City of Las Cruces v. Garcia

• Citation: 690 P.2d 1019,1984 NMSC 106,102 N.M. 25
• Decision Date: 07 November 1984
• Docket Number: No. 15382,15382
• Parties: The CITY OF LAS CRUCES, Petitioner, Arthur Guerra, and The State of New Mexico, Defendants, v. Andrew L. GARCIA, Respondent.
• Court: New Mexico Supreme Court

Page 1019

690 P.2d 1019

102 N.M. 25

The CITY OF LAS CRUCES, Petitioner Arthur Guerra, and The State of New Mexico, Defendants, v. Andrew L. GARCIA, Respondent.

No. 15382.

Supreme Court of New Mexico.

Nov. 7, 1984.

Gordon J. McCulloch, Katherine E. Tourek, Bradley & McCulloch, P.A., Albuquerque, for petitioner

Anthony F. Avallone, Law Systems of Las Cruces, P.A., Las Cruces, for respondent.

Deborah S. Davis, Shaffer, Butt, Thornton & Baehr, P.C., Albuquerque, State of N.M.

OPINION

RIORDAN, Justice.

On September 8, 1982, plaintiff Andrew Garcia (Garcia) filed suit against defendants Arthur Guerra (Guerra), the City of Las Cruces (City), and the State of New Mexico (State) to recover damages for personal injuries received in an April 15, 1982 accident. The City and State both moved for summary judgment, and the district court granted the motions on the grounds that Garcia had failed to comply with the notice requirement of the Tort Claims Act, NMSA 1978, Sections 41-4-1 to 41-4-27 (Repl.Pamp.1982 and Supp.1983). On appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment as to the State but reversed as to the City. We granted the City's petition for certiorari and reverse the Court of Appeals' holding as to the City.

The issue raised on certiorari is whether the City traffic department's receipt of a copy of an accident report in this case is "actual notice" under the Tort Claims Act.

The facts are adequately presented in the Court of Appeal's opinion.

We disagree with the Court of Appeals' interpretation of New Mexico State Highway Comm'n v. Ferguson, 98 N.M. 680, 652 P.2d 230 (1982), and with its instructions on remand. The Court of Appeals held that under Ferguson, if the City traffic department is the governmental agency responsible "for overseeing the safety of intersections, * * * then notice of the occurrence to that department in the form of the police report is actual notice to the City." The court's holding and instructions were based on our statement in Ferguson that Subsection 41-4-16(B) means that "the particular agency that caused the alleged harm must have actual notice before written notice is not required." Ferguson, 98 N.M. at 681, 652 P.2d at 231 (emphasis added).

The interpretation of a statute must be consistent with the legislature's intent and must be accomplished by "adopting a construction which will not render the statute's application absurd, unreasonable, or unjust." State v. Santillanes, 99 N.M. 89, 90, 654 P.2d 542, 543 (1982) (citations omitted). Section 41-4-16, the notice provision of the Tort Claims Act, states:

A. Every person who claims damages from the state or any local public body under the Tort Claims Act [41-4-1 to 41-4-27 NMSA 1978] shall cause to be presented to the risk management division for claims against the state, the mayor of the municipality for claims against the municipality, the superintendent of the school district for claims against the school district, the county clerk of a county for claims against the county, or to the administrative head of any other local public body for claims against such local public body, within ninety days after an occurrence giving rise to a claim for which immunity has been waived under the Tort Claims Act, a written notice stating the time, place and circumstances of the loss or injury.

B. No suit or action for which immunity has been waived under the Tort Claims Act shall be maintained and no court shall have jurisdiction to consider any suit or action against the state or any local public body unless notice has been given as required by this section, or unless the governmental entity had actual notice of the occurrence. The time for giving notice does not include the time, not exceeding ninety days, during which the injured person is incapacitated from giving the notice...