Humphrey v. State

249 Ariz. 57

466 P.3d 368

James Michael HUMPHREY, et al., Plaintiffs/Appellees/Cross-Appellants,

v.STATE of Arizona, Defendant/Appellant/Cross-Appellee.

No. 1 CA-CV 16-0570

Court of Appeals of Arizona, Division 1.

FILED April 30, 2020

Arizona Attorney General's Office, Phoenix, By Fred Zeder, Daniel P. Schaack, Co-counsel for Defendant/Appellant/Cross-Appellee

Renaud, Cook, Drury, Mesaros PA, Phoenix, By William W. Drury, John A. Klecan, Kelly A. Hedberg, Co-counsel for Defendant/Appellant/Cross-Appellee

Struck, Love, Bojanowski & Acedo PLC, Chandler, By Nicholas D. Acedo, Co-counsel for Defendant/Appellant/Cross-Appellee

The Leader Law Firm PC, Tucson, By John P. Leader, Co-Counsel for Plaintiffs/Appellees/Cross-Appellants Humphrey

Zachar Law Firm PC, Phoenix, By Christopher J. Zachar, Co-counsel for Plaintiffs/Appellees/Cross-Appellants Quinn

Aiken & Scoptur PC, Milwaukee, WI, By Timothy J. Aiken, Co-counsel for Plaintiffs/Appellees/Cross-Appellants Quinn and Humphrey

Ahwatukee Legal Office PC, Phoenix, By David L. Abney, Co-Counsel for Plaintiffs/Appellees/Cross-Appellants Quinn and Humphrey

League of Arizona Cities and Towns, Phoenix, By Christina Estes-Werther, Attorney for Amicus Curiae Apache County, et al.

Presiding Judge Michael J. Brown delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Judge Kenton D. Jones and Judge Maria Elena Cruz joined.

OPINION

BROWN, Judge:

¶1 The State of Arizona challenges several superior court rulings relating to a judgment entered in favor of the plaintiffs in this wrongful death case. The dispositive issue is whether the court erred in denying the State's motion for judgment as a matter of law ("JMOL"), which challenged the plaintiffs' negligence claims on statute-of-limitations grounds. To resolve that issue, we must decide when the plaintiffs acquired enough information to trigger accrual of Arizona's notice-of-claim requirement. Such an inquiry typically requires factual analysis, but that does not mean every accrual question must be submitted to a jury.

¶2 As a matter of law, we conclude the plaintiffs failed to file a valid notice of claim. We therefore reverse the order denying JMOL and remand for entry of judgment in favor of the State. In their cross-appeal, the plaintiffs argue the court erred in dismissing their claim alleging the State violated Arizona's public records law. We affirm the court's dismissal of that claim.

BACKGROUND

¶3 On May 14, 2008, Pamela Humphrey and her sister-in-law, Ann Quinn, were traveling on Interstate I-10 ("I-10") near mile marker 171.4 when Pamela lost control of her vehicle, crossed through the open median, and collided with a semi-trailer truck traveling in the opposite direction. Neither woman survived the crash.

¶4 The accident triggered claims by the surviving husbands, James Michael Humphrey and Lynn Quinn, as "statutory plaintiffs." See A.R.S. § 12-612(A) ("An action for wrongful death shall be brought by and in the name of the surviving husband or ... child ... of the deceased person for and on behalf of the surviving husband or wife, children or parents, or if none of these survive, on behalf of the decedent's estate."). Unless otherwise noted, we will refer to the two statutory plaintiffs as "Humphrey" and "Quinn." Humphrey and Quinn also sued on behalf of the statutory beneficiaries (the "Beneficiaries") of the two women. We refer to Humphrey, Chase, and the Beneficiaries collectively as "Plaintiffs."

¶5 On or about August 13, 2008, Quinn (who moved to Oklahoma after the accident) read a newspaper article in The Oklahoman , titled "Barriers Put Brake on Road Deaths," which discussed the Oklahoma Department of Transportation's decision to install cable median barriers in "medians prone to crossover collisions." The article concluded that "the installation of cable barriers has been one of the most effective, if not the most effective, safety improvements the department has made," illustrated by the fact that since installation, more than 500 passenger cars had hit the barriers without a fatality. Quinn mailed the article to Humphrey with the following note: "Read the article on Barriers[,] [i]f only! Please save and use this[.]"

¶6 Around the same time, Humphrey began to investigate cross-median accidents and fatalities because he "wanted to prevent others from having a family member die" in such a collision. Humphrey contacted friends who did landscape architecture work for the Arizona Department of Transportation ("ADOT") and "asked them if there was anyone that [he could] talk to at ADOT about median cables and what we can do." Humphrey then contacted Sean Hammond, a friend who worked in the Governor's Office of Highway Safety and asked if Hammond could "recommend or find ... someone that [he could] talk to and begin a dialogue about what we can do about the median cable." Specifically, Humphrey wanted to (1) know the number of fatalities on I-10 as a result of crossover accidents, and (2) meet with ADOT officials "to see if he could help them with getting cable barriers and ... additional safety measures" along I-10. Hammond believed he could obtain this information for Humphrey because he had made similar requests in his professional capacity to ADOT's Director of Traffic Studies, Nancy Crandall. Acting on behalf of Humphrey (i.e., not in his professional capacity), Hammond asked Crandall about the number of cross-median collisions between Tucson and Phoenix. Crandall informed Hammond that crossover incidents were "occasional," but she did not provide him with any specific data.

¶7 In late October or early November 2008, attorney John O'Hare, a "personal friend of Pam," informed Humphrey of the need to file a notice of claim to preserve his right to pursue legal action against the State. Humphrey authorized O'Hare to draft and file a notice of claim. O'Hare submitted a notice to the Arizona Attorney General's Office and ADOT on November 7, 2008¹ ("2008 notice"), which stated in relevant part as follows:

We are sending this letter providing formal notice of a personal injury claim against the State of Arizona pursuant to A.R.S. Section 12-821.01.

On May 14, 2008, in the morning, Ms. Pamela Waters Humphrey was operating her vehicle on Interstate 10 about milepost 172 in the State of Arizona, Pinal County. Her sister-in-law, Ms. Ann Quinn was a passenger in the same vehicle. For reasons unknown at this time, Ms. Humphrey, while operating the vehicle at a safe speed, lost steering control. Ms. Humphrey's vehicle went through the median and was struck by an oncoming truck in the opposite traffic lane. The police report provides greater detail. As a result of these events, both Ms. Humphrey and Ms. Quinn immediately died from injuries.

It is believed that the Humphrey vehicle rolled through the median and into oncoming traffic due to the State of Arizona's negligent maintenance of the highway, median ; and failure to provide a guard barrier to prevent vehicles from going into oncoming traffic.

Both Ms. Humphrey and Ms. Quinn were married and left additional family members. The Humphrey and Quinn estates and families have suffered devastating pecuniary and non-pecuniary losses because of the deaths of Ms. Humphrey and Ms. Quinn.

This seeks the recovery of damages for wrongful death of both women including all proper damages associated with their deaths, that are due their estates and surviving family members. While their damages are difficult to quantify at this time, we believe that a fair value for these damages is in the range of Five to Ten Million Dollars for each of their deaths.

(Emphasis added.)

¶8 Humphrey also sent a letter to Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on December 5, 2008, requesting her "assistance" in "mount[ing] a new public campaign to make Arizona's highways safer." After summarizing the details of the crash, his letter went on to discuss the lack of barriers on I-10. He asserted that given the characteristics of I-10, a median cable barrier should be installed because it will prevent highway fatalities, and that both his wife and her sister-in-law would still be alive if such a barrier had been in place at the time of their crash.

¶9 On January 26, 2009, Humphrey sent ADOT a letter "rescinding [his] personal injury claim against the State of Arizona" and advising that O'Hare was no longer representing him. On the same day, Humphrey also submitted what he termed a "public information request" to ADOT, which asked the following:

1. How many cross-median fatalities have occurred on I-10 between Tucson and Phoenix?

2. How many cross-median accidents have occurred on I-10 between Tucson and Phoenix?

3. How many miles of I-10 between Tucson and Phoenix remain uncabled?

4. How much would it cost [to cable] those remaining sections of I-10 between Tucson and Phoenix?

¶10 In a written response to questions one and two, ADOT's custodian of records, Susan Olson, stated, "Our accident statistical information does not narrow the cause of the accident into the data input. Therefore, I do not have a record that reports the number of cross-median fatalities." As for questions three and four, Olson listed the mile markers on I-10 between which cable barriers had not been installed, and she provided cost information for the recent installation of cable barriers in "the Tucson area." Olson sent Humphrey another letter on February 25, 2009, referencing a "supplemental telephonic request" and enclosing "[t]raffic records statistical reports for [I-10, Tucson–Phoenix (MP 231.50–163.5) ] from 1/1/06 to 12/31/08 (latest available): Motor Vehicle Crashes (Eastbound and Westbound) by: 1) First Harmful Group; 2) Collision Manner; [and] 3) Accident History Data."

¶11 In August or September 2010, a private investigator working for attorney John Leader noticed a cross bearing Pamela's name had been placed at the crash site and contacted Humphrey, asking if he would be interested in helping in another case involving a cross-median accident. The investigator informed...