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New Mexico Physicians Mutual Liability Co. v. Lamure8/31/1993
s to encompass LaMure's acts. They contend that the Act's definition of malpractice is intended to supplant the definition of malpractice in insurance contracts when coverage provisions conflict with the statutory purpose of the Act. To the contrary, the insurer urges that since the Act does not define "malpractice," and only defines "malpractice claim" to establish the scope of administrative review by the New Mexico Medical Review Commission, the Act does not modify the scope of coverage of private insurance contracts, and it does not affect the Court's construction of LaMure's malpractice policies.
We agree that the Act does not alter our construction of LaMure's medical malpractice insurance contracts by statutorily modifying LaMure's insurance coverage or by expressing public policy conflicting with the criminal acts exclusions. "Malpractice claim" as defined by the Act relates to whether a claim sounds in medical malpractice for purposes of the procedural requirements and limitations on full recovery imposed by the Act. The Act evidences no intent to supplant or modify the coverage provisions of LaMure's malpractice insurance, either by invalidating its criminal acts exclusions or expanding its broad coverage provisions. The purpose of the Act is "to promote the health and welfare of the people of New Mexico by making available professional liability insurance for health care providers in New Mexico." Section 41-5-2 (Repl.Pamp.1989). The Act is intended to increase the number of health care providers serving the public by facilitating their acquisition of professional liability insurance. The Act also seeks to promote the integrity of malpractice claims against health care providers by creating a system whereby legitimate claims are recoverable by the injured party. The relevant coverage and exclusion provisions of LaMure's policies are not inconsistent with the Act's objectives. Malpractice claims under the Act do not include claims of criminal sexual assault not committed in the course of rendering professional health care services. Cf. ), cert. denied, 101 N.M. 362, 683 P.2d 44 (1984) (finding that claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent misrepresentation are not "malpractice claims" under the Medical Malpractice Act).
LaMure claims that the district court did not have sufficient evidence to determine if his acts constituted malpractice covered by his insurance because documentation of his conviction was improperly admitted into evidence under the rule of . Given this error, he asserts that there was no evidence regarding his conduct involving Kristopher before the district court and that summary judgment was improper.
Contrary to LaMure's contentions, evidence of his conviction was properly admitted, and there is no genuine issue of material fact concerning whether his acts constitute malpractice. In Gray v. Grayson, this Court stated that "absent a plea of guilty, proof of conviction of criminal charges is inadmissible in the trial of a subsequent civil action for tort arising out of the same act." Id. Gray v. Grayson is not applicable because LaMure's conviction was not admitted to prove his negligence. Rather, the conviction was admitted for the limited purpose of proving that LaMure's alleged misconduct constituted "criminal acts" within the criminal acts exclusions of his insurance policies. Gray v. Grayson does not prevent the use of evidence of conviction to aid this type of contract interpretation. Furthermore, our evaluation of insurance coverage centers on LaMure's insurance policies and the federal complaint, which, supported by evidence of LaMure's indictment and convic
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