{1} This is an appeal from the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendants on Plaintiffs' claim that Defendants engaged in an unlawful conspiracy to fix the prices of cigarettes sold in New Mexico. We affirm the summary judgment in favor of Defendants Liggett and Lorillard; we reverse the summary judgment in favor of Defendants Philip Morris, Brown & Williamson, and R.J. Reynolds... BACKGROUND... {2} Plaintiffs-Appellants are a statewide class of retail customers who...  

{1} In this case, we resolve two questions that require us to interpret the Trade Practices and Frauds Act (the TPFA) of the Insurance Code, NMSA 1978, § 59A-16-1 to -30 (1984, as amended through 2007). First, we consider whether a manager of a group of insurance adjusters can be held personally liable for violations of the TPFA. We hold that such an employee is subject to the private right of action created by Section 59A-16-30 of the TPFA and therefore reverse, in part, the district...  

{1} Husband Jack Leroy Muse appeals from adverse rulings in an over-seven-year, bitterly fought marital dissolution. We remand on issues relating to Husband's right to receive accountings and relating to his right to review documents and information underlying the special master reports. We also remand on an issue relating to attorney fees. We affirm on all other issues... BACKGROUND... {2} Just half way through this case, the district court judge presiding at the time stated:... [T]his case is...  

{1} The New Mexico Probate Code specifies the means by which a testator may revoke a prior will. See NMSA 1978, § 45-2-507(A) (1993) (stating that a will may be revoked by either executing a subsequent will or by performing a revocatory act on the will). The district court, concluding that the purported revocation in this case was legally ineffective, granted summary judgment, and the Court of Appeals affirmed in a well-reasoned opinion. On certiorari, we affirm most of that opinion,...  

{1} Defendant Robert Hayes appeals from the district court's judgment, partially suspended sentence, and commitment to the penitentiary. He contends that the district court erred in denying his motion to dismiss for the violation of his right to a speedy trial. We affirm... BACKGROUND... {2} On April 14, 2006, the State filed a criminal complaint in magistrate court charging Defendant with fraud over $250, a fourth-degree felony under NMSA 1978, § 30-16-6 (1987) (amended 2006), and cruelty...  

{1} If a police officer cannot, consistent with the constitution, obtain information he wants from a citizen (such as his identification), does the New Mexico Constitution permit him to use what is otherwise a constitutionally valid traffic stop as a pretextual subterfuge to obtain that information? The New Mexico Supreme Court has directed us to answer that question for the first time in this case. State v. Ochoa, 2008-NMSC0-23, ¶ 22, 143 N.M. 749, 182 P.3d 130 ("[W]e... ... ......  

{1} Plaintiff David Medina (Medina) appeals from an order of the district court granting a motion filed by Defendants Ray Holguin (Holguin) and WMA Securities, Inc. (WMAS) to compel arbitration. At issue in this appeal is the applicability of an arbitration provision in the rules of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD). The parties do not dispute their respective roles under this provision. See NASD Rule 10301(a) (effective through April 16, 2007), available at...  

{1} The operable event that forms the basis for these consolidated cases1 occurred over thirteen years ago when the Albuquerque City Council (City) adopted the 1995 Uptown Sector Plan (1995 USP), which affected property leased by Albuquerque Commons Partnership (ACP). Until 1995, the leased property was governed by the Uptown Sector Plan (1981 USP). In 1991, ACP selected Opus Southwest Corporation (Opus) as the buyer for the leasehold. Opus submitted a site plan for the property in June 1994...  

{1} This case requires us to examine the scope of the "plain view exception" to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article II, section 10 of the New Mexico Constitution. In the present case, law enforcement officers executing a concededly valid warrant authorizing the search of Defendant's home for evidence of criminal sexual penetration (CSP) called in a conservation officer to conduct an investigation into possible violations of game...  

{1} In this appeal involving severance taxes, we address the concept of excusable neglect in a Rule 1-060(B)(1) NMRA proceeding where an attorney is careless in failing to meet a deadline. We are also required to interpret a regulation of the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department (the Department) that allows a purchaser of an interest in a pipeline to deduct transportation costs from the price of the product sold. We hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding...  

{1} The Fifth Judicial District Court provided an opportunity to the parties to engage in a court-sponsored settlement conference pursuant to a local settlement conference rule. Once the parties agreed to participate, they became subject to both the local rule and to a court order, which both required good faith participation. Defendant Patterson-UTI Drilling Company, LP, LLLP (Patterson) determined in advance of the settlement conference that it had no liability and entered the settlement...  

{1} This guardianship proceeding arises out of a dispute among Petitioners, Debbie and Franciso L. (Petitioners), Respondent Galadriel R. (Mother), and Respondent Jeremy V. (Father) over who will have primary responsibility for raising a young child, Victoria R. (Child). Mother and Father are the biological parents of Child. Petitioners are adult caregivers with whom Child has lived for a substantial part of her young life... {2} This case presents a potentially heartbreaking fact pattern:...  

{1} Pro se Appellants, David and Paula Landess (Taxpayers), appeal from the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Appellee, Gardner Turf Grass, Inc. (Gardner), dismissing their complaint and imposing sanctions under Rule 1-011 NMRA for bringing a frivolous action. Taxpayers argue that summary judgment and sanctions were improperly granted. Concluding that Taxpayers' arguments are without merit, we affirm... BACKGROUND... {2} David Landess is an at-will employee of Gardner....  

{1} The question before us is whether injuries inflicted on a fetus, which result in the death of a child born alive, support a charge for child abuse resulting in death under NMSA 1978, § 30-6-1(E) (2004) (amended 2005). Based on the language of the statute, we conclude that the trial court erred by denying Defendant's motion to dismiss the charges, and we reverse... I. BACKGROUND... {2} The parties stipulated to the following facts for the purposes of the motion to dismiss. At the time...  

{1} Angela V. Woodhull, Ph.D. (Plaintiff), acting pro se, appeals the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Carolyn Meinel (Defendant). The trial court ruled that the applicable New Mexico statute of limitations and 47 U.S.C. § 230 (1998), the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA), both bar Plaintiff's defamation claim. Plaintiff's appeal presents the first opportunity for this Court to consider the statute of limitations and CDA as they relate to Internet-based defamation...  

{1} Defendant Curtis Lee Billington registered twice as a sex offender and was arrested the following year when he did not register. Scant evidence, if any, was presented at trial that he had ever been apprised so as to be on notice of the registration duties of the convicted sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). NMSA 1978, §§ 29-11A-1 to -10 (1995, as amended through 2007). He appeals his conviction for failure to renew his registration...  

{1} This case involves a twenty-eight-month delay in prosecution caused by Defendant's incarceration in another state and the parties' intermittent plea negotiations. A grand jury indicted Defendant on September 21, 2001, for unlawful taking of a vehicle, contrary to NMSA 1978, Section 66-3-504(A)(2) (1998) or, in the alternative, embezzlement, contrary to NMSA 1978, Section 30-16-8 (1995, prior to amendments through 2007). The State did not arrest Defendant until July 14, 2003, when Defendant...  

{1} This interlocutory appeal requires the Court to decide whether NMSA 1978, Section 73-2-21(E) (2003), regarding the standard of review in an appeal to the district court from a decision by the commissioners of an acequia, violates either article XVI, section 5 or the equal protection clause of article II, section 18 of the New Mexico Constitution. As we conclude that the statute violates neither constitutional provision, we reverse the district court's contrary decision and remand for...  

{1} The question presented in this appeal is whether the trial court properly executed its gatekeeping function in determining that (1) the State's witness, Ron Smock, was qualified to testify as an expert concerning the science of retrograde extrapolation; and (2) Smock's expert testimony was reliable and admissible pursuant to the criteria established in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993), and State v. Alberico, 116 N.M. 156, 861 P.2d 192 (1993). We assume...  

{1}Alfred G. Marchand (Alfred) was a flight attendant on United Airlines Flight 175, one of the two airplanes that terrorists caused to crash into the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001. He was the sole New Mexico resident to die in the tragic events of that day. Alfred died intestate, survived by his wife Rebecca Marchand (Rebecca), his adult son by a previous marriage Joshua Marchand (Joshua), and his dependent stepson Trae Hale (Trae), Rebecca's son by a previous...