OPINION GARCIA, Judge. {1} The issue in this case is whether there was a lapse in policy coverage. Concluding that there was a lapse, we affirm the district court. BACKGROUND {2} Jesus and Maria Anita Molina (the Molinas) appeal from the district court's order and judgment dismissing their complaint against Allstate Indemnity Company (Allstate). The Molinas had been Allstate customers for twelve years at the time the dispute arose. In 2002 the Molinas insured two homes and four vehicles...
OPINION ROBLES, Judge. {1} Felix Baca (Worker) was awarded workers' compensation benefits for the care and treatment of post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), which he developed as a result of a sexual assault suffered during the course and scope of his employment. Los Lunas Community Programs (Employer) and State Risk Management Division (Insurer) (collectively, Defendants) appeal from the order of the workers' compensation judge (WCJ), claiming that the WCJ improperly concluded that Worker...
OPINION BUSTAMANTE, Judge. {1} This case requires us to consider the extent to which an assertedly injured third-party claimant may participate in a declaratory judgment action brought by an automobile insurance company against its insured seeking to deny coverage under its policy. We conclude that third-party claimants are necessary parties to such declaratory judgment actions. The district court having ruled otherwise, we reverse. I. BACKGROUND {2} The historical facts out of which this...
OPINION FRY, Chief Judge. {1} Defendant appeals his felony convictions for one count of intentional child abuse resulting in death and two counts of intentional child abuse resulting in great bodily harm, contrary to NMSA 1978, Section 30-6-1(D) (2004) (amended 2005 and 2009). We conclude that: (1) the district court properly denied Defendant's motion to suppress an incriminating statement he made to detectives, (2) the district court did not abuse its discretion on two evidentiary rulings, (...
OPINION VANZI, Judge. { 1} The State of New Mexico Educational Retirement Board (ERB) appeals from an order of the district court directing the ERB to pay Petitioner the unpaid accumulated interest in her deceased husband's account under the Educational Retirement Act (the Act), NMSA 1978, Sections 22-11-1 to -53 (1967, as amended through 2010) at the time of his retirement. The district court concluded that the ERB erred when it denied Petitioner the interest in the account and reversed...
OPINION CASTILLO, Judge. {1} In this consolidated case, we review the law of joint tenancies in New Mexico as it applies to property in a quiet title action. We also evaluate whether the district court had authority to order proceeds suspended from two wells situated on the property. We affirm the district court's determination as to the quiet title issue, dismiss the proceedings regarding suspension of proceeds for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and remand this matter for further...
OPINION VANZI, Judge. {1} This is an appeal from the district court's decisions excluding the opinion testimony of Plaintiffs' two expert witnesses as to the cause of their medical conditions. Plaintiff Joey Parkhill also appeals a discovery-related ruling in which the district court dismissed his personal injury claims as a sanction for discovery abuses. For the reasons discussed below, we conclude that the district court did not err in excluding Plaintiffs' medical experts' causation...
OPINION FRY, Chief Judge. {1} Following a bench trial, Defendant Zirachuen Rivera was convicted in metropolitan court on one count of driving while intoxicated (DWI). During the trial, Christopher Mills conducted the direct examination of one of the State's witnesses, although Mills apparently was not licensed to practice law. Following his conviction, Defendant filed a motion for a mistrial and for a new trial, arguing the fact that an unlicensed person conducted the examination violated...
OPINION VANZI, Judge. {1} Child appeals the denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained during a search of his backpack at school. Child entered into a conditional plea, and pled no contest to the unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon on school premises. For the reasons discussed in this opinion, we reverse and remand for a determination of whether the search was justified by the requisite individualized and particularized suspicion that Child may have been bringing tobacco products...
OPINION WECHSLER, Judge. {1} Defendant appeals his conviction for resisting, evading, or obstructing an officer. See NMSA 1978, 30-22-1(B) (1981). He raises three issues on appeal. We reverse and remand, holding that Defendant was entitled to a jury instruction requiring the State to prove that Defendant knew that the persons seeking to detain him were law enforcement officers. BACKGROUND {2} Otero County Narcotics Enforcement Unit Agents were investigating potential drug...
OPINION KENNEDY, Judge. {1} We hold in this case that officers, informed that the owner of a car observed under suspicious circumstances had a suspended driver's license, have reasonable suspicion to initiate a traffic stop. Subsequent events during the stop permitted an expansion of the scope of the stop without creating a constitutional problem. We therefore affirm the denial of Defendant's motion to suppress. BACKGROUND {2} Both arresting officers testified at the suppression hearing...
OPINION VANZI, Judge. {1} The central question presented by this case is whether a court may award child support to a minor child who has been emancipated pursuant to the Emancipation of Minors Act (EMA), NMSA 1978, 32A-21-1 to -7 (1995), for the period after emancipation and continuing until the emancipated minor reaches the age of eighteen. This case is consolidated from two district court cases. In the first case, the district court issued an order emancipating Appellee, Jhette Diamond...
OPINION CASTILLO, Judge. {1} The district court reversed the magistrate court's order revoking Defendant's probation and remanded the case to the magistrate court for a full hearing on the probation revocation. Defendant appeals, and we reverse. The district court erred in failing to conduct a de novo hearing on the revocation and in remanding for an additional hearing at the magistrate court level on this issue. We remand for a de novo hearing by the district court consistent with this...
OPINION ROBLES, Judge. {1} Accurate Machine & Tool Co., Inc. (Accurate) appeals the district court's order enforcing a judgment from the Human Rights Commission (HRC), awarding Sandra Bankston (Claimant) $63,657.05 for discrimination claims based on sexual harassment and retaliation. Accurate argues that the HRC lacked subject matter jurisdiction when it entered its judgment, and it was therefore improper for the district court to enforce the HRC's determination. Accurate also argues that...
OPINION GARCIA, Judge. {1} The issue in this case is whether evidence of humiliation and mental anguish is sufficient to establish actual injury for liability purposes in a defamation action. Plaintiff, Rev. Walter F. Smith, III, appeals from the district court's order granting summary judgment in favor of Defendants regarding his claim for defamation. We reverse. BACKGROUND {2} This defamation action stems from the soured relationship between Plaintiff, who was the reverend at St....
OPINION FRY, Chief Judge. {1} This appeal stems from divorce proceedings initiated in 2008 by Wife, Heidi Rivera, against Husband, Jaime Rivera. Prior to trial, Wife filed a motion to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction, arguing that the marriage was void due to the fact that the parties were married in New Mexico but had only a Texas marriage license. The district court agreed and dismissed the divorce proceedings. Prior to the dismissal, Husband had sought to invalidate a premarital...
OPINION VANZI, Judge. {1} At issue in this appeal is a request for information pursuant to the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA), NMSA 1978, 14-2-1 to -12 (1947, as amended through 2009). The New Mexico Department of Public Safety (DPS) refused to disclose records of citizen complaints requested by Plaintiff. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of DPS. The district court ruled that the requested records were subject to two exceptions contained within...
OPINION FRY, Chief Judge. {1} In this opinion we resolve three separate appeals brought by Plaintiff Tryna Saavedra Wilde, the personal representative of the estate of Rosalia Saavedra, all stemming from the dismissal of Saavedra's lawsuit alleging fraud, conversion, and breach of fiduciary duty regarding the transfer and sale of certificates representing shares of stock in Westland Development Co. (Westland). Of the parties relevant to this appeal, Saavedra sued Westland, Westland DevCo (...
OPINION WECHSLER, Judge. {1} Appellants Juan B. Montoya, Director of the Public Employees Labor Relations Board (the PELRB), the PELRB, and AFSCME Council 18 and Local 624 (the real parties-in-interest) appeal the district court's denial of their motion to dismiss and grant of a writ of prohibition and/or superintending control (the Writ) prohibiting the PELRB from exercising jurisdiction over the prohibited practices complaint (PPC) before it. Appellants argue that the grandfather clause...
OPINION SUTIN, Judge. {1} This case arose from a public sector collective bargaining impasse arbitration proceeding under the New Mexico Public Employee Bargaining Act (PEBA), NMSA 1978, 10-7E-1 to -26 (2003, as amended through 2005), and a resolution called the University of New Mexico Labor Management Relations Resolution, Section 15, Negotiations and Impasse Resolution (the LMRR). The parties are National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees District No. 1199 New Mexico, AFL-CIO,...
