Justia New Mexico Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Defendant Robert Tufts, a man in his late thirties, filmed himself masturbating, saved the electronic image on a secure digital (SD) memory card, inserted the card into a cell phone, handed the cell phone to a fifteen-year-old girl (Child) with whom he had developed an intimate but non-sexual relationship, and told her there was a surprise on the phone for her. Defendant was convicted of criminal sexual communication with a child. The Court of Appeals reversed the conviction, holding that “ ‘to send[,]’ when used to describe the act of causing another person to receive a physical object[,] evoke[d] the notion of a third-party carrier,” and therefore, when Defendant hand-delivered obscene electronic images to Child, he did not “send” the images to her by means of an electronic communication device. The New Mexico Supreme Court construed "sending" as used by the applicable statute, to give effect to the Legislature's objective and purpose, and found that defendant effectively "sent" the offending images to the child, in violation of Section 30-37-3.3(A). The Court therefore reversed the Court of Appeals' determination and remanded the case back for further consideration of defendant's other arguments on appeal. View "New Mexico v. Tufts" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs Heather Spurlock, Sophia Carrasco, and Nina Carrera were former inmates of the Camino Nuevo Correctional Center, a prison housing female offenders, directed by Third-Party Defendant Warden Barbara Wagner and privately operated by Third-Party Defendant Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). While incarcerated, Plaintiffs were sexually assaulted by Defendant Anthony Townes, a corrections officer employed by CCA. The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit certified a question of New Mexico law to the New Mexico Supreme Court centering on the question of the civil liability under New Mexico law of a private prison when a non-duty corrections officer sexually assaults inmates in the facility. The New Mexico Court held that the private prison was vicariously liable for damages caused by the intentional torts of its employee when those torts were facilitated by the authority provided to the employee by the prison. The liability of the prison may not be reduced by any fault attributed to the victims of the sexual assaults. View "Spurlock v. Townes" on Justia Law

Anthony Holt had partially removed a window screen from a residential dwelling when he the homeowner detected him. He fled. In the process of removing the screen, he placed his fingers behind the screen and inside the outer boundary of the home. Holt was subsequently arrested and charged with breaking and entering. An “unauthorized entry” was an essential element of the offense, and the issue this case presented for the New Mexico Supreme Court's review was whether Holt’s conduct constituted an “entry.” It did. Accordingly, the Court affirmed Holt’s conviction. View "New Mexico v. Holt" on Justia Law

In 2011, Norman Benally was driving a black Cadillac Escalade with a nonoperating headlight. A police officer stopped Benally, and during the stop, he smelled marijuana. The officer asked for consent to search the vehicle, but Benally declined. Officer Largo called for the assistance of the K-9 patrol unit. (NM)K-9 Tiko alerted the officers to the presence of controlled substances. Shortly thereafter, Danielle Benally, who was the registered owner of the vehicle, arrived at the scene. She also refused consent to the officers’ search of the vehicle. The vehicle was then seized and towed to the Police Department’s gated and locked impound lot. There, evidence tape was placed on the vehicle and sealed so that no one but the police officers could enter it. Thereafter, the State sought a warrant to search the vehicle for drugs, drug paraphernalia, and money linked to drug transactions. A warrant was issued, and the following day, law enforcement agents searched the vehicle. They found close to 600 grams of marijuana; a digital scale; Benally’s wallet (with money in it), his driver’s license, and his social security cards; and Danielle Benally’s wallet (which also had money in it), credit cards, and EBT cards. In total, law enforcement officials discovered $1295 during the search of the vehicle. The State ultimately filed a criminal complaint against Benally, charging him with distribution of marijuana, conspiracy to distribute marijuana, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. At the same time, the State filed a complaint for the forfeiture of the $1295, alleged to be drug proceeds. Benally moved to dismiss the forfeiture complaint as untimely, arguing that the forfeiture complaint was filed more than thirty days after police officers seized and sealed the vehicle containing the currency. The trial court held a hearing on the motion and later dismissed the forfeiture complaint as untimely. The Court of Appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed: because the 2002-version of the applicable seizure statute controlled, and because the officers “ma[de] a seizure” of the money when they seized the vehicle, it was error for the trial court to dismiss as untimely. View "New Mexico v. Benally" on Justia Law

Defendant Dorall Smith appealed his convictions for first-degree murder and criminal damage to property. Defendant raised ten issues as grounds for appeal: (1) there was insufficient evidence of deliberate intent to support a conviction for first-degree murder; (2) the trial court abused its discretion by allowing the State to use recalculated DNA results that were not disclosed to Defendant until the eve of trial, necessitating that defense counsel retain its own expert in the middle of trial to analyze the DNA evidence; (3) the trial court abused its discretion by ordering defense counsel to obtain a DNA expert midtrial, and then requiring that expert to expedite his analysis; (4) the trial court improperly admitted autopsy photographs and the testimony of a supervising pathologist in violation of the constitutional right to confrontation; (5) the trial court abused its discretion by allowing evidence of prior bad acts contrary to its previous order in limine; (6) the trial court abused its discretion by joining Defendant’s two cases; (7) a three-year delay amounted to a violation of Defendant’s constitutional right to a speedy trial; (8) Defendant received ineffective assistance of counsel; (9) the trial court abused its discretion by denying Defendant’s motions for mistrial; and (10) his convictions should be reversed based on a theory of cumulative error in light of the all the issues he raises. The Supreme Court, after review, rejected all of defendant's claims on appeal and affirmed his convictions. View "New Mexico v. Smith" on Justia Law

Following a second trial, Defendant Danny Surratt was convicted of criminal sexual penetration of a minor. Defendant appealed his conviction, claiming the district attorney serving as special prosecutor at the second trial lacked the authority to prosecute the case because his appointment by the first special prosecutor, also a district attorney, was invalid. Defendant maintained that the district court lacked jurisdiction over his criminal case. The Court of Appeals agreed with Defendant and reversed his conviction, effectively remanding the case for a third trial. After its review, the Supreme Court held that a properly appointed special prosecutor is given all the authority and duties of the appointing district attorney to prosecute the case for which that special prosecutor was appointed, including the authority to name another special prosecutor if unable to proceed for an ethical reason or other good cause. View "New Mexico v. Surratt" on Justia Law

A jury convicted Jeremy Nichols of child abuse resulting in death or great bodily harm, finding him guilty on a theory of negligently permitting medical neglect of his six-month-old son Kaden Nichols that allegedly resulted in the child’s death. Upon review, the Supreme Court found that the conviction was unsupported by substantial evidence in the record, and as such, reversed the conviction and dismissed the charge. View "New Mexico v. Nichols" on Justia Law

Four years and three months after Defendant Mark Serros was arrested and charged with sexually abusing his nephew, the district court dismissed his case, concluding that his right to a speedy trial under the Sixth Amendment to the federal Constitution had been violated. Among other things, the district court found that Defendant had suffered extreme prejudice as a result of the length and circumstances of his detention. A divided Court of Appeals reversed. The majority reasoned that the delay in bringing Defendant to trial could not be attributed to the State, faulting Defendant because he had agreed to numerous requests to extend the time for commencing trial and had twice requested new counsel. The dissent concluded that the delays resulted primarily from the “negligence and disregard” of Defendant’s attorneys and that, whether or not the State was at fault, Defendant’s right to a speedy trial had been violated. The Supreme Court granted certiorari and reversed: the Court agreed with the district court’s conclusion that the length and circumstances of Defendant’s pre-trial incarceration resulted in extreme prejudice. The Court therefore hold that dismissal was appropriate because Defendant did not cause or acquiesce in the numerous delays in his case and because the State failed in its obligation to bring Defendant’s case to trial. View "New Mexico v. Serros" on Justia Law

Defendant was charged with and convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and tampering with evidence. The district court sentenced Defendant to life imprisonment plus 18 years. Relying on “Santobello v. New York,” (404 U.S. 257 (1971)), the New Mexico Supreme Court held previously that a plea-bargained sentence must be fulfilled by the prosecution, and if not, will be enforced by the courts. In this first-degree murder appeal, the Court applied that principle to a prosecutorial promise to dismiss defendant’s tampering-with-evidence charge if the defendant would locate and produce the murder weapon. Defendant indeed produced the weapon, but the prosecutor did not drop the charge as promised and defendant was convicted of tampering with evidence. Accordingly, the Supreme Court reversed the tampering conviction. Defendant’s remaining convictions were affirmed, and the case was remanded for resentencing. View "New Mexico v. King" on Justia Law

Defendant Norman Davis was convicted of possession of marijuana after New Mexico State Police consensually searched his greenhouse and seized 14 marijuana plants. That search was the result of “Operation Yerba Buena 2006,” conducted by a coordinated law enforcement effort that allegedly discovered marijuana plants growing on Davis’ property. The issue this case presented for the New Mexico Supreme Court’s review was whether that aerial surveillance, and the manner in which it was conducted, amounted to a warrantless search of Davis’ property. Concluding that his federal constitutional rights were violated in this instance, the Court reversed the opinion of the Court of Appeals which held to the contrary, and reversed Davis’ conviction. View "New Mexico v. Davis" on Justia Law