents the appellants from relitigating this issue. The district court agreed ³ and dismissed the UDC and the Secretary of the Interior from the suit. The court later entered final judgment as to this single claim pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b). This appeal followed. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

II. The Supreme Court's Affiliated Ute Decision

To determine whether the Supreme Court's decision in Affiliated Ute precludes relitigation of the issue of whether the AUC or the UDC is the authorized representative of the mixed-blood Utes for purposes of the indivisible tribal assets, we must first look to the background of that case. In Affiliated Ute, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in and consolidated two Tenth Circuit cases, Affiliated Ute Citizens v. United States, 431 F.2d 1349 (10th Cir.1970), and Reyos v. United States, 431 F.2d 1337 (10th Cir.1970), and decided them together. Although the AUC sponsored both cases, they involved different, albeit related, issues.

In Reyos, a group of mixed-blood Utes sued a bank that acted as transfer agent for the shares of UDC stock. Also named as defendants were several officers of the bank and the United States. The plaintiffs contended that the bank and its officers had committed securities violations in encouraging mixed-blood Utes to sell their stock. The district court agreed and granted damages based on the difference between the fair market value of the UDC shares at the time of the sales and the value received by the sellers. The Tenth Circuit reversed, finding more limited liability and remanding for a recalculation of damages.

While Reyos was pending, the AUC filed the Affiliated Ute case against the United States. In Affiliated Ute, the AUC sought a pro-rata distribution of the mixed-blood Utes' share of the mineral interests and a declaration that the AUC and not the UDC was the authorized representative of the mixed-blood Utes for purposes of the mineral interest. The district court concluded that it did not have subject matter jurisdiction and dismissed the suit on that basis. The Tenth Circuit affirmed.

On certiorari, the Supreme Court consolidated the two cases and heard and decided them together. The Court affirmed the Tenth Circuit in the Affiliated Ute case, but reversed in the Reyos case, essentially reinstating the district court's decision. Affiliated Ute, 406 U.S. at 156, 92 S.Ct. at 1473. Although the Supreme Court held that the district court properly dismissed the Affiliated Ute case for lack of jurisdiction over the United States, it nonetheless went on to discuss the "AUC's prayer for a determination as to management rights." Id. at 143, 92 S.Ct. at 1467. The court stated that the AUC had properly delegated its authority to the UDC and concluded, "Clearly, it is UDC and not AUC that is entitled to manage the oil, gas, and mineral rights with the committee of the full-bloods." Id. at 144, 92 S.Ct. at 1467. In dissent, Justice Douglas argued that the AUC had never properly delegated authority to the UDC. Id. at 159, 92 S.Ct. at 1475 (Douglas, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part).

III. Collateral Estoppel

Collateral estoppel, also known as issue preclusion, ⁴ refers "to the effect of a judgment in foreclosing relitigation of a matter that has been litigated and decided." Marrese v. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 470 U.S. 373, 376 n. 1, 105 S.Ct. 1327, 1329 n. 1, 84 L.Ed.2d 274 (1985). "Under collateral estoppel, once a court has decided an issue of fact or law necessary to its judgment, that decision may preclude relitigation of the issue in a suit on a different cause of action involving a party to the first case." Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 94, 101 S.Ct. 411, 414, 66 L.Ed.2d 308 (1980) (citation and footnote omitted); see also Sil-Flo, Inc. v. SFHC, Inc., 917 F.2d 1507, 1520 (10th Cir.1990) (quoting Allen ).

In considering collateral estoppel, we first must determine whether to apply federal or state law. We are a federal court examining a question of federal law upon which another federal court, namely the Supreme Court, has previously ruled. Under these circumstances, we must rely on the federal law of collateral estoppel. ⁵ See Blonder-Tongue Lab., Inc. v. University of Ill. Found., 402 U.S. 313, 324 n. 12, 91 S.Ct. 1434, 1440 n. 12, 28 L.Ed.2d 788 (1971); Meza v. General Battery Corp., 908 F.2d 1262, 1265 (5th Cir.1990); Fireman's Fund Ins. Co. v. International Market Place, 773 F.2d 1068, 1069 (9th Cir.1985); Restatement (Second) of Judgments § 87, at 314 (1982) ("Federal law determines the effects under the rules of res judicata of a judgment of a federal court"); 18 Charles A. Wright et al., Federal Practice & Procedure: Jurisdiction § 4466 (1981 & Supp.1992) [hereinafter Federal Practice & Procedure: Jurisdiction ].

In the Tenth Circuit,...