Tercero v. ROMAN CATH. DIOCESE OF NORWICH

2002 NMSC 018, 48 P.3d 50, 132 N.M. 312
CourtNew Mexico Supreme Court
DecidedMay 23, 2002
Docket25,618
StatusPublished
Cited by107 cases

This text of 2002 NMSC 018 (Tercero v. ROMAN CATH. DIOCESE OF NORWICH) 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
Tercero v. ROMAN CATH. DIOCESE OF NORWICH, 2002 NMSC 018, 48 P.3d 50, 132 N.M. 312 (N.M. 2002).

Opinions

OPINION

MAES, Justice.

{1} This appeal involves the alleged sexual molestation of then school boy Plaintiff-Respondent, Tercero, by Father Bissonnette (Bissonnette) between 1966-68, while he was a priest at the Santa Fe Archdiocese. The issue presented on appeal is whether the district court in New Mexico has long-arm jurisdiction over Defendant-Petitioner, the Diocese of Norwich, Connecticut, (the Diocese) in the resulting lawsuit. The trial court dismissed Tercero’s claims against the Diocese based on a lack of jurisdiction, and the Court of Appeals reversed. We reverse, concluding there was no long-arm jurisdiction over the Diocese.

FACTS

{2} Bissonnette was ordained as a priest and incardinated into the Diocese in 1958. In 1963, after reports of inappropriate conduct with boys, the Bishop of Norwich suspended Bissonnette “a divinis,” meaning that he could not perform sacraments. Thereafter, the Diocese sent Bissonnette to the Via Coeli Center (Via Coeli or the Center), also known as the Servants of the Paraclete, in New Mexico, for counseling and therapy for pedophilia. The Diocese paid for Bissonnette’s transportation to New Mexico, as well as for his treatment and room and board at Via Coeli. In May 1963, the Bishop wrote to the Center delegating it the authority to remove the suspension when it felt it was proper. However, in September 1963, based on a request from the Center, the Bishop lifted Bissonnette’s suspension.

{3} Bissonnette returned to Connecticut in 1964 where he was told by the Bishop that he could never again function as a priest for the Diocese. Although not formally excardinated from the Diocese, Bissonnette was dismissed by the Diocese and given his “walking papers,” as he referred to them. The Bishop later communicated to the Center and Bissonnette his recommendation that Bissonnette seek a benevolent bishop for whom he could work, but that the Bishop could not, in good conscience, provide Bissonnette with a recommendation. Thereafter, Bissonnette decided by himself to return to New Mexico from Connecticut. Paying his own transportation costs, Bissonnette returned to Via Coeli and then was transferred by the Center to one of its facilities in Minnesota. While in Minnesota, Bissonnette was given an assignment within the Diocese of Duluth. The Connecticut Diocese continued to pay for Bissonnette’s stays at the Via Coeli facilities, both in New Mexico and Minnesota. The Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, The Servants of the Paraclete, and Father Bissonnette are also named defendants in the action; however, these additional defendants are not parties to this appeal.

{4} In early 1966, Bissonnette wrote to the Bishop seeking permission to return to New Mexico. The Bishop agreed with his request, provided Via Coeli was willing to accept him back. Upon his return, Bissonnette met with the Archbishop of Santa Fe, who assigned him to St. Anne’s Parish in New Mexico. There, he eventually planned to apply for incardination into the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. He performed the assignment until 1968, when he was dismissed by that archdiocese for sexual molestation. Following his dismissal, Bissonnette returned to the Via Coeli Center in New Mexico where he again underwent treatment paid for by the Diocese.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

{5} Challenges made to a plaintiffs assertion of personal jurisdiction must be decided solely upon the facts of each individual case. See Doe v. Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise, Inc., 121 N.M. 738, 743, 918 P.2d 17, 22 (Ct.App.1996). “[T]o the extent that a district court’s conclusions concerning whether a plaintiff has proven personal jurisdiction rest on legal precepts, those conclusions are reviewed on appeal de novo----On the other hand, a district court’s conclusions based upon findings of fact are not disturbed on appeal unless clearly erroneous.” Campos Enters., Inc. v. Edwin K. Williams & Co., 1998-NMCA-131, ¶ 5, 125 N.M. 691, 964 P.2d 855 (citing Mylan Labs., Inc. v. Akzo, N.V., 2 F.3d 56, 60 (4th Cir.1993)). In this case, the record reveals that the district court failed to make findings of fact. Therefore, we conduct a de novo review on the issue of the existence of personal jurisdiction under the facts of this appeal. Where, as here, a timely challenge is raised under Rule 1 — 012(B)(2) NMRA 2002 contesting personal jurisdiction, the party asserting such jurisdiction has the burden of establishing that fact. Smith v. Halliburton Co., 118 N.M. 179, 185, 879 P.2d 1198, 1204 (Ct.App.1994).

ANALYSIS

{6} Utilizing New Mexico’s long-arm statute, our courts may exercise personal jurisdiction over non-residents. See NMSA 1978, § 38-1-16 (1971). That statute provides, in pertinent part:

A. Any person, whether or not a citizen or resident of this state, who in person or through an agent does any of the acts enumerated in this subsection thereby submits himself or his personal representative to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state as to any cause of action arising from:
(1) the transaction of any business within this state;
(3) the commission of a tortious act within this state.

This statute extends the jurisdictional reach of New Mexico courts as far as constitutionally permissible. See United Nuclear Corp. v. Gen. Atomic Co., 91 N.M. 41, 42, 570 P.2d 305, 306 (1977). The Diocese challenges the district court’s jurisdiction over it in the suit arising from Bissonnette’s alleged molestation of Tercero while the priest was assigned to' a parish in the Santa Fe Archdiocese.

{7} Long-arm statutes have been held to be in derogation of the common law, hence, they must be strictly construed. Worland v. Worland, 89 N.M. 291, 295, 551 P.2d 981, 985 (1976). The constitutional standard requires that prior to a nonresident defendant being sued in a forum state, the defendant must have sufficient minimum contacts with the forum state so that permitting the action will not violate “traditional conception[s] of fair play and substantial justice.” Int'l Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310, 320, 66 S.Ct. 154, 90 L.Ed. 95 (1945). A defendant will be found to have sufficient minimum contacts, satisfying due process, where the defendant has a connection with the forum state and has acted in the state in such a manner that they “should reasonably anticipate being haled into court there.” World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson, 444 U.S. 286, 297, 100 S.Ct. 559, 62 L.Ed.2d 490 (1980). “[I]t is essential in each case that there be some act by which the defendant purposefully avails itself of the privilege of conducting activities within the forum State.” Hanson v. Denckla, 357 U.S. 235, 253, 78 S.Ct. 1228, 2 L.Ed.2d 1283 (1958). As noted in Tarango v. Pastrana, 94 N.M.

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