Justia Criminal Law Opinion Summaries

This case arises from an incident in which Ricky Anthony Ayon was stopped by police while walking on the street. The police officer, recognizing Ayon from past encounters and knowing he had a warrant, immediately handcuffed Ayon and later discovered a small bag of a substance that tested positive for opiates. During a preliminary hearing, Ayon successfully argued that the police officer lacked reasonable suspicion to stop him, leading the district court to refuse to bind Ayon over for trial on a heroin possession charge. The Court of Appeals reversed this decision, leading to this appeal.The Supreme Court of the State of New Mexico held that a district court judge presiding over a preliminary hearing does not have the authority to decide whether evidence was obtained from an unconstitutional search or seizure. The Court remanded the case for proceedings consistent with this opinion. The Court reasoned that even though preliminary hearings and grand jury proceedings have different procedures and afford different rights to the defendant, they share a common goal of providing a neutral evaluation of whether the state has demonstrated probable cause to prosecute a serious crime. Additionally, the Court noted that allowing suppression of evidence at the preliminary hearing stage would be largely duplicative and not necessary for effective screening, as a motion to suppress evidence could still be utilized to gain a pretrial ruling excluding the evidence and precluding a trial. The Court also held that the New Mexico Constitution does not provide the right at a preliminary hearing to exclude evidence obtained from an unconstitutional search or seizure. View "State v. Ayon" on Justia Law

The New Mexico Supreme Court explained its reasoning for reversing a district court's denial of the State's motion for pretrial detention of Defendant Joe Anderson. Anderson had been charged with first-degree murder. Under Article II, Section 13 of the New Mexico Constitution, a defendant charged with a felony could be detained without bail prior to trial if the State demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence that: (1) the defendant was dangerous; and (2) no release conditions would reasonably protect the safety of any individual or the community. Here, the Court determined Defendant’s dangerousness was not disputed. At issue was the second prong of the pretrial detention inquiry: whether the State met its burden to prove by clear and convincing evidence that no release conditions could reasonably protect any individual or the community. The Court found the State presented reliable evidence that Defendant had an extensive criminal history that included crimes of violence, failures to appear, violations of probation, new charges while on probation, committing felonies while incarcerated, knowingly possessing a firearm while a felon, and noncompliance with pretrial services requirements. The Court held the district court abused its discretion when it denied the State’s motion without properly weighing the required factors under Rule 5-409(F)(6). View "New Mexico v. Anderson" on Justia Law

Petitioner Rufino Torres petitioned for habeas relief, contending the judgment and sentence which required him to serve consecutive, i.e., “stacked,” five-year terms of probation was illegal. Four different indictments were filed against Petitioner with sixteen crimes which occurred between June 1, 2010, and June 3, 2010. Petitioner received a twenty-seven year term of imprisonment, and there was no issue about whether the term of imprisonment imposed on each count was correct. The total term of twenty-seven years resulted from the fact that the district court imposed a sentence of incarceration for every crime charged in each case. Petitioner violated probation multiple times over the years following his sentencing. Acting pro se, on October 17, 2018, Petitioner filed a habeas corpus petition, asserting he was illegally sentenced, did not receive the proper credit calculations, and received ineffective assistance of counsel. The district court appointed an attorney to review the illegal sentence and credit calculation claims, but did not order the attorney to review the ineffective assistance of counsel claim. The district court entered a procedural order on Petitioner’s petition for habeas corpus in which the district court recalculated Petitioner’s credit for presentence confinement. Ultimately, the New Mexico Supreme Court granted habeas corpus relief. The district court’s order consolidating the four cases resulted in a single judgment and sentence. The Supreme Court reversed the district court because the February 21, 2017, order of discharge on suspended sentence, as amended, not only terminated Petitioner’s probation but also determined that Petitioner satisfied his criminal liability for the crimes charged, and discharged Petitioner from any obligation imposed by the judgment and sentence as of June 4, 2016. In addition, upon remand, the district court was directed to enter an amended judgment and sentence vacating two conspiracy convictions. View "Torres v. Santistevan" on Justia Law

A jury found that Child-Respondent Antonio M. (Child) committed felony murder, attempted armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, child abuse, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The State charged Child as a participant in the fatal shooting of Fabian Lopez (Victim) at Frenger Park in Las Cruces. Uncontested evidence at Child’s adjudicatory hearing established that M.M. and two other participants killed Victim in his car in the course of a drug deal. During opening statements and closing arguments, defense counsel’s theory of the case was that the State could not present sufficient evidence of Child’s participation in the crime and that the robbery and resulting homicide were unplanned and unintended results of a simple drug purchase. Defense counsel did not challenge Child’s presence in the car that transported M.M. to and from the park. On appeal, Child challenged the admission of three in-court identifications under federal and state due process. The Court of Appeals reversed for plain error, finding that the in-court identifications were impermissibly suggestive and thereby violated Child’s due process right to a fair trial under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The New Mexico Supreme Court determine that identity was not at issue regarding the testimony of the three relevant witnesses and thus that Child’s due process rights were not violated by the relevant in-court identifications. Accordingly, the Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals. View "New Mexico v. Antonio M." on Justia Law

Defendant Franklin Begaye was convicted of nonresidential burglary and breaking and entering. He contended these convictions violated his right to be free from double jeopardy. The district court determined that the nonresidential burglary and breaking and entering charges did not violate double jeopardy. The Court of Appeals affirmed the district court. The New Mexico Supreme Court concluded that its guidance in New Mexico v. Porter, 476 P.3d 1201, resolved the issue, this appeal indicated that confusion persisted within the Court's double jeopardy jurisprudence warranting further clarification. The Court concluded here that Defendant’s right to be free from double jeopardy was violated when he was convicted for both breaking and entering and nonresidential burglary because the underlying conduct was unitary and, under the State’s theory, the burglary offense subsumed the breaking and entering offense. “[I]f we determine that one of the offenses subsumes the other offense, the double jeopardy prohibition is violated, and punishment cannot be had for both.” Accordingly, the judgment was reversed and the case remanded for further proceedings. View "New Mexico v. Begaye" on Justia Law

A jury convicted Petitioner Mario Rudolfo of first-degree murder under a general verdict. The jury instructions contained two alternative theories for the jury to use as a basis for the first-degree murder conviction: (1) felony murder predicated on shooting at or from a motor vehicle and (2) willful and deliberate murder. Twelve years after Petitioner’s conviction, the New Mexico Supreme Court issued New Mexico v. Marquez, 376 P.3d 815, holding that “the crime of shooting at or from a motor vehicle may not serve as the predicate felony in support of a felony murder charge.” Appealing, Petitioner argued the Marquez holding applied retroactively and argued his conviction had to be vacated. The NEw Mexico Supreme Court held that Marquez announced a new substantive rule which applied retroactively. As a result, the Court set aside the district court’s denial of Petitioner’s writ of habeas corpus, vacated Petitioner’s first-degree murder conviction, and remanded the case for a new trial on first-degree murder. View "Rudolfo v. Steward" on Justia Law

Defendant Michael Romero alleged that his Sixth Amendment right to a fair and impartial jury was violated because one of his jurors revealed during voir dire that he knew the investigator in the case. Defendant did not inquire into the juror’s potential bias during jury selection, did not challenge the juror for cause, did not use an available peremptory challenge on the juror, and did not otherwise object to the juror during jury selection. The New Mexico Supreme Court concluded that the juror’s statements did not violate Defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury, and that Defendant both failed to preserve and waived any objection to the juror’s alleged bias. View "New Mexico v. Romero" on Justia Law

Defendant Christopher Rodriguez pleaded guilty to felony offenses committed when he was sixteen years old under a plea and disposition agreement, and following an amenability hearing, the district court imposed an adult sentence. Defendant appealed the amenability determination, and on its own motion, the Court of Appeals held that under the plea and disposition agreement, Defendant waived his right to appeal. The New Mexico Supreme Court granted certiorari to determine whether a juvenile waives the right to appeal an amenability determination by entering into a plea and disposition agreement. To this, the Court held that the right was not waived, reversed the Court of Appeals, and remanded the case to the Court of Appeals to decide Defendant’s appeal on the merits. View "New Mexico v. Rodriguez" on Justia Law

The New Mexico Supreme Court addressed whether the tolling provision contained in Rule 7-506.1(D) NMRA of the Rules of Criminal Procedure for the Metropolitan Courts applied to cases dismissed without prejudice by the court in addition to cases voluntarily dismissed by the prosecution. In 2018, Defendant Tito Lope was arraigned in the metropolitan court on charges including aggravated driving while intoxicated (DWI) and reckless driving. Rule 7-506(B) required Defendant’s trial to commence within 182 days of arraignment (July 20, 2018), assuming that no extensions of time were granted under Rule 7-506(C) and that no tolling was warranted under Rule 7-506.1(D). The case was initially set for trial on April 30, 2018, but continued to June 4, 2018. The arresting officer did not appear on June 4, and the State could not explain his absence. The State requested a continuance; Defendant moved to dismiss. The metropolitan court dismissed the case without prejudice because the State was not prepared for trial. On June 14, 2018, the State filed a notice of refiling of the dismissed complaint. Several days later, the metropolitan court sent a notice setting trial for July 18, 2018, but on the following day issued sua sponte a new notice to the parties resetting trial for July 24, 2018. One day before the scheduled trial date, Defendant filed a motion to dismiss with prejudice for failure to prosecute under Rule 7-506(B), arguing that the State’s deadline to try Defendant was July 20. At the July 24 trial setting, Defendant arguing the tolling provision of Rule 7-506.1(D) applied only to voluntary dismissals, and that to apply the tolling provision in circumstances where the court dismisses a case as a sanction against the State would allow the State to benefit from its own mistake. The metropolitan court agreed with the State and concluded that the 182-day rule was tolled for ten days under Rule 7-506.1(D), extending deadline to bring Defendant to trial to July 30, 2018. After review, the Supreme Court held the tolling provision applied with equal force to cases dismissed by the court and to cases voluntarily dismissed by the prosecution and conclude that, with the benefit of the tolling provision here, the time for the State to bring Defendant to trial did not expire before Defendant entered into his conditional plea agreement. The Court therefore affirmed Defendant’s conviction. View "New Mexico v. Lopez" on Justia Law

In 2007, two bills addressing the monitoring and parole of convicted sex offenders passed within days of each other and were signed into law on the same day. Defendant Anthony Sena, who pleaded no contest to the offense of child solicitation by electronic communication device, asked the New Mexico Supreme Court to hold these laws irreconcilable. Consequently, he sought application of the preexisting standard parole term to his sentence and not the extended parole term enacted in the 2007 legislation. To this, the Court disagreed that the bills were irreconcilable and concluded that the extended parole term applied to those convicted of this crime. In this opinion, the Court reaffirmed that its role was to read statutes harmoniously if possible and that the proper test for a court to apply when reconciling legislation and discerning legislative intent in these circumstances was that of New Mexico v. Smith, 98 P.3d 1022. The Court of Appeals opinion was reversed and the Court affirmed the district court’s imposition of the extended parole term on Defendant’s crime. View "New Mexico v. Sena" on Justia Law