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Blea v. Fields8/15/2005
In this medical negligence case we are asked to clarify the state of the law in New Mexico regarding a party's entitlement to a jury trial in a case that involves both legal and equitable claims. The following question was certified to us by the Court of Appeals pursuant to Rule 12-606 NMRA 2005 and NMSA 1978, Section 34-5-14(C) (1972): "Whether a party is entitled to a jury trial where proper and timely demand has been made in a matter that involves mixed claims of law and equity, and where a decision on the equitable claims will dispose of the legal claim?" This question was certified because of the apparent discord between New Mexico cases concerning whether, in cases involving mixed claims of equity and law, the equitable or legal claim must be heard first. In Evans Fin. Corp. v. Strasser, 99 N.M. 788, 790, 664 P.2d 986, 988 (1983), this Court followed the approach of the United States Supreme Court in Beacon Theaters, Inc. v. Westover, 359 U.S. 500, 503-04, 508 (1959), which held that in a case involving equitable and legal claims, the constitutional right to a jury trial on the legal claims limits a trial judge's traditional discretion to decide the equitable claims first, and absent "imperative circumstances," common fact issues must be submitted first to a jury. Id. at 510-11. On the other hand, in State ex rel. McAdams v. District Court, 105 N.M. 95, 97, 728 P.2d 1364, 1366 (1986) we stated the equitable claims were to be tried first. We hold that when a case involves both equitable and legal claims, a trial judge may decide the equitable claims first if the equitable claims do not have any disputed fact issues in common with the legal claims. This is true even if deciding the equitable claims results in dismissal of the legal claims. However, when equitable and legal claims present common issues of fact which are material to the disposition of both claims, the legal claims must be submitted to a jury before the equitable claims are decided. Otherwise, the judge while deciding the equitable claims will have invaded the province of the jury by deciding disputed facts that are material to the legal claim. In so holding, we affirm.
DISCUSSION
Plaintiff Stella Blea brought a medical negligence action in June 1997 against Defendant Dr. Roderick Fields, a Rheumatologist. Plaintiff alleges she had an allergic reaction to the pain reliever Naprosyn, which Defendant prescribed to her in February 1995, although Defendant had been informed that Plaintiff had experienced asthma- related reactions to aspirin and knew that Naprosyn is contraindicated in such individuals. Plaintiff alleged that Defendant's negligence resulted in her hospitalization in March 1995. Defendant moved to dismiss the complaint, or alternatively for summary judgment, arguing that at all times relevant to the complaint, he was an employee of Memorial Medical Center (MMC), a City/County Hospital, and therefore the action was barred by the two-year statute of limitations in the New Mexico Tort Claims Act. NMSA 1978, ยง 41-4-15 (1977). In response, Plaintiff disputed that Defendant was an employee of MMC, but asserted that even if Defendant was an employee of MMC, Defendant concealed his employee status as well as his potential negligence in prescribing the Naprosyn.Therefore, Plaintiff argued, Defendant should be equitably estopped from asserting a statute of limitations defense or, alternatively, the statutory period should be tolled under the theory of fraudulent concealment.We refer to these two claims collectively as "equitable claims."
The parties filed, and the trial judge denied, numerous motions and cross-motions for summary judgment on Defendant's statute of limitations defense and Plaintiff's
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