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Schlieter v. Carlos6/15/1989
PER CURIAM.
Plaintiff filed a medical malpractice action in the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, naming several defendants, some of whom are covered as health care providers under the New Mexico Medical Malpractice Act, NMSA 1978, 41-5-1 to -28 (Repl. Pamp. 1986), and others of whom are not. One of the defendants covered under the Act moved to sever for separate trial certain future medical expense issues involving only the defendants not covered under the Act. Plaintiff opposed this motion, arguing inter alia that the Act violates provisions for equal protection, due process, and privileges and immunities under the New Mexico and United States Constitutions, and the provision for separation of powers under the New Mexico Constitution.
In light of this challenge to the constitutionality of the Act, and on motion of the plaintiff, the federal court, pursuant to NMSA 1978, Section 34-2-8 (Repl. Pamp. 1981) and SCRA 1986, 12-607, has certified to this Court fourteen separate constitutional questions involving novel propositions of New Mexico law. Under Section 34-2-8(A) and Rule 12-607(A), we may undertake at our discretion to answer such questions when the answers are "determinative" of the cause before the federal court. For the reasons discussed below, we decline to accept the certification.
The voluminous federal court record, absent transcripts of depositions, has been delivered to us for our perusal; the certification request, however, contained neither a statement of relevant facts nor a stipulation of such facts by the parties. Consequently, we first consider the significance of the determinative answer requirement in conjunction with Rule 12-607(C)(3), which provides that a certification request shall set forth "either a statement by the certifying court of the facts relevant to the question certified, showing the nature of the controversy in which the questions arose, or a stipulation of such facts by the parties, which has been approved by the certifying court."
Avoidance of advisory opinions. The intent of the certification of facts and determinative answer requirements is that this Court avoid rendering advisory opinions. Relative to the first requirement, it is sufficient if the certification of facts and the record contain the necessary factual predicates to our resolution of the question certified, and it is clear that evidence admissible at trial may be resolved in a manner requiring application of the law in question. Relative to the second requirement, our answer must be determinative in that it resolves the issue in the case out of which the question arose, and the resolution of this issue materially advances the ultimate termination of the litigation.
A survey of our previous opinions on certification of questions from the federal district court illustrates the interplay of these two criteria. To date, we by and large have limited our acceptance of certifications prior to judgment to those cases in which there is no dispute over the factual predicates to the Court's determination of the questions certified, and our answer either disposes of the entire case or controversy, see Western Sav. & Loan Ass'n v. CFS Portales Ethanol I, Ltd., 107 N.M. 143, 754 P.2d 520 (1988); Continental Ins. Co. v. Fahey, 106 N.M. 603, 747 P.2d 249 (1987); Hamilton Test Systems, Inc. v. City of Albuquerque, 103 N.M. 226, 704 P.2d 1102 (1985); {PA}
Pa
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