Cooper v. Albuquerque City Commission

518 P.2d 275, 85 N.M. 786
CourtNew Mexico Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 18, 1974
Docket9774
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 518 P.2d 275 (Cooper v. Albuquerque City Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cooper v. Albuquerque City Commission, 518 P.2d 275, 85 N.M. 786 (N.M. 1974).

Opinion

OPINION

OMAN, Justice.

Pursuant to a petition filed by plaintiff, the district court issued an alternative writ of mandamus whereby defendants were directed to appear and show cause, if any they had, why they had not conducted an election to recall Intervenor, a municipal judge of the City of Albuquerque.

After a hearing on the merits, the district court entered a judgment commanding that the alternative writ be made permanent; that defendants order a recall election of Intervenor; and, in the event either the defendants or Intervenor should appeal from the judgment, that the portion thereof commanding the calling of a recall election should be stayed until the decision thereon by this court shall have issued.

Intervenor has appealed from that portion of the judgment commanding defendants to order a recall election. Plaintiff has filed a cross-appeal from that portion of the judgment permitting the intervention of Intervenor. We affirm the action of the trial court in permitting the intervention and reverse its action in commanding the calling of a recall election.

On November 24, 1972, plaintiff filed with the clerk of the City of Albuquerque a petition seeking the recall by election of Intervenor. On March 2, 1973, plaintiff filed his petition for writ of mandamus to compel defendants, the governing body of the City, to forthwith conduct a recall election, or appear and show cause why they had not done so. On the same date the alternative writ of mandamus issued.

On March 5, the district court entered an order granting leave to attorneys Lorenzo A. Chavez and Melvin Robins “to introduce evidence, file briefs and argue as amicus curiae.” The attorneys for plaintiff and defendants filed a stipulation on March 8 wherein, among other things, they agreed and consented:

“* * * to the entry of the Law firm of Chavez and Robins into this cause as amicus curiae, for the limited purpose of introducing argument, authority, or evidence to protect the interests of Albuquerque Municipal Judge Harry Robins [Intervenor].”

On March 8 the district court found and ordered that:

“* * * the terms and conditions of the Stipulation are fair and reasonable, and they are hereby adopted by reference as the order of this Court, as though fully set forth herein.”

The case was tried on March 20 upon the issues presented by the allegations contained in the alternative writ and defendants’ answer or response thereto. At the conclusion of these proceedings, the district court announced it would:

“* * * find as a matter of law and direct as a matter of law, that the City Commission for the City of Albuquerque [defendants] shall forthwith call or provide for a recall election, and in the alternative shall * * * within twenty days from this date recheck the petitions and give formal notification of any signatures that they shall purge * *

On March 27, Intervenor moved for leave to intervene on the grounds that (1) “* * * as a Municipal Court Judge for the City of Albuquerque he has a direct interest relating to the claims set forth in the Petition for Writ of Mandamus filed herein on 2 March 1973, and is so situated that the final disposition of the action may, as a practical matter, impair or impede his ability to continue sitting as a Municipal Court Judge”; and (2) “* * * his interest in the pending litigation is not adequately represented and protected” in that “the defendants have not indicated that they will appeal the Court’s ruling” of March 20.

On April 10, by way of supplemental findings of fact and conclusions of law, the district court found and concluded:

“The Court hereby finds as follows:
“1. That the intervenor Harry D. Robins has an interest which can be adversely affected by the subject matter of this action.
“2. That the interest of Harry D. Robins was being protected by the Defendant Albuquerque City Commission throughout the first hearing.
“3. That the Defendant Albuquerque City Commission has through its attorney indicated in open court that it did not intend to appeal a decision by the Court which could be adverse to the interests of Harry D. Robins.
“THE COURT CONCLUDES AS A MATTER OF LAW:
“1. The Petition for Intervention by Harry D. Robins should be granted because Petitioner has an interest which would be adversely affected by enforcement of the judgment and which interest would not otherwise be protected.”

None of these supplemental findings of fact have been challenged. The supplemental conclusion has been challenged by plaintiff in all his points relied upon for reversal in his cross-appeal.

Thereafter, but on the same date of April 10, there was filed the judgment from which this appeal and the cross-appeal have been taken.

Since plaintiff’s cross-appeal concerns itself with claimed error on the part of the district court in permitting the Intervenor to intervene as a party to this cause, we shall first dispose of the cross-appeal. Plaintiff raises three points upon which he relies for reversal of the district court in permitting the intervention. The first of these is:

“The trial court abused its discretion by allowing cross-appellee to intervene after the Court had called for requested findings of fact and conclusions of law from the parties.”

It is apparent from the above recited facts that the motion to intervene was filed on March 27 and the final judgment was not entered until April 10. However, it is also apparent that the motion was not filed until after the trial was concluded and the trial court had announced on March 20 the substance of the judgment it proposed to enter. It was not until this announcement by the trial court that defendants had any reason to indicate, or had indicated, they had no intention of appealing from that judgment upon its entry. If defendants did not appeal — and they did not — then obviously they were no longer representing the interests of Intervenor.

Plaintiff contends the application for intervention was untimely, since it came after the trial had been concluded and the trial court had announced what it proposed to include in its judgment. Plaintiff relies upon Speer v. Sierra County Commissioners, 80 N.M. 741, 461 P.2d 156 (1969); Tom Fields, Ltd. v. Tigner, 61 N.M. 382, 301 P.2d 322 (1956); Encino State Bank v. Tenorio, et al., 28 N.M. 65, 206 P. 698 (1922); Annot, 5 A.L.R.Fed. 518 (1970); Annot., 37 A.L.R.2d 1306 (1954).

Those portions of our rule governing intervention of right and by permission are Rule 24(a) and (b) of the Rules of Civil Procedure for the District Courts [§ 21-1-1(24) (a) and (b), N.M.S.A.1953 (Repl. Vol. 4, 1970)].

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Bluebook (online)
518 P.2d 275, 85 N.M. 786, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cooper-v-albuquerque-city-commission-nm-1974.