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, Leah N. Rivera, sustained serious injuries when struck by a motor vehicle while crossing a crosswalk in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on October 9, 2008. The crosswalk was equipped with a flashing light system designed and manufactured by Stop Experts, Inc., and owned and operated by the City of Las Cruces. The Plaintiff alleged that she activated the flashing lights before crossing but the lights failed to function, contributing to her accident (paras 2).

Procedural History

• [Not applicable or not found]

Parties' Submissions

• Plaintiff: Argued that the failure of the flashing light system, designed by Stop Experts, Inc. and operated by the City of Las Cruces, contributed to her injuries. She claimed to have activated the system before crossing, but the lights did not function (para 2).
• Stop Experts, Inc.: Filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that the Plaintiff could not establish proximate cause as she did not know if the system activated on the day of the accident and admitted that the same incident would have occurred regardless of the system's activation. They also contended that the Plaintiff failed to provide evidence supporting her product liability and negligence claims (para 3).
• City of Las Cruces: Filed a motion for summary judgment, emphasizing the Plaintiff's admission that the accident would have occurred regardless of the flashing light system's activation (para 4).

Legal Issues

• Whether the district court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of the Defendants, City of Las Cruces and Stop Experts, Inc., by concluding there were no genuine issues of material fact regarding proximate cause and the functionality of the flashing light system at the time of the Plaintiff's accident (paras 5, 9, 12).

Disposition

• The Court of Appeals reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the Defendants, City of Las Cruces and Stop Experts, Inc., and remanded for further proceedings (para 19).

Reasons

• The Court of Appeals, per Judge Linda M. Vanzi, with Chief Judge Roderick T. Kennedy and Judge M. Monica Zamora concurring, found that genuine issues of material fact existed which precluded summary judgment. Specifically, the Court noted that the Plaintiff and the driver of the vehicle had testified to not seeing the flashing lights prior to the accident, raising a material issue regarding whether the lack of flashing lights proximately caused the Plaintiff's injuries. The Court also found that there was a material issue of fact regarding whether the flashing light system was defective on the day of the accident, based on the Plaintiff's and the driver's testimonies and evidence of past problems with the system. The Court concluded that these issues should be determined by a jury, as proximate cause and negligence are generally questions of fact (paras 7-18).