Board Of County Commissioners Of Teton County v. Bassett

8 P. 3d 1079 (2000)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

The police were engaged in stopping Ortega who had lead them on a high-speed chase. They eventually had to establish a roadblock with spikes. As this was going on, Coziah and Bassett were on the way home from fishing, and as they approached Moran Junction, they passed several officers who were right in the road. None of them made any effort to warn Ps of the hazardous situation developing on Highway 89 onto which Ps turned their vehicle. As they approached the roadblock, surprised officers tried frantically to get them to go through as a deputy moved his car for their passage. The officers knew that Ortega had previously tried to cause an accident to hinder police pursuit. Ortega was approaching at 100 mph and went through the same opening made by the police car and smashed into Ps' car. P was going 30 mph. Ps were injured, and Ortega was arrested. Ps got a verdict, and the jury gave fault as follows 0% to Ps, 40% to the Highway Patrol, 20% to the Sheriff's officers, and 40% to the National Park Service. This appeal was taken. The issue was whether Ortega's willful and wanton conduct should have been included among the fault allocations. The district court held that Ortega's willful and wanton or intentional conduct could not be compared with the conduct of Ds. The jurisdiction uses a fault standard that also eliminated joint and several liability.