AI Generated Opinion Summaries

This summary was computer-generated without any editorial revision. It is not official, has not been checked for accuracy, and is NOT citable.

Facts

The case arises from a series of automobile accidents on July 21, 1981, during a New Mexico State Highway Department maintenance project on Highway 82. The plaintiffs, including injured parties and representatives of deceased individuals, alleged negligence by the State of New Mexico and a highway construction company contracted to resurface the road (paras 2-3).

Procedural History

• Folz v. State, 110 N.M. 457, 797 P.2d 246 (1990): The New Mexico Supreme Court reviewed the case and issued an opinion on August 8, 1990, following appeals by all parties after the initial judgment (para 2).
• District Court, October 12, 1984: Judgment was entered against the State and the highway construction company after a trial on the merits (para 2).
• District Court, Post-1990: The trial court denied the plaintiffs' motion to assess post-judgment interest, relying on the precedent set in Fought v. State (para 3).

Parties' Submissions

• Appellants (Plaintiffs): Argued that the statute in effect at the time of filing their claims (NMSA 1978, Section 56-8-3) allowed for post-judgment interest at a rate of 10% annually. They contended that the Tort Claims Act only prohibited pre-judgment interest and that the 1983 amendments to the statute should not apply retroactively to their case (paras 4-5).
• Respondents (State of New Mexico): Asserted that the 1983 amendments to Section 56-8-3 and Section 56-8-4 exempted the State from paying post-judgment interest. They argued that these amendments should apply retroactively and that interest against the State is a privilege that can be withdrawn at any time (paras 5-6).

Legal Issues

• Whether the plaintiffs are entitled to post-judgment interest on their judgment against the State under the Tort Claims Act and the statutes in effect at the time of filing their claims.
• Whether the 1983 amendments to NMSA 1978, Section 56-8-3 and Section 56-8-4, apply retroactively to preclude post-judgment interest in this case.

Disposition

• The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's denial of post-judgment interest and remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with its opinion (para 16).

Reasons

Per Alarid J. (Pickard J. concurring):

The Court held that the statutes in effect at the time the plaintiffs filed their claims in 1982 and 1983 permitted the award of post-judgment interest. The 1983 amendments to Section 56-8-3 and Section 56-8-4 did not apply retroactively to cases already pending, as per the New Mexico Constitution, Article IV, Section 34, which prohibits legislative acts from affecting pending cases (paras 6-9).

The Court emphasized that the Tort Claims Act only explicitly prohibited pre-judgment interest, and by negative inference, post-judgment interest was permissible. The legislative intent behind the Act was to treat the State as a private party once immunity was waived, and private parties would have been subject to the law in effect at the time of filing (paras 7-10).

The Court clarified and partially overruled Fought v. State, holding that its reasoning was flawed in cases where claims were filed before the effective date of the 1983 amendments. The Court also rejected the State's argument that the Tort Claims Act must be strictly construed to prohibit post-judgment interest, noting that statutory language must be interpreted as written (paras 12-15).

Special Concurrence by Hartz J.:

Judge Hartz concurred fully with the majority opinion but wrote separately to critique the precedent set in Bradbury & Stamm Construction Co. v. Bureau of Revenue. He argued that the distinction made in Bradbury between the State and private litigants under Article IV, Section 34, of the New Mexico Constitution was outdated and should be overruled in the future. He noted that the elimination of sovereign immunity for torts further undermined the rationale for treating the State differently (paras 18-22).