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

• A tobacco company, Grand River Enterprises Six Nations, Ltd., incorporated in Canada and operating exclusively on the Six Nation Indian Reserve, was sued by the New Mexico Attorney General for failing to contribute to New Mexico's tobacco escrow fund as required by the Tobacco Escrow Fund Act. The lawsuit was based on the sale of approximately 19,540 Opal cigarettes by Grace’s Smoke Shop in Deming, New Mexico, which had purchased the cigarettes from Snow Mountain Wholesale in Nevada. Grand River claimed it had no direct business activities in New Mexico nor any contractual relationships with the smoke shop or the wholesaler (paras 2-3).

Procedural History

• [Not applicable or not found]

Parties' Submissions

• Plaintiff-Appellee (State of New Mexico): Argued that Grand River had engaged in business within the state by selling cigarettes, thereby obligating it to contribute to the tobacco escrow fund. The State maintained that personal jurisdiction was proper due to Grand River's sales activities in New Mexico (para 10).
• Defendant-Appellant (Grand River Enterprises Six Nations, Ltd.): Contended that the default judgment against it should be set aside because the State failed to properly serve the company and the district court lacked personal jurisdiction. Grand River asserted it had no direct business dealings in New Mexico and did not sell or profit from cigarette sales in the state through any contractual arrangements with local entities (paras 3, 5, 10-11).

Legal Issues

• Whether the district court had personal jurisdiction over Grand River Enterprises Six Nations, Ltd., a foreign corporation, in a lawsuit requiring it to contribute to New Mexico's tobacco escrow fund (para 6).

Disposition

• The Court of Appeals of New Mexico reversed the district court's default judgment against Grand River Enterprises Six Nations, Ltd., and remanded the matter for further proceedings, concluding that the district court lacked personal jurisdiction over the defendant (para 12).

Reasons

• CYNTHIA A. FRY, Judge (MICHAEL E. VIGIL, Judge, TIMOTHY L. GARCIA, Judge concurring): The court found that the State of New Mexico did not have personal jurisdiction over Grand River because the company did not have sufficient minimum contacts with the state. The court emphasized that specific personal jurisdiction requires purposeful availment, which was not established by Grand River's indirect connection to cigarette sales in New Mexico. The affidavit from Grand River's president negated the State's claims of the company's business activities in New Mexico, showing no direct or indirect efforts by Grand River to serve the New Mexico market. Consequently, the default judgment was deemed void due to the lack of personal jurisdiction (paras 6-11).