Opinion ID: 6472358
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Petitioners’ Right to Appellate Review of the District Court’s Order

Text: {18} This Court denied Petitioners’ December 16, 2004, petition for a writ of mandamus, prohibition and/or superintending control on December 22, 2004. The State Canvassing Board argues that because the right to both a recount and recheck are exclusively statutory, this Court’s denial of Petitioners’ writ exhausted the only statutory remedy available to them. Petitioners claim that our denial of their writ does not preclude appellate review of the district court’s December 15, 2004, order refusing to issue a writ of mandamus compelling action by the State Canvassing Board. {19} Article VI, section 2 of the New Mexico Constitution guarantees an aggrieved party an absolute right to one appeal. Any aggrieved party in a civil action may appeal the final order of the district court to the New Mexico Supreme Court or Court of Appeals. NMSA 1978, § 39-3-2 (1966). The procedure to be followed by every appellant from a district court judgment is laid out in Rules 12-201 to 12-216 NMRA. Petitioners’ writ of mandamus, prohibition and/or superintending control, which was denied by this Court, is a separate and distinct procedure from the appellate review Petitioners are now seeking. The narrow circumstances in which the issuance of such a writ is appropriate help explain why we denied Petitioners’ December 15, 2004, writ petition. {20} The Election Code allows an applicant for recount or recheck to petition the district court for writ of mandamus to compel performance of required acts, such as compelling the State Canvassing Board to issue summonses to the precinct boards. Section 1-14-21. Like all other extraordinary writs, “[m]andamus is an extraordinary remedy which is available only in cases wherein other remedies fail or are inadequate.” Ellinwood v. Morales, 104 N.M. 243, 245, 719 P.2d 821, 823 (Ct.App.1986). The Legislature has provided that the district court has “exclusive original jurisdiction in all cases of mandamus.” See NMSA 1978, § 44-2-3 (1884). Although this Court has exercised original jurisdiction in cases other than those provided by statute, see State ex rel. Clark v. Johnson, 120 N.M. 562, 569, 904 P.2d 11, 18 (1995), we have done so when we were satisfied that exercising original jurisdiction was appropriate, id. Because a writ of mandamus from this Court is appropriate only in limited circumstances, the denial of Petitioners’ petition for a writ “does not preclude appellate review of the trial court’s action and does not necessarily reflect upon the merits of [Petitioners’] contentions for purposes of this appeal.” State v. House, 1999-NMSC-014, ¶ 25, 127 N.M. 151, 978 P.2d 967. See also State v. Ware, 115 N.M. 339, 343, 850 P.2d 1042, 1046 (Ct.App.1993) (“The denial of a writ of prohibition does not necessarily mean that the Supreme Court reached the merits of the issue argued in support of the writ, especially where there exists an adequate remedy at law.”). Finally, “in all cases of proceedings by mandamus in any district court of this state, the final judgment of the court thereon shall be reviewable by appeal ... in the same manner as now provided by law in other civil cases.” NMSA 1978, § 44-2-14 (1899). {21} In Petitioners’ petition to this Court for extraordinary relief, they claimed they had no plain or speedy alternative remedy at law. Yet they did have a right of appeal, and as this appeal illustrates, the Court of Appeals may, under certain circumstances, transfer an appeal to this Court. This Court denied Petitioners’ requested relief without comment. We are not persuaded that on direct appeal Petitioners should be denied appellate review of the relief they originally requested by way of an extraordinary writ, even though that relief cannot be ordered at this time. As a result, we reach the merits of Petitioners’ claim.