Title: Roberson v. Board of Education of City of Santa Fe

State: new-mexico

Issuer: New Mexico Supreme Court

Document:

430 P.2d 868 (1967) 78 N.M. 297 Mildred D. ROBERSON, Petitioner-Appellant, v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF the CITY OF SANTA FE, and the New Mexico State Board of Education, Respondents-Appellees. No. 8282. Supreme Court of New Mexico. July 24, 1967. Watson & Watson, Charles S. Solomon, Santa Fe, for appellant. *869 E.P. Ripley, Santa Fe, for appellee, New Mexico State Board of Education. Melvin T. Yost, Santa Fe, for appellee, Board of Education of City of Santa Fe. MOISE, Justice. This litigation had its inception in 1960, when the Board of Education of the City of Santa Fe, hereinafter referred to as City Board, undertook to discharge appellant from her teaching position held by her for some twenty years. The district court, on application by appellant, issued a peremptory writ of mandamus to the City Board, directing it to recognize the contract with appellant for the 1960-1961 school year, and to desist from hearings on any question dealing with her reemployment. Upon appeal to this court, the writ was ordered modified so as to permit the City Board to proceed to determine if appellant should be discharged as provided in § 73-12-15, N.M.S.A. 1953, Pocket Supp. State v. Board of Education of City of Santa Fe, 70 N.M. 261, 372 P.2d 832 (1962). In that opinion, the facts as well as the language of § 73-12-15, N.M.S.A. 1953 and § 73-12-13, N.M.S.A. 1953, Pocket Supp., are set forth. They will not be repeated here. It now appears that after remand, hearing was held by the City Board as provided in § 73-12-15, supra. Appeal followed to the New Mexico State Board of Education, hereinafter referred to as State Board. Being aggrieved by the State Board's decision, on July 7, 1964, appellant filed cause No. 35164 on the docket of the District Court of the First Judicial District seeking a review. This was done by filing a "Notice of Appeal" in the cause, in the following language: At the same time, a document entitled "Writ of Certiorari" was issued and signed by the Clerk of the District Court. It read: Thereafter, the State Board moved to quash the writ, and the City Board filed a motion to dismiss. After hearing, an order was entered on September 29, 1965 sustaining both motions for the announced *870 reasons that § 73-12-15, supra, was deemed controlling; no appeal is provided therein and, accordingly, the notice of appeal conferred no jurisdiction on the district court; and, further, the purported issuance of a writ of certiorari by the clerk was a nullity and gave the court no jurisdiction because such writs can only issue by order of the court based upon presentment by proper applications. Timely notice was given of appeal to the Supreme Court of this action by the district court. However, no appeal was ever perfected and, on October 18, 1965, appellant filed cause No. 36638 in the District Court of Santa Fe County seeking issuance of a writ of certiorari to review the action of the State Board. The petition in this cause stated that it was a continuation of cause No. 35164 and was filed under the provisions of § 23-1-14, N.M.S.A. 1953. Upon presentation to the district court and upon showing being made, a writ of certiorari directed to the State Board was ordered to issue. Thereafter the State Board filed a motion for costs and a motion to quash the writ. Although the writ was addressed to the State Board alone, the City Board had also been named as a party and it filed a motion to quash the writ and seeking dismissal of the action. Both the motions to quash filed by the State Board and that filed by the City Board raise the issues of (1) lack of jurisdiction in the court; (2) the bar of laches; and, (3) bar of the applicable limitation period for obtaining review. In addition, the City Board raised the issue of an absence of process directed to the City Board and insufficiency of the writ issued by the court to confer jurisdiction. The trial court sustained the motion to quash and ordered the action dismissed for the announced reasons, (1) that the only remedy available to appellant was certiorari; (2) cause No. 35164 did not constitute a filing of a proceeding or commencement of an action which could serve as a foundation for application of § 23-1-14, N.M.S.A. 1953, because no basis existed for issuance of any process in cause No. 35164; and (3) appellant was negligent and barred by laches because of her failure to proceed properly to obtain a review by certiorari. From this order the present appeal was taken. We first consider appellant's Points III and IV. It is there argued that the steps taken in the filing of cause No. 35164 constituted the commencement of an action as defined in § 23-1-13, N.M.S.A. 1953 and, accordingly § 23-1-14, supra, was applicable, and the court obtained jurisdiction of the State Board by its general appearance. Sections 23-1-13 and 23-1-14, supra, read as follows: Our first inquiry must necessarily be whether the notice of appeal and issuance by the clerk of the so-called writ constituted the filing of a "petition, declaration, bill or affidavit" upon which process was "authorized by law to be issued." We conclude that it was not. The proceedings in question were conducted under § 73-12-15, N.M.S.A. 1953, providing that the decision of the State Board shall be final. No provision is made for appeal. This being true, the only remedy available for reviewing the *871 actions of the State Board was certiorari. State ex rel. Sisney v. Board of Com'rs, 27 N.M. 228, 199 P. 359 (1921). Appeals and writs of error are in no sense to be compared to certiorari. In re Duncan, 43 Okl. 691, 144 P. 374 (1914); as a matter of fact, generally speaking, the presence of the right to appeal makes inappropriate and unavailable the right to certiorari. 14 C.J.S. Certiorari § 39, p. 184. Accordingly, unless the notice of appeal is sufficient to serve to initiate a review by certiorari, we have no commencement of such an action. This has been recognized under certain circumstances. See Stevens v. Superior Court, 160 Cal. App. 2d 264, 325 P.2d 204 (1958). Florida has a statute requiring appeals improperly taken to be considered as petitions for certiorari. Borras v. Allered, 58 So. 2d 152 (Fla. 1952). However, note what was said by this court on rehearing in Gallup Southwestern Coal Co. v. Gallup American Coal Co., 39 N.M. 94, 40 P.2d 627 (1935). That the notice of appeal is not sufficient is made amply clear when it is recognized that "a formal application showing a prima facie case for relief is a prerequisite to issuance of certiorari," with certain exceptions not here applicable. 14 C.J.S. Certiorari § 68, p. 213; State ex rel. Jacobs v. Trimble, 310 Mo. 150, 274 S.W. 1075 (1925). While in no sense wanting to be understood as holding that any particular nicety of pleading or precision of drafting is required, the record here discloses a total absence of any pleading which remotely approximates a petition or which contains any of the elements required as a minimum to merit such a description in a proceeding wherein certiorari is sought. The form and contents of such an application are detailed in 14 Am.Jur.2d 810, Certiorari, § 33, and in 14 C.J.S. Certiorari § 70, p. 213. The power in a district court to issue a writ of certiorari is provided in Art. VI, § 13, N.M.Const., and has been recognized by this court. State ex rel. Board of Com'rs of State Bar v. Kiker, 33 N.M. 6, 261 P. 816 (1927). Procedural guidelines to be followed in connection with an action wherein certiorari is sought have never been provided. We note Supreme Court Rule 24(7) (§ 21-2-1(24) (7), N.M.S.A. 1953) prescribing in very general terms for certiorari in this court, and Rule 29 (§ 21-2-1(29), N.M.S.A. 1953) setting up procedure in certiorari to the court of appeals. Applications for the issuance of the writ is required in both. Even where applications or petitions are required by statute, which also provides for liberal interpretation, Kohnberg v. Murdock, 4 A.D.2d 750, 164 N.Y.S.2d 870 (1957), certain minimum requirements must be met. Fitzgerald v. Conway, 191 Misc. 1048, 78 N.Y.S.2d 418 (1962); Kantor v. City of Perth Amboy, 122 N.J.L. 588, 7 A.2d 403 (1939). While we subscribe wholeheartedly to a liberal rule in passing on nonjurisdictional defects in proceedings wherein procedural pitfalls in attempting to obtain a review may have been encountered, as announced in Johnson v. Johnson, 74 N.M. 567, 396 P.2d 181 (1964), we cannot escape the conclusion that the trial court was correct when it stated that "under the most liberal construction" the instruments filed in cause No. 35164 "did not constitute the commencement of an action under § 23-1-13, supra." This being true, § 23-1-14, supra, could not serve in any sense to give cause No. 35164 vitality by virtue of the filing of cause No. 36638. We must next consider appellant's Point II, and the issue of whether cause No. 36638 was barred because of laches. The decision of the State Board was transmitted on June 30, 1964, and the petition in cause No. 36638 was filed October 18, 1965, some fifteen and a half months later. Appellant would excuse this delay by pointing to the fact that all of this time was required to obtain a ruling in cause No. 35164. It is true that cause No. 36638 was filed only some nineteen days after cause No. 35164 was dismissed. Certainly, the *872 passage of nineteen days did not constitute laches. However, what about the remaining period of approximately fifteen months? Gallup Southwestern Coal Co. v. Gallup American Coal Co., supra, is an interesting case in this regard. This was an appeal in a case arising out of a condemnation proceeding wherein no provision for appeal had been made in the statute. Upon this fact being noted, the appeal was dismissed and appellant filed an application for certiorari which the court directed should first be considered as a motion for rehearing in the appeal which had been dismissed. In the opinion on rehearing, the court made it clear that because of disagreement between the three participating justices, no precedent was being established. The differences between the justices is best stated by quoting from the opinion: Without announcing any rule having the force of precedent, in that case the court concluded that the case should be considered as if certiorari had issued on the application; in other words, that the application was not barred by laches in that case. In the course of the opinion, the following is stated: Here, too, appellant promptly appealed from the decision of the State Board, and vigorously prosecuted its appeal. Upon dismissal of the appeal, after first giving notice of appeal from that decision, and after only nineteen days had passed, certiorari was sought in cause No. 36638. We do not understand how, in the light of our decision in the previous case (70 N.M. 261, 372 P.2d 832) appellant could continue to assert that the proceeding should have been under § 73-12-13, supra. However, the fact remains that she did and, so far as the record discloses, did so in good faith, and with no purpose to delay. As a *873 matter of fact, we cannot possibly imagine in what manner delay would benefit her. Appellant has not had her dismissal reviewed by a court, and this is what she seeks. We perceive of no change of position or prejudice to the appellees because of the passage of time. However, does that make any difference? We recently considered the time element in seeking appeal where no period was fixed by statute or rule. In Board of Education, Penasco Independent School District No. 4 v. Rodriguez, 77 N.M. 309, 422 P.2d 351 (1967), we held that under § 73-12-13, supra, where appeal is provided, but a time for taking it is not fixed, an appeal from the State Board to the district, not filed until some eighty-one days had passed after the order appealed from had been entered, came too late. We stated that the time for taking such an appeal was the same as that provided by rule for appeals from the district court to this court. In the course of the opinion, the following, quoted from Eigner v. Geake, 52 N.M. 98, 192 P.2d 310 (1948), is set forth: In Rodriguez, supra, the Board argued that ninety days, the time allowed by rule for seeking certiorari when Eigner was decided, was the correct period, and accordingly the petition was timely. We held that the period for appealing having been shortened by rule to thirty days, under the reasoning of Eigner that was the time now provided for appealing, suing out a writ of error, or seeking certiorari. No question was raised in Rodriguez concerning the presence of "exceptionally good cause," recognized in Eigner as possibly tolling the time otherwise applicable during which the writ may be timely sought. In deciding whether or not certiorari was barred by laches, we would call attention to Morris v. Ross, 58 N.M. 379, 271 P.2d 823 (1954), which in turn relied on Patterson v. Hewitt, 11 N.M. 1, 66 P. 552, 55 L.R.A. 658 (1901). We quote as follows: The rule was recognized in Sharpe v. Smith, 68 N.M. 253, 257, 360 P.2d 917, 919 (1961), where we said: "* * * lapse of time alone does not necessarily imply an unreasonable delay in bringing suit, but it must also appear that the delay has worked to the injury of another." Although the Gallup Southwestern Coal Company case, supra, is not binding precedent, we find in it as well as in the authorities cited above ample support for here concluding that the trial court erred in dismissing cause No. 36638 on the ground of laches. We find no basis for arguing that the State Board or the City Board has changed its position or been prejudiced through the passage of time. To the contrary, we find present in the diligence attempted to be exercised although largely misdirected "exceptionally good cause," recognized in Eigner v. Geake, supra, as permitting the tolling of any time limitation otherwise applicable. Appellant should be allowed to present her case to the district court under the rules applicable to a review by certiorari. In view of the disposition made of the points herein discussed, no reason is present for considering the additional points or arguments advanced by appellant. The judgment is reversed and the cause remanded to the trial court with instructions to reinstate it on the docket, and proceed to determine the issues in a manner consistent herewith. It is so ordered. COMPTON, J., and EDWARD E. TRIVIZ, District Judge, concur.