AI Generated Opinion Summaries

This summary was computer-generated without any editorial revision. It is not official, has not been checked for accuracy, and is NOT citable.

Facts

• Arthur Chavez died nineteen days after slipping and falling on ice and snow in his apartment's parking lot, leading to a complex left hip socket fracture. Initially treated at a hospital in Gallup, he was airlifted to the University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH) in Albuquerque, where he stayed for seven days before being discharged to a skilled nursing facility, where he later died from a pulmonary embolism. His daughter and wife filed a negligence and wrongful death suit against several parties, including UNMH, which was found to be twenty-five percent responsible for Chavez's death by a jury (paras 2-3).

Procedural History

• District Court of McKinley County: Jury found UNMH liable for negligence in causing Arthur Chavez's death and awarded over $18 million for wrongful death, determining UNMH to be twenty-five percent responsible (para 3).

Parties' Submissions

• Plaintiffs-Appellees: Argued that UNMH, along with other defendants, was negligent in the care and treatment of Arthur Chavez, leading to his wrongful death (para 3).
• Defendant-Appellant (UNMH): Raised five claims of error, including the district court's refusal to bifurcate the trial, improper jury instructions on damage allocation, erroneous admission of expert testimony, inconsistency in the verdict, and denial of the right to appeal due to unrecorded bench conferences (para 1).

Legal Issues

• Whether the district court erred in declining to bifurcate the trial.
• Whether the jury was improperly instructed on how to allocate damages.
• Whether the district court erred in admitting Plaintiff’s expert’s opinion testimony and in preventing UNMH from admitting deposition testimony in rebuttal.
• Whether the verdict was inconsistent.
• Whether UNMH was denied the right to appeal because the bench conferences were not recorded.

Disposition

• The Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's decision, rejecting all five claims of error raised by UNMH (para 1).

Reasons

• DUFFY, Judge, with HANISEE, Chief Judge, and IVES, Judge, concurring: The court found no abuse of discretion in the district court's decision not to bifurcate the trial, noting that the law does not require bifurcation under the circumstances presented and that the jury instructions adequately addressed how to attribute damages for pain and suffering for each injury. The court also found no abuse of discretion in the admission of Dr. Arredondo’s opinion testimony and the exclusion of Dr. Peter de Ipolyi’s deposition testimony. The jury's verdict was not inconsistent as it properly separated the liability and damages for the original hip fracture from the medical negligence that caused Chavez's death. Lastly, UNMH's claim regarding the unrecorded bench conferences did not demonstrate reversible error, as UNMH failed to properly utilize the procedure for addressing incomplete transcripts or recordings and was not prevented from raising any issues on appeal (paras 4-24).