Rudolfo v. Steward

CourtNew Mexico Supreme Court
DecidedJune 22, 2023
StatusUnpublished

This text of Rudolfo v. Steward (Rudolfo v. Steward) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rudolfo v. Steward, (N.M. 2023).

Opinion

The slip opinion is the first version of an opinion released by the Chief Clerk of the Supreme Court. Once an opinion is selected for publication by the Court, it is assigned a vendor-neutral citation by the Chief Clerk for compliance with Rule 23- 112 NMRA, authenticated and formally published. The slip opinion may contain deviations from the formal authenticated opinion. 1 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO

2 Opinion Number: __________________

3 Filing Date: June 22, 2023

4 NO. S-1-SC-38177

5 MARIO RUDOLFO, 6 Petitioner, 7 v.

8 ROBERT STEWARD, LCCC, Warden, 9 VINCENT HORTON, FCCF, Warden,

10 Respondents.

11 APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF VALENCIA COUNTY 12 Cindy M. Mercer, District Judge

13 Burgess & Porter Law, LLC 14 Barrett G. Porter 15 Albuquerque, NM 16 for Petitioner

17 Hector H. Balderas, Attorney General 18 Walter Hart, Assistant Attorney General 19 Santa Fe, NM

20 for Respondents 1 OPINION

2 VIGIL, Justice.

3 {1} A jury convicted Petitioner Mario Rudolfo of first-degree murder under a

4 general verdict. The jury instructions contained two alternative theories for the jury

5 to use as a basis for the first-degree murder conviction: (1) felony murder predicated

6 on shooting at or from a motor vehicle and (2) willful and deliberate murder. Twelve

7 years after Petitioner’s conviction, this Court issued its opinion in State v. Marquez,

8 2016-NMSC-025, ¶ 2, 376 P.3d 815, holding that “the crime of shooting at or from

9 a motor vehicle may not serve as the predicate felony in support of a felony murder

10 charge.” Now, Petitioner argues that the Marquez holding applies retroactively and

11 asserts that his conviction for first-degree murder must be vacated.

12 {2} We hold that Marquez announced a new substantive rule which applies

13 retroactively. As a result, we set aside the district court’s denial of Petitioner’s writ

14 of habeas corpus, vacate Petitioner’s first-degree murder conviction, and remand the

15 case for a new trial on first-degree murder.

16 I. BACKGROUND

17 {3} In addition to his conviction for one count of first-degree murder, the jury also

18 convicted Petitioner of attempted murder, shooting at or from a motor vehicle, and

19 tampering with evidence. The jury’s general verdict did not indicate whether 1 Petitioner’s first-degree murder conviction was based upon the theory of felony

2 murder or willful and deliberate murder.

3 {4} On direct appeal, Petitioner challenged his convictions alleging a double

4 jeopardy violation, that the district court improperly failed to instruct the jury on

5 self-defense, and that there was insufficient evidence to support Petitioner’s

6 tampering with evidence conviction. State v. Rudolfo, 2008-NMSC-036, ¶ 2, 144

7 N.M. 305, 187 P.3d 170. This Court affirmed his convictions for first-degree murder,

8 attempted first-degree murder, and tampering with the evidence. However, we

9 vacated Petitioner’s conviction for shooting at or from a motor vehicle and held that

10 the alternative theory of felony murder could subject Petitioner to a double jeopardy

11 violation. Id. ¶¶ 3, 10-12.

12 {5} Petitioner then filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the district court,

13 arguing that the holding from Marquez, 2016-NMSC-025, ¶ 23, is substantive, that

14 it applies retroactively, and that this first-degree murder conviction should be

15 converted to second-degree murder. The district court concluded that Marquez

16 should not be applied retroactively because the case did not announce a substantive

17 rule “but that it simply clarified the procedure for determining whether felonies

18 qualify as predicate felonies.” The district court denied Petitioner’s writ of habeas

19 corpus petition.

2 1 {6} Thereafter, Petitioner petitioned this Court for a writ of certiorari to review

2 the district court’s denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. See Rule 5-

3 802(N)(2) NMRA; Rule 12-501 NMRA. We granted certiorari to address whether

4 Marquez is afforded retroactive effect and to determine the implications of our

5 decision on Petitioner’s first-degree murder conviction.

6 II. DISCUSSION

7 {7} “It is within the inherent power of this Court to give its decision prospective

8 or retroactive application without offending constitutional principles.” Kersey v.

9 Hatch, 2010-NMSC-020, ¶ 14, 148 N.M. 381, 237 P.3d 683 (internal quotation

10 marks and citation omitted). “Retroactivity is a legal question, which we review de

11 novo.” Id. (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

12 A. Threshold Requirements for Retroactivity Analysis

13 {8} For new case law to apply retroactively, a judicial opinion must have

14 announced a new rule after a defendant’s criminal conviction had been finalized. Id.

15 ¶ 15. “A case is finalized when ‘a judgment of conviction has been rendered, the

16 availability of appeal exhausted, and the time for a petition for certiorari elapsed or

17 a petition for certiorari finally denied.’” State v. Nunez, 2000-NMSC-013, ¶ 114, 129

18 N.M. 63, 2 P.3d 264 (quoting Griffith v. Kentucky, 479 U.S. 314, 321 n.6 (1987)).

3 1 Here, Petitioner’s conviction for first-degree murder was finalized in 2008 following

2 his direct appeal. See Rudolfo, 2008-NMSC-036, ¶ 3.

3 {9} The parties and the district court agree that Marquez announced a new rule.

4 An appellate opinion “need not overrule a prior decision in order to qualify as new.”

5 Kersey, 2010-NMSC-020, ¶ 18 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

6 “Rather, an opinion announces a new rule if it breaks new ground, imposes new

7 obligations on the government, or was not dictated by precedent.” Id.

8 {10} In New Mexico, our laws “elevate second-degree murder to [first-degree

9 murder] when the murder occurs during the commission of a dangerous felony.”

10 Campos v. Bravo, 2007-NMSC-021, ¶ 9, 141 N.M. 801, 161 P.3d 846; NMSA 1978,

11 § 30-2-1(A)(2) (1994). Prior to Marquez, the predicate felony for felony murder had

12 to “be independent of or collateral to the homicide.” See State v. Harrison, 1977-

13 NMSC-038, ¶ 9, 90 N.M. 439, 564 P.2d 1321, modified on other grounds by State

14 v. Ortega, 1991-NMSC-084, ¶ 26, 112 N.M. 554, 817 P.2d 1196. Following this

15 rule, this Court employed a strict-elements test to determine whether a particular

16 felony was independent of or collateral to a homicide. State v. Duffy, 1998-NMSC-

17 014, ¶¶ 23-24, 126 N.M. 132, 967 P.2d 807, overruled on other grounds by State v.

18 Tollardo, 2012-NMSC-008, ¶ 37 n.6, 275 P.3d 110. “Under this test, an offense

19 [was] deemed to be a lesser-included offense of another only if all of the statutory

4 1 elements of the lesser offense [were] completely embodied within the statutory

2 elements of the greater offense such that it would [have been] impossible ever to

3 commit the greater offense without also committing the lesser offense.” Id. ¶ 24

4 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

5 {11} In Marquez, this Court announced and applied a new test—the felonious

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State v. Mailman
2010 NMSC 036 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 2010)
Kersey v. Hatch
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State v. Tollardo
2012 NMSC 008 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 2012)
State v. Olguin
906 P.2d 731 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1995)
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817 P.2d 1196 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1991)
State v. Duffy
1998 NMSC 014 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1998)
State v. Rudolfo
2008 NMSC 036 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 2008)
Campos v. Bravo
2007 NMSC 021 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 2007)
State v. Harrison
564 P.2d 1321 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1977)
State v. Downey
2008 NMSC 061 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 2008)
State v. Nunez
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State v. Marquez
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Territory ex rel. Baca v. Baca
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