Johnson v. State (In re Estate of Stanford)

448 P.3d 861

In the MATTER OF the ESTATE OF: George W. STANFORD, a/k/a George William Stanford, deceased.

Andrew J. Johnson, Appellant (Petitioner),

v.The State of Wyoming, Appellee (Respondent).

S-19-0002

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

September 11, 2019

Representing Appellant: Robert P. Schuster and Bradley L. Booke of Robert P. Schuster, P.C., Jackson, Wyoming; Thomas N. Long and Aaron J. Lyttle of Long Reimer Winegar Beppler LLP, Cheyenne, Wyoming. Argument by Mr. Schuster.

Representing Appellee: Bridget Hill, Wyoming Attorney General; Michael J. McGrady, Deputy Attorney General; Daniel E. White, Senior Assistant Attorney General. Argument by Mr. White.

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

DAVIS, Chief Justice.

[¶1] Andrew Johnson filed federal civil rights claims against the City of Cheyenne and several of its law enforcement officers for wrongful conviction and imprisonment. Because one of the named detectives was deceased, Mr. Johnson filed a petition for probate of his estate and appointment of an administrator. The probate court granted the petition, but it reversed itself when the State of Wyoming objected to the appointment. Because we find that the State did not have standing to object to the appointment of the administrator, we reverse.

ISSUES

[¶2] Mr. Johnson presents several issues, but we find his first issue dispositive and restate it as:

Did the probate court err in finding that the State of Wyoming had standing to object to the appointment of an administrator for George W. Stanford’s estate?

FACTS

[¶3] Andrew Johnson was convicted of aggravated burglary and first-degree sexual assault in 1989. In 2013, his convictions were vacated, and an order of actual innocence was entered based on testing of DNA found on the victim. On April 17, 2017, Mr. Johnson filed a complaint in federal court against the City of Cheyenne and several of its law enforcement officers, alleging civil rights violations in the investigation and prosecution of the charges against him.

[¶4] One of the detectives named in the federal complaint was George W. Stanford, who died in 2007. On May 31, 2017, Mr. Johnson filed a petition in probate court for the probate of Mr. Stanford’s intestate estate and for appointment of an administrator. The petition identified the deceased’s right to indemnification from the State Self Insurance Account and his right to possible coverage under a state-procured professional liability policy as assets of the estate. On June 12, 2017, the probate court issued an order admitting the estate to probate and appointing an administrator.

[¶5] On June 19, 2017, Mr. Johnson filed a creditor’s claim against the Stanford estate for unknown amounts to be awarded in his federal action, and the administrator rejected the claim. On July 10, 2017, the State filed a document in probate court entitled "Objections of the State of Wyoming to the Appointment of [an] Administrator for the Above-Captioned Estate." The State cited the following as its interest in the administrator’s appointment:

3. The State is affected by the appointment ... because the appointment purports to create potential duties and obligations of the State to defend [the administrator], in his capacity as administrator, in a civil rights action brought by Andrew Johnson against the City of Cheyenne, George W. Stanford, deceased, Alan W. Spencer, a former Cheyenne Police Department officer, and various Doe defendants. ...

4. Pursuant to Wyo. Stat. § 2-1-103, the State has the right to object to the appointment ... and the State herewith requests that the time limitations specified therein be waived in view of the fact that the State did not receive notice of the petition filed in this matter until after [the] appointment. In addition, the State has standing to contest the appointment ... pursuant to the Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act ....

[¶6] Mr. Johnson and the State stipulated to a stay of the probate proceedings, and that stay was lifted on November 3, 2017. On October 15, 2018, the probate court entered an order vacating the appointment of the administrator and closing the estate. The court ruled:

1. The State has standing to object to the appointment of [the administrator]. While the Petitioner disputes this, citing Halliburton Energy Services v. Gunter , 2007 WY 151, ¶8, 167 P.3d 645, 648 (Wyo. 2007), the present situation is distinguishable from Halliburton . The opening of this estate creates liabilities and obligations by the State that did not exist in Halliburton . See Id .

2. In accordance with its standing, the State of Wyoming may object to the appointment of [the administrator] pursuant to Wyo. Stat. § 2-1-103 (West 2018) (stating "all persons having an objection to the appointment of any person as a[n] ... administrator" may object).

3. Although the State was late objecting, the Court finds good cause, based on the State’s lack of notice, to waive the period for objections pursuant to Wyo. Stat. § 2-1-103.

4. Not only is the creditor’s claim merely speculative, but also untimely pursuant to Wyo. Stat. 2-4-211 (West 2018).

5. The law in this regard is clear. "If the letters are not issued within the time specified, all claims of creditors are forever barred ..." Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 2-4-212.

6. Thus, this Court’s grant of Administration of the Estate upon a speculative creditor’s claim approximately ten (10) years after the death of the decedent was improvidently ordered.

[¶7] Mr. Johnson filed a timely notice of appeal to this Court.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[¶8] The existence of standing is a question of justiciability that this Court reviews de novo. Bird v. Lampert , 2019 WY 56, ¶ 7, 441 P.3d 850, 853-54 (Wyo. 2019) (citing In re L-MHB , 2018 WY 140, ¶ 24, 431 P.3d 560, 568 (Wyo. 2018) ).

DISCUSSION

[¶9] "A party generally has standing if it is ‘properly situated to assert an issue for judicial determination.’ " Gheen v. State ex rel. Dep’t of Health, Div. of Healthcare Financing/EqualityCare , 2014 WY 70, ¶ 16, 326 P.3d 918, 923 (Wyo. 2014) (quoting Cox v. City of Cheyenne , 2003 WY 146, ¶ 9, 79 P.3d 500, 505 (Wyo. 2003) ); see also The Tavern, LLC v. Town of Alpine , 2017 WY 56, ¶ 26, 395 P.3d 167, 174 (Wyo. 2017) ("Standing focuses on a litigant being properly situated to assert an issue for judicial determination."). We recently clarified that standing is not jurisdictional but "remains a pragmatic and important justiciability doctrine." L-MHB , ¶ 19, 431 P.3d at 567. In L-MHB , we also discussed the two types of standing that our precedent has recognized: prudential and statutory. Id. ¶¶ 19-20, 431 P.3d at 567. With regard to prudential standing, we noted that it "encompass[es] ... at least three broad principles":

[T]he general prohibition on a litigant’s raising another person’s legal rights, the rule barring adjudication of generalized grievances more appropriately addressed in the representative branches, and the requirement that a plaintiff’s complaint fall within the zone of interests protected by the law invoked.

L-MHB , ¶ 19, 431 P.3d at 567 (quoting Lexmark Int’l, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc. , 572 U.S. 118, 126, 134 S.Ct. 1377, 1386, 188 L.Ed.2d 392 (2014) ).

[¶10] Wyoming’s prudential standing test, known as the Brimmer test, incorporates these same general principles. L-MHB , ¶ 19, 431 P.3d at 567.

First, a justiciable controversy requires parties having existing and genuine, as distinguished from theoretical, rights or interests. Second, the controversy must be one upon which the judgment of the court may effectively operate, as distinguished from a debate or argument evoking a purely political, administrative, philosophical or academic conclusion. Third, it must be a controversy the judicial determination of which will have the force and effect of a final judgment in law or decree in equity upon the rights, status or other legal relationships of one or more of the real parties in interest, or, wanting these qualities be of such great and overriding public moment as to constitute the legal equivalent of all of them. Finally, the proceedings must be genuinely adversary in character and not a mere disputation, but advanced with sufficient militancy to engender a thorough research and analysis of the major issues. Any controversy lacking these elements becomes an exercise in academics and is not properly before the courts for solution.

Allred v. Bebout , 2018 WY 8, ¶ 37, 409 P.3d 260, 270 (Wyo. 2018) (quoting Brimmer v. Thomson , 521 P.2d 574, 578 (Wyo. 1974) ).

[¶11] "Statutory standing is a close cousin of prudential standing, and looks to whether ‘this plaintiff has a cause of action under the statute ....’ " L-MHB , ¶ 20, 431 P.3d at 567 (quoting Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment , 523 U.S. 83, 97 n.2, 118 S.Ct. 1003, 1013 n.2, 140 L.Ed.2d 210 (1998) (emphasis in Steel Co. )). Where the question is statutory standing, prudential considerations do not play a role in the standing determination. The United States Supreme Court has explained:

In sum, the question this case presents is whether Static Control falls within the class of plaintiffs whom Congress has authorized to sue under § 1125(a). In other words, we ask whether Static Control has a cause of action under the statute. That question requires us to determine the meaning of the congressionally enacted provision creating a cause of action. In doing so, we apply traditional principles of statutory interpretation. We do not ask whether in our judgment Congress should have authorized Static Control’s suit, but whether Congress in fact did so. Just as a court cannot apply its independent policy judgment to recognize a cause of action that Congress has denied, see Alexander v. Sandoval , 532 U.S. 275, 286-287, 121 S.Ct. 1511, 149 L.Ed.2d 517 (2001), it cannot limit a cause of action that Congress has created merely because "prudence" dictates.

Lexmark , 572 U.S. at 128, 134 S.Ct. at 1387-88 (footnote omitted); see also L-MHB , ¶ 20,...