Clews v. Stiles
| Decision Date | 28 October 1960 |
| Docket Number | No. 6401.,6401. |
| Citation | 303 F.2d 290 |
| Parties | William A. CLEWS, Appellant, v. Elizabeth C. STILES, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
Robert D. Taichert, Albuquerque, N. M. (Rodey, Dickason, Sloan, Akin & Robb, Albuquerque, N. M., on the brief), for appellant.
Sumner Koch, Sante Fe, N. M. (Gilbert, White & Gilbert, Santa Fe, N. M., on the brief), for appellee.
Before MURRAH, Chief Judge, and HUXMAN and PICKETT, United States Circuit Judges.
This appeal involves the construction of Sec. 21-3-16, New Mexico Statutes Annotated, 1953 Compilation. The Act, in general, provides that, "Any person, whether or not a citizen or resident of this state, who in person or through an agent does any of the acts enumerated in this subsection thereby submits himself or his personal representative to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state as to any cause of action arising from:" enumerated acts. Included are causes of action arising from "the operation of a motor vehicle upon the highways of this state."
Prior to the effective date of the Act, an automobile accident occurred between an automobile driven by appellant, William A. Clews and Elizabeth C. Stiles, Elizabeth C. Stiles then being a resident of the State of New Mexico. Prior to the institution of this action by Clews against appellee, she became a non-resident of the State, and service was sought to be had against her under the provisions of the above Act. The trial court sustained a motion to quash service of summons on the ground that the Act was prospective and had no application to causes of action existing at the time of its passage.
New Mexico has not considered the question whether the Act has retroactive effect or applies only prospectively to causes of action arising after the effective date of the Act. The New Mexico Act with one exception, not material, was adopted verbatim from a similar act by the State of Illinois, S.H.A. ch. 110, § 17.
It is a general rule of construction that where one State adopts a statute of another, there is a presumption, absent other considerations or indices, that it likewise adopts the construction of the Act by the courts of such other State. New Mexico subscribes to this general rule.1 In the case of Nelson v. Miller, 11 Ill.2d 378, 143 N.E.2d 673, 676, the Supreme Court of Illinois considered this identical question and held that the Act applied retrospectively. The court said, "* * * while generally statutes will not be construed to give them a retroactive operation unless it clearly appears that such was the legislative intent, nevertheless, when a change of law merely affects the remedy or law of procedure, all rights of action will be enforceable under the new procedure without regard to whether they accrued before or after such change of law and without regard to whether the suit has been instituted or not, unless there is a saving clause as to existing legislation."
There is no saving clause in the New Mexico Act and nothing in the history of the Act or in the pronouncement of the courts of New Mexico which indicates that the general rule of construction should be departed from. It would, of course, be desirable if we had an expression from the Supreme Court of New Mexico, but in the absence of such expression, it is our duty to construe the Act. It is our conclusion that in adopting the Illinois Act, the New Mexico Legislature adopted the construction of the Act by the Illinois courts. We, therefore, conclude that the Act in question has retroactive effect and that service was properly had on appellee.
The trial court expressed some doubts as to the constitutionality of the Act in question, but because of its conclusion with respect to the retroactive provisions of the law relating to service of summons, did not deem it necessary to consider this question. The question is, however, presented as an alternative ground in support of the judgment appealed from. The argument on this point is predicated on Article III, Section 1, of the New...
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Hitt v. Nissan Motor Company, Ltd.
...F.2d 603 (10th Cir. 1964); Winward v. Holly Creek Mills, Inc., 83 N.M. 469, 493 P.2d 954 (1972); Melfi v. Goodman, supra; Clews v. Stiles, 303 F.2d 290 (10th Cir. 1960); Pope v. Lydick Roofing Co. of Albuquerque, 81 N.M. 661, 472 P.2d 375 (N.M.1970). 56 Conn.Gen.Stat.Ann. § 33-411(b), (c). ......
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Hunt v. Nevada State Bank
...adopted from another state or country is presumed to have been taken with the construction there placed upon it.' See, also, Clews v. Stiles (10 Cir.) 303 F.2d 290 (where the Court of Appeals assumed that the New Mexico Supreme Court would adopt the Illinois interpretation because New Mexic......
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Harmon v. Eudaily
...Court decision in Clews v. Stiles, D.N.M., 181 F.Supp. 172 (1960), from which defendant quotes, was reversed on appeal, Clews v. Stiles, 10th Cir., 303 F.2d 290 (1960). Among the states which have adopted long-arm legislation not predicated solely on fictionalized "consent," the overwhelmin......
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Gray v. Armijo
...to construe the statute, just as the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals construed our statute in Clews v. Stiles, No. 6401, filed October 28, 1960, 303 F.2d 290. The Federal District Court for Washington followed the construction placed upon the statute by the state of Illinois in Nelson v. Mil......