The Miners Union condemned the behavior.

Annala sued Sheriff McLeod for damages, alleging that he “failed and neglected to carry out his duties as sheriff.” When he lost his suit in district court, Annala appealed to the Montana Supreme Court the following year.

McLeod told the Standard at the time of the incident that he had 19 deputies and lacked enough man power to quell the angry “mob” of women and children. At least two boys were badly injured during the “riot” over that weekend and a dozen homes in different neighborhoods across Butte were vandalized.

The Montana Supreme Court at that time struck down Annala’s appeal. In the process, the highest court in the state created the judicial rule known as the "public duty doctrine." That rule is very similar to a law known as sovereign immunity, which was still enshrined within the state’s constitution in 1947.

The public duty doctrine states that a duty to all is a duty to none.

In other words, Sheriff Al McLeod had a duty to the citizenry at large but not a duty specifically to Fred Annala, whose home was destroyed. The new rule saved Sheriff McLeod, and Standard Accident Insurance Company, from having to pay Annala for the damage done to his residence.