## Facts

- Vickie Sue Massee (later Doggett) married Ray Doggett in 1990; her three sons lived with them for much of the marriage.
- Over several years, the Broadwater County Sheriff’s Office, including Sheriff Richard Thompson, repeatedly responded to domestic-violence calls involving Ray’s heavy drinking, depression, suicidal threats, and firearm use.
- In early incidents, officers encountered Ray with a loaded pistol during a suicide threat; the weapon was confiscated but later returned.
- In a 1994 incident, Ray allegedly held a gun to Vickie’s head in officers’ presence; Thompson did not arrest Ray, seize the weapon, or advise Vickie of domestic-violence victim rights and resources.
- In a 1996 incident, Ray allegedly pointed a gun at Vickie’s son and at a friend; Thompson again did not arrest Ray or seize the weapon.
- In 1997, during another dispute, officers removed bullets from Ray’s loaded gun but left the gun and ammunition at the home.
- Later in May 1997, after Ray reported being depressed and suicidal, he shot and killed Vickie and then himself.
- Vickie’s sons brought a wrongful death action against Thompson and Broadwater County, alleging negligent failure to follow statutory domestic-violence response duties (including weapon seizure and victim notifications).
- A jury returned a verdict for the plaintiffs and awarded $358,000.
- The district court granted defendants’ motion for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL), vacated the verdict, and ruled Thompson owed no legal duty to protect Vickie from Ray’s violence.

## Issues

1. Whether Montana domestic-violence statutes and the parties’ history created an individualized duty running from the sheriff to a domestic-violence victim, overcoming the public duty doctrine.
2. Whether sufficient evidence supported the jury’s findings of negligence and causation such that JMOL was improper.

## Decision

- The Montana Supreme Court reversed the district court’s grant of JMOL.
- The court reinstated the jury’s verdict for the plaintiffs.
- The court held Thompson owed Vickie a legal duty grounded in domestic-violence statutes and the sheriff’s sustained involvement with the family.
- The court held the record contained sufficient credible evidence for the jury to find breach and that the breach was a substantial factor in causing Vickie’s death.

## Legal Principles

- Under the public duty doctrine, law enforcement duties are generally owed to the public, but an individualized duty may arise by statute or special relationship.
- Domestic-violence statutes that prescribe specific law-enforcement actions can create a duty owed to a protected class of persons (domestic-violence victims), not merely to the public at large.
- Repeated police involvement with a particular domestic-violence victim, combined with statutory mandates, can support a finding of a special relationship and reliance sufficient to establish duty.
- On JMOL, courts view evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and do not reweigh credibility; JMOL is improper if sufficient credible evidence supports the verdict.
- A jury may find causation where the risk of lethal harm is foreseeable given repeated threats, prior firearm use, and statutory measures designed to prevent escalation, and where noncompliance may be found a substantial factor in the harm.

## Conclusion

The court held that Montana’s domestic-violence statutory scheme and the sheriff’s extensive prior involvement with the victim could create a legally enforceable duty to an individual victim, and that the jury had sufficient evidence to find negligent noncompliance and causation; therefore, setting aside the verdict by JMOL was error and the plaintiffs’ verdict was reinstated.


Massee v. Thompson, 90 P.3d 394 (Mont. 2004)