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Porter v. Triad of Arizona9/3/2002
ause, "as persons with capacity to sue, [they] could have prosecuted their causes of action during the shortened time" provided by the applicable two-year statute of limitations. Id.
We hold that § 12-502 is designed to apply to all claims that are owned by a minor and that a minor's lack of capacity to sue is not a relevant factor in determining whether a cause of action belonging to a minor actually exists. Specifically regarding the inquiry here, whether a minor in Arizona owns a cause of action for the wrongful death of a parent is not controlled by the fact that the statute, as it existed in 1994, did not permit a minor to sue in his own name.
Our next step would ordinarily be to analyze the wrongful death statutes and a minor's status thereunder to determine whether the statutes vest ownership of a cause of action in the minor. Such an analysis is unnecessary, however, because our supreme court some time ago found that the wrongful death statute "confers an original and distinct claim for the damages sustained by named statutory beneficiaries." Huebner v. Deuchle, 109 Ariz. 549, 549-50, 514 P.2d 470, 470-71 (1973). That court has also observed that simply because "children are not named plaintiffs but are merely beneficiaries does not preclude them from being 'parties' to the litigation." Austin v. City of Scottsdale, 140 Ariz. 579, 580-81, 684 P.2d 151, 152-53 (1984).
We do not believe that further analysis is required in order to conclude that Arizona's wrongful death statutes endow a minor with his own cause of action. This finding in turns mandates the further conclusion that § 12-502 applies to such a claim. To repeat what our supreme court said in Barrio, the minority tolling statute applies "to all other actions and claims of minors . . . ." 143 Ariz. at 107, 692 P.2d at 286.
Porter also argues that the claim granted a minor under the wrongful death statutes constitutes a fundamental right and the Gomez interpretation of the tolling statute therefore violates the anti-abrogation clause of the Arizona Constitution. In addition, Porter asserts that the equal protection clause of the federal constitution invalidates the Gomez result because the case creates a classification between claims of minors injured in their person or property that are protected by the tolling statute, and claims of minors injured in their relationships by virtue of a wrongful death of a parent that are unprotected by the statute. According to Porter, there is no rational basis for such a distinction. We do not address these arguments because we prefer to decide cases on non-constitutional grounds where, as here, such a basis is available. Goodman v. Samaritan, 195 Ariz. 502, 505, 11, 990 P.2d 1061, 1064 (App. 1999).
CONCLUSION
Because a minor in Arizona owns a cause of action for the wrongful death of a parent, we hold that such a claim is protected by the tolling provision of § 12-502 and decline to follow the holding of Gomez v. Leverton to the contrary. The claims of the Porter children were not barred by the statute of limitations, and we therefore reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand this matter for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
CONCURRING:
Cecil B. Patterson, Jr., Judge
Sheldon H. Weisberg, Judge
Page 1 2 3 4 Arizona Personal Injury Attorneys
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