- 12 -
Commissioner, 90 T.C. 162, 166 (1988), affd. 904 F.2d 525 (9th
Cir. 1990), we stated that the "three-pronged rubric provided by
the Supreme Court in the Montana case embodies a number of
detailed tests developed by the courts to test the
appropriateness of collateral estoppel in essentially factual
contexts." Building on the Supreme Court's analysis in Montana,
we identified five conditions that must be satisfied for
collateral estoppel to apply: First, the issue in the second
suit must be identical in all respects with the one decided in
the first suit; second, there must be a final judgment rendered
by a court of competent jurisdiction; third, collateral estoppel
may only be invoked against parties and their privities to the
prior judgment; fourth, the parties must have actually litigated
the issue and the resolution of these issues must have been
essential to the prior decision; and fifth, the controlling facts
and applicable legal rules must remain unchanged from those in
the prior litigation. See Peck v. Commissioner, supra at 166-
167; see also Commissioner v. Sunnen, 333 U.S. 591, 599-600
(1948); Gammill v. Commissioner, 62 T.C. 607, 613-615 (1974).
Petitioner concedes Peck's five-prong analysis is
satisfied.5 However, citing Montana's "special circumstances"
5 It is settled law that the District Court's judgment is
considered to be final for purposes of the application of
collateral estoppel. See Robi v. Five Platters, Inc., 838 F.2d
(continued...)
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011