State v. Superior Court6/27/1996
WEISBERG, Judge
Petitioners have filed a petition for special action seeking review of the trial court's denial of their motion to dismiss. They argue that they are immune from suit and that the claims are time-barred. Because petitioners do not have an adequate remedy by appeal on these issues, see City of Phoenix v. Yarnell, 184 Ariz. 310, 315, 909 P.2d 377, 382 (1995) (immunity); Lim v. Superior Court, 126 Ariz. 481, 482, 616 P.2d 941, 942 (App. 1980) (statute of limitations), we have entered an order accepting jurisdiction over this petition, with a written decision to follow. For the following reasons, we grant relief in part and deny relief in part.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Corliss Ford operated an adult care facility. On June 12, 1992, the Department of Health Services ("DHS") through the Office of the Attorney General filed a three-count complaint against Ford, alleging that she I) was operating a health care institution without a license, II) was operating an unregistered residential care home, and III) had abused and/or neglected two of the elderly residents in her facility. The Attorney General and DHS sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary and permanent injunctions enjoining Ford from operating any type of residential care facility until she had satisfied the statutory licensing requirements. The trial court granted injunctions based upon the licensing and registration allegations of Counts I and II. Following trial, though, the court found that there was no evidence of abuse or neglect, and therefore denied any relief based upon Count III. The court also found that the Attorney General and DHS had failed to disclose certain information that had been requested by Ford, which prejudiced her defense.
On June 28, 1994, Ford filed a civil suit against the State, Attorney General Grant Woods and his wife, Assistant Attorney General Thomas McClory and his wife, and DHS (collectively, "defendants"), asserting the following claims:
1. Violation of her civil rights pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, arising from the Attorney General and DHS's a) continuance of the prosecution despite allegedly learning on June 28, 1993 that the claims were "baseless" and b) nondisclosure of information;
2. Malicious prosecution, based on continuing the prosecution;
3. Abuse of process, based on continuing the prosecution;
4. Defamation, based upon statements made by Assistant Attorney General Robert Carey on June 12, 1992.
Defendants moved to dismiss the complaint on the grounds of improper service, absolute prosecutorial and statutory immunity, and failure to comply with the statute of limitations and Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. ("A.R.S.") section 12-821. By minute entry dated April 24, 1995, the trial court, without reaching defendants' immunity arguments, dismissed the complaint, basing its ruling on A.R.S. section 12-821.
Before the court signed the judgment, however, Ford filed a motion to amend her complaint. The motion to amend sought to amend the complaint by adding a false light invasion of privacy claim, and an additional defamatory statement to her defamation claim, both of which arose from statements made by Carey to the press in January 1994. Because these statements had been made within one year of the filing of her original complaint, Ford argued that the false light and defamation claims were not time-barred by A.R.S. section 12-821. In addition, she sought to add a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3) for conspiracy to violate her civil rights, and a prayer for injunctive relief. She argued that these claims and the original § 1983, malicious prosecution, and
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