Court Opinion

ID: 9774084
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 18:08:26.408625+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:01.834494
License: Public Domain

KENNEDY, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. Based on the facts set out in the majority opinion, I would affirm the trial court’s judgment.
The majority states that Lively had the right to sue Flores anytime during the two year limitation period following her discovery that she had contracted venereal disease. If Flores failed to raise the defense of interspousal immunity, which was available to him during the two years following her discovery, Lively could take a judgment against him.
It seems a harsh imposition on Lively to require her to file suit and then hope Flores commits some procedural error or makes a mistake such that ultimately she prevails in her cause of action. The majority view places a heavy burden upon a litigant to bring a lawsuit that will fly directly into the face of established law. I believe it unrealistic to expect a party to spend time, money, and energy litigating a cause of action that directly confronts well established law on the dim hope that it will be the case that changes the law.
To require a party to pursue a cause of action for which no right of action exists or, as in this case, a known bar to recovery precludes a claim, in the hope that the opposing party will commit some error or waive certain rights, I believe is unjust. I would affirm the trial court’s judgment in favor of Lively.