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

• The Plaintiff filed a motion for reconsideration thirteen days after the judgment was entered against the Defendant. The record does not show that this motion has been considered on its merits or expressly ruled upon as required.

Procedural History

• [Not applicable or not found]

Parties' Submissions

• Defendant-Appellant: Contends that the Plaintiff's motion for reconsideration was untimely pursuant to Rule 1-059(E) NMRA, arguing that the district court's failure to act should not impact the right to an immediate appeal.
• Plaintiff-Appellee: Filed a motion for reconsideration thirteen days after the judgment was entered, which has not been expressly ruled upon. The specifics of the Plaintiff's arguments in this motion are not detailed in the decision.

Legal Issues

• Whether the order from which the Defendant seeks to appeal is a final order, such that appeal is statutorily authorized.
• Whether the Plaintiff's motion for reconsideration was timely and its impact on the finality of the order and the Defendant's right to appeal.

Disposition

• The appeal is dismissed due to the lack of a final order, as the Plaintiff's motion for reconsideration has not been ruled upon, rendering the underlying order not final.

Reasons

• The Court, consisting of Judge Roderick T. Kennedy with Judges Michael D. Bustamante and Michael E. Vigil concurring, determined that the right to appeal is generally restricted to final judgments and decisions. The Court noted that the Plaintiff's motion for reconsideration, filed thirteen days after the judgment, has not been expressly ruled upon, which is required for an order to be considered final. The Court also addressed the Defendant's contention that the Plaintiff's motion was untimely, clarifying that a motion for reconsideration filed outside the ten-day period from the final judgment should be deemed filed under Section 39-1-1, which allows for a thirty-day period, thus making the Plaintiff's motion timely. Consequently, since the district court has yet to rule on the Plaintiff's motion for reconsideration, the underlying order is not final, and the time for filing an appeal has not begun to run, leading to the dismissal of the appeal.