Court Opinion

ID: 9563974
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 18:51:28.120668+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:18:09.942211
License: Public Domain

On Motion for Rehearing COMPTON, Justice.  Counsel for plaintiffs (appellees) has moved for rehearing and supports his motion by a somewhat lengthy and vigorously argued brief. Primarily, he complains we have injected an entirely new theory of defense into the case by resting our decision on the holding that defendant, Stoddard, who did not appeal, was the agent of the Women’s Auxiliary, at moment of the injury suffered rather than serving the American Legion Post. Accordingly, he invokes a doctrine supported in the cases cited that this may not be done. We do not agree with plaintiffs’ counsel that this is so. Indeed, one of the most hotly contested issues at the trial was on the fact of agency in Stoddard for the Legion Post at the crucial moment. But even, if it be granted the basis of our decision disclosed a new theory, it represents a belated discovery by the plaintiffs. The issue was argued at length in the brief in chief of defendants and adverted to again in the reply brief, yet went unnoticed in the plaintiffs’ answer brief as a “new theory.” Its discovery as such on motion for rehearing, if so it be, comes too late. In like fashion, counsel’s effort to build support for the motion on a claim that, finding No. 5 touching agency in Stoddard for the Legion Post at time of injury was assigned as error and then abandoned through failure to argue same, must fail. Under Point II of their brief in chief, the defendants (appellants) challenged sufficiency of the evidence to support the “existence of an agency relationship between defendant Russell Stoddard, individually, and all members of the Post, or any of them” grouping assignment of error No. 10 which challenges finding of fact No. 5,, with others of like tenor, and argues them at length. There was no abandonment of the claimed error in the questioned finding.. Both because of this fact and, as well, because, throughout, the tenor of defendants’ argument, both below and here, has. been a challenge to each and every finding of agency for the Legion in Stoddard, this ground of the motion is without merit. We have carefully considered the motion for rehearing and are not convinced our opinion filed should be withdrawn or modified. The motion will be denied. It Is So Ordered. LUJAN, C. J., and SADLER, J„ concur.