Gomez v. Chavarria

• Decision Date: 12 January 2009
• Docket Number: No. 28,072.,No. 28,073.,28,072.,28,073.
• Citation: 2009 NMCA 035,206 P.3d 157
• Parties: Robert GOMEZ, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Gary CHAVARRIA, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: Court of Appeals of New Mexico

206 P.3d 157

2009 NMCA 035

Robert GOMEZ, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Gary CHAVARRIA, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 28,072.

No. 28,073.

Court of Appeals of New Mexico.

January 12, 2009.

Certiorari Granted, No. 31,546, March 24, 2009.

Law Offices of Nancy L. Simmons, P.C., Nancy L. Simmons, Albuquerque, NM, for Appellant.

Montgomery & Andrews, P.A., Paul E. Houston, Brian T. Judson, Sharon T. Shaheen, Albuquerque, NM, for Appellee.

OPINION

SUTIN, Chief Judge.

{1} Plaintiff Robert Gomez appeals from two judgments dismissing his claims with prejudice in two separate actions against Defendant Gary Chavarria. The district court in each action determined that Plaintiff's claims were barred by the applicable statute of limitations, NMSA 1978, § 37-1-8 (1976), and that the one-year extension granted to minors in NMSA 1978, Section 37-1-10 (1975) did not save the actions. The issues are the same in both actions. Plaintiff asserts that the district court misapplied Sections 37-1-8 and 37-1-10. We disagree and affirm.

BACKGROUND

{2} In his action filed on March 29, 2007, Plaintiff alleged that on February 13, 2004, he was sixteen years old and was injured in a vehicle collision caused by Defendant. In his action filed on April 24, 2007, Plaintiff alleged that on April 23, 2004, he was seventeen years old and was again injured in another vehicle collision caused by Defendant. Plaintiff turned eighteen on April 2, 2005.

{3} Defendant moved for judgment on the pleadings in both actions based on the bar of Section 37-1-8. In response, Plaintiff argued that his claims and the three-year limitations period in Section 37-1-8 were tolled until he reached age eighteen, and that additionally, under Section 37-1-10, the limitations period was also tolled for another year after he reached eighteen. Based on the theory that, under Sections 37-1-8 and 37-1-10, "a minor is afforded the general statute of limitations of three years plus one year (per tolling)," Plaintiff argued that the limitations period would not expire until February 13, 2008, in the first action and April 23, 2008, in the second action, "or until his birthday of April 2, 2008[,] since the tolling provision seemingly provides for both dates."

{4} The district court disagreed with Plaintiff and dismissed both actions with prejudice. Plaintiff raises three issues on appeal. First, Plaintiff contends that pursuant to minority/disability tolling principles and Section 37-1-10 he is allowed four years from the accrual dates within which to file the actions. Second, he contends that an interpretation of Section 37-1-10 to the contrary "would constitute a new rule that should not be applied to him retroactively." Third, he contends that the district court's interpretation of Section 37-1-10 violated his equal protection rights and his substantive due process rights under the United States Constitution.

DISCUSSION

{5} The limitations period under Section 37-1-8 is three years. Section 37-1-10 states: "The times limited for the bringing of actions by the preceding provisions of this chapter shall, in favor of minors and incapacitated persons, be extended so that they shall have one year from and after the termination of such incapacity within which to commence said actions."

{6} We first address the deadline for filing the actions. We review issues of statutory construction de novo. Cooper v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc., 2002-NMSC-020, ¶ 16, 132 N.M. 382, 49 P.3d 61; Morgan Keegan Mortgage Co. v. Candelaria, 1998-NMCA-008, ¶ 5, 124 N.M. 405, 951 P.2d 1066. We also address what constitutes a reasonable time extension and cut-off date for filing actions under case law, and this issue involves the application of law to facts and requires a de novo review. Garcia v. Jeantette, 2004-NMCA-004, ¶ 15, 134 N.M. 776, 82 P.3d 947. We next address the issue of retroactive application of rules, which we also review de novo. Padilla v. Wall Colmonoy Corp., 2006-NMCA-137, ¶ 7, 140 N.M. 630, 145 P.3d 110. Finally, we address Plaintiff's constitutional arguments, and we review those issues de novo as well. ACLU of N.M. v. City of Albuquerque, 2006-NMCA-078, ¶ 10, 139 N.M. 761, 137 P.3d 1215.

Deadline for Filing Actions

{7} The three-year limitations period in Section 37-1-8 begins to run against both adults and minors when the cause of action accrues. Slade v. Slade, 81 N.M. 462, 466, 468 P.2d 627, 631 (1970). It is quite clear from a plain reading of Section 37-1-10 that, when the three-year limitations period in Section 37-1-8 runs its full course during minority status, Section 37-1-10 gives the minor a year from his or her eighteenth birthday within which to sue. It is not clear, however, what happens when the three-year limitations period ends after the minor reaches age eighteen.

{8} With respect to his first action, Plaintiff reached eighteen a little over a year after the date of the accrual of the first cause of action, February 13, 2004, the date of the first accident. When he reached eighteen, he had almost a year and ten months within which to sue before the Section 37-1-8 three-year limitations period ended on February 13, 2007. With respect to his second action, Plaintiff reached eighteen a little short of one year after the accrual of the second cause of action, April 23, 2004, the date of the second accident. When he reached eighteen, he had a little more than two years within which to sue before the Section 37-1-8 three-year limitations period ended on April 23, 2007.

{9} On appeal, Plaintiff argues that it is to be assumed "that the minority years are `lost years' in terms of ability to act on one's own behalf." He argues that because the time between the accidents and his eighteenth birthday was approximately one year, he "`suffer[ed]' from incapacity by way of his minority" and "effectively `lost' one year, a period of time when, legally, he was not considered able to assert or even understand his rights under the law." He asserts that "[t]he logical interpretation of the statute is that [he] had a one-year period following his eighteenth birthday during which the statute of limitations was tolled." In attempting to piece together Plaintiff's arguments, we understand him to say that the "lost year," was a one-year period of tolling, which should be added onto the three-year limitations period so as to extend that period a year beyond the dates of February 13, 2007, and April 23, 2007, to February 13, 2008, and April 23, 2008, thereby bringing him within a permissible limitations period. Nothing in the statutes or case law, however, supports Plaintiff's arguments.

{10} The intent of the Legislature in enacting Section 37-1-10 was to give minors a reasonable period of time after reaching majority within which to file an action. See State v. Gutierrez, 2007-NMSC-033, ¶ 30, 142 N.M. 1, 162 P.3d 156 ("The plain language of the statute is the primary indicator of legislative intent, so we look first to the words the Legislature used and their ordinary meaning."). Section 37-1-10 constitutes a legislative statement of policy that once a minor reaches majority he or she must have a reasonable period of time within which to file an action in the face of an early expiration of the applicable statute of limitations. The real issue here is whether Plaintiff had a reasonable period of time after he reached eighteen within which to file his actions to avoid the bar of the Section 37-1-8 limitations period. We hold that he did.

{11} In both actions, Plaintiff had more than a full year after he reached eighteen within which to sue before the three-year limitations period in Section 37-1-8 ran its course. Plaintiff's arguments provide no basis upon which to hold that he had or needed longer than the date of expiration of the three-year limitations period within which to file his actions. Furthermore, if the three-year limitations period had ended on a date less than one year from Plaintiff's eighteenth birthday, we think that the intent underlying Section 37-1-10 would allow a full year following his eighteenth birthday for filing. Section 37-1-10 sets a standard that one year is a reasonable period of time for suit once minors reach the age of majority. No case exists in New Mexico law that indicates that a maximum of one year, under the circumstances here, would be unreasonable. We agree with Defendant's view of the statutes: "A minor's lawsuit for personal injury is not barred until one year after the minor reaches the age of majority or until three years after the accident — whichever computation of time gives the injured minor the most time to act." We conclude that Plaintiff had a reasonable time and opportunity in the year following his eighteenth birthday to file his actions. He also had a reasonable time and opportunity to file his actions before the three-year limitations period expired. We therefore hold that the district court did not misconstrue or misapply the statute of limitations.

Retroactive Application

{12} Plaintiff contends that a holding that his actions were barred under Section 37-1-8 "would constitute a new rule that should not be applied to him retroactively." Plaintiff cites Whenry v. Whenry, 98 N.M. 737, 739, 652 P.2d 1188, 1190 (1982), which states that for a court decision to be applied prospectively, the decision "must establish a new principle of law, either by overruling clear past precedent on which litigants may have relied, or by deciding an issue of first impression whose resolution was not clearly foreshadowed." (Internal quotation marks and citation omitted.) Plaintiff argues that the district court's ruling created a new rule of law because there is nothing in any precedent or case law that clearly foreshadowed an answer to the applicability of the statutes to the circumstances here and because "this particular issue of statutory interpretation is apparently an issue of first impression." We disagree and hold that the statutory bar applies...