S-24-0920 Yessica Nicol Dawnna Bocanegra (Appellant) v. Alfonso Rosales Gonzalez and Viking Insurance Company of Wisconsin (Appellee/Cross-Appellant)
Appeal from the District Court for Hamilton County, Judge Rachel A. Daugherty
Attorneys: John C. Fowles (The Fowles Law Office, P.C., L.L.O. for Appellant) and Matthew D. Hammes and Maggie E. Frei (Locher Pavelka Dostal Braddy & Hammes, LLC for Appellee)
Civil: Garnishment proceedings
Proceedings Below: Appellant filed an application to determine garnishee liability, and Viking Insurance Company of Wisconsin filed a motion to strike, which the district court sustained. On its own motion, the Supreme Court ordered this case to be transferred from the docket of the Court of Appeals to its docket.
Issues: Appellant makes the following assignment of error: 1) The trial court erred in determining Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-534 of the Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 60-501 to 60-582, did not apply to the subject policy for either or both of the following reasons: a) Viking offered no evidence that the policy it sold to Ema Gonzalez was not certified and exempt from the requirements of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-534; and/or; b) Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-561 of the Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act is unconstitutional in that it violates the equal protection provisions of Article 1, § 3 of the Nebraska Constitution by unreasonably creating two different classes of victims of motor vehicle negligence and negligent actors in terms of mandating broad coverage for some drivers and motor vehicles and not others.
Issues on cross-appeal: Appellee/Cross-Appellant Viking makes the following assignments of error: 1. The District Court erred by mis-applying the holding of The Medical Protective Co. v Schrein, 255 Neb. 24, 582 N.W.2d 286 (1998) to find that the District Court of Hall County’s Order lacked subject matter jurisdiction such that its determination of coverage would not be binding on Ms. Bocanegra. 2. The District Court erred by failing to apply the theories of waiver and estoppel, res judicata (claim preclusion) and/or collateral estoppel (issue preclusion) to bar Ms. Bocanegra's garnishment action against Viking and present a collateral attack against the Order issued by the District Court of Hall County, Nebraska.