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Belser v. O'Cleireachain3/17/2005
{1} Plaintiff Joanne Belser appeals the district court's order granting the motion of Defendant Dr. Feidhlim O'Cleireachain (Defendant) to lift a stay and dismiss without prejudice Plaintiff's medical malpractice complaint. The court had entered a stipulated order staying the proceedings until thirty days after the Medical Review Commission (MRC) rendered a decision on Plaintiff's claim. Defendant filed the motion in question after Plaintiff did not file an application with the MRC. Because the statute of limitations had run, the dismissal without prejudice effectively dismissed the case on a permanent basis. We affirm the district court's action on the basis that Plaintiff did not file the application within a reasonable time.
Factual and Procedural History
{2} Plaintiff filed her complaint against Defendant and Presbyterian Healthcare Services (Presbyterian) one day before the expiration of the limitations period contained in the Medical Malpractice Act. NMSA 1978, ยง 41-5-13 (1976) (setting a period of three years from the act of malpractice to bring action under the Act). The complaint alleges, and Defendant admits in his answer, that Defendant had hospital privileges with Presbyterian; thus the Medical Malpractice Act applied. After Defendant's answer, Defendant's attorney suggested a stipulation to stay the proceedings in lieu of a motion to dismiss so that Plaintiff could proceed before the MRC. The court entered an order upon the parties' stipulation that "the proceedings herein shall be stayed until thirty days after the Medical Review Commission renders its decision with regard to plaintiff's claim against [Defendant]." Despite an inquiry by Defendant's attorney approximately two months after the stay Plaintiff did not proceed before the MRC. Defendant filed his motion to lift the stay and dismiss the complaint approximately four months after the stay was granted. Although Defendant's memorandum in support of his motion to dismiss argued the court's lack of subject matter jurisdiction and statute of limitations, the motion and the memorandum set forth the facts relating to Plaintiff's inaction in filing an application with the MRC. Defendant again argued this inaction at the hearing on the motion. The court scheduled a presentment hearing, and Plaintiff filed a motion to vacate the presentment order. The court granted Defendant's motion to dismiss. On appeal, Plaintiff essentially argues, as she did in her motion to vacate the presentment order, that the district court erred (1) in vacating the stay because the stay was based on a contract of the parties that was not breached, and (2) in dismissing the complaint because a MRC decision was not a necessary predicate for the complaint under Rupp v. Hurley, 2002-NMCA-023, 131 N.M. 646, 41 P.3d 914, and because the court should have considered alternatives to dismissal.
District Court's Authority Over the Stay
{3} We do not agree with Plaintiff that the parties' contract, if one exists, binds the district court. A district court has control over proceedings before it. Our Supreme Court has held that a district court has the discretion to grant and lift a stay of proceedings. See Segal v. Goodman, 115 N.M. 349, 357-58, 851 P.2d 471, 479-80 (1993). Plaintiff would limit Segal to its facts: the grant of a presumably opposed motion to stay enforcement of a judgment permitted by Rule 1-062(A) NMRA, which authorizes proceedings to enforce a judgment "unless otherwise ordered by the court." However, Plaintiff's argument ignores the inherent authority of the district court to manage the cases before it. See State v. Ahasteen, 1998-NMCA-158, 28, 126 N.M. 238, 968 P.2d 328 (stating that the district court has the
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