Payne v. Hall

Certiorari Granted, No. 28,832, October 1, 2004 OPINION ¶1 In this case, we decide whether an alleged original tortfeasor may claim that the alleged successive tortfeasor was the sole proximate cause of a plaintiff's injury. Plaintiff Kimberly J. Payne sued Defendants Thomas Hall, M.D., (Dr. Hall) and the medical clinic Curtis W. Boyd, M.D., P.C., (clinic) for negligence in performing an abortion; she claimed that their negligence resulted in injuries enhanced by doctors at the University of New Mexico Hospital (hospital). The jury returned a special verdict of negligence but found that Defendants' negligence was not the proximate cause of Plaintiff's injuries. On appeal, Plaintiff raises five issues: (1) the district court erred in permitting evidence, testimony, and argument of comparative fault; (2) proximate cause should have been imposed as a matter of law once the jury found negligence; (3) the jury was improperly instructed that it could find that the injuries were solely the result of the hospital's negligence; (4) the testimony of one of Defendants' expert witnesses was cumulative and inadmissible; and (5) evidence of Plaintiff's alleged prior intravenous drug use was inadmissible. We affirm. I. BACKGROUND