State ex rel. Collier v. New Mexico Livestock Board

2014 NMCA 010, 5 N.M. 279
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 13, 2013
DocketNo. 34,359; Docket No. 32,191
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2014 NMCA 010 (State ex rel. Collier v. New Mexico Livestock Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Collier v. New Mexico Livestock Board, 2014 NMCA 010, 5 N.M. 279 (N.M. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION

WECHSLER, Judge.

{1} Petitioner Greg Collier appeals the district court’s order granting Respondents’ motion to dismiss his petition for mandamus, alternative writ of mandamus, and complaint for declaratory relief (the petition). In the petition, Collier sought to compel the New Mexico Livestock Board to hold a hearing pursuant to NMSA 1978, Section 30-18-1 (J) (2007). This statute requires the Livestock Board to hold a hearing when a “dispute” arises regarding whether a criminal defendant charged with any offense involving cruelty to an animal also fits within one of the separate statutory exceptions to animal cruelty contained in Section 30-18-1(1), and in particular Section 30-18-1 (I)(4) that exempts “commonly accepted agricultural animal husbandry practices.” The district court dismissed the petition in this case and determined that it was not ripe for adjudication because a separate district court judge handling the criminal proceedings (the criminal court) had dismissed the remaining animal cruelty charge against Collier. Our Supreme Court has since reversed the criminal court’s dismissal of the animal cruelty charge and remanded Collier’s criminal case for a trial. See State v. Collier, 2013-NMSC-015, 301 P.3d 370. We hold that, under Section 30-18-1, the district court in a criminal case is the proper forum to determine whether a dispute exists regarding whether a defendant’s conduct is a commonly accepted agricultural animal husbandry practice pursuant to Section 30-18-1 (I)(4), and, if so, the court in the criminal proceedings must order the Livestock Board to hold a Section 30-18-1 (J) hearing. As a result, because Collier has not filed a motion in the criminal court to address Section 30-18-1 (I)(4) and the need for the Livestock Board to hold a Section 30-18-1(1) hearing, Collier’s petition did not state a proper claim for mandamus or declaratory relief.' Accordingly, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

{2} In 2006, Collier was arrested and charged with a single felony count of extreme animal cruelty pursuant to Section 3 0-18-1 (E), which provides that extreme cruelty to an animal consists of “(1) intentionally or maliciously torturing, mutilating, injuring or poisoning an animal; or (2) maliciously killing an animal.” The charges arose from the death of a colt named Cowboy as a result of Collier’s use of a number of questionable training techniques involving the application of force and alleged intentional abuse. The allegations against Collier included assertions that he repeatedly collided Cowboy into a water trough, caused Cowboy to flee while tied and then be jerked backward, struck Cowboy in the head and body, and caused Cowboy to jump up and fall to the ground with extreme force. Of particular relevance to this case, the State also asserted that Collier engaged in a training technique that he called “hobbling,” which Collier used to trim Cowboy’s hooves. Hobbling, as commonly understood, is a technique used to control a horse or to prevent it from straying by tying or fastening its legs together. Webster’s Third New Int’l Dict. at 1075 (1986).

{3} The animal cruelty statute contains exceptions to the provisions criminalizing cruelty to animals. Under Section 30-18-1 (I)(4), the provision criminalizing cruelty to animals does not apply to “the treatment of livestock and other animals used on farms and ranches for the production of food, fiber or other agricultural products, when the treatment is in accordance with commonly accepted agricultural animal husbandry practices[.]” In order to determine if conduct is a commonly accepted agricultural animal husbandry practice, Section 3 0-18 -1 (J) provides that “[i]f there is a dispute as to what constitutes commonly accepted agricultural animal husbandry practices . . . , the [Livestock Board] shall hold a hearing to determine if the practice in question is a commonly accepted agricultural animal husbandry practice.” Prior to his criminal trial, Collier requested a hearing before the Livestock Board to determine whether “hobbling” is a commonly accepted agricultural animal husbandry practice. The record is unclear as to the manner in which Collier made the request for a hearing, although in this case, Collier concedes that he never filed a formal motion with the criminal court. The criminal court denied the request for a hearing. Collier did not seek any emergency or extraordinary relief from this ruling. Collier’s first trial ended in a mistrial after the jury hung on the extreme animal cruelty count.

{4} The State prosecuted Collier for a second time and, at the close of evidence, added a misdemeanor count for animal cruelty to the indictment. The misdemeanor count was based on the same conduct, but for a conviction only requires that the jury determine that the defendant is guilty of “(1) negligently mistreating, injuring, killing without lawful justification or tormenting an animal; or (2) abandoning or failing to provide necessary sustenance to an animal under that person’s custody or control.” Section 30-18-1(B). Following the second trial, the jury returned a verdict acquitting Collier of the extreme cruelty felony count, but it could not reach a decision on the misdemeanor animal cruelty count.

{5} The State attempted to prosecute Collier a third time on the misdemeanor animal cruelty count, but the criminal court dismissed the charge on the basis that the two-year statute of limitations had run. This Court affirmed the criminal court’s dismissal on double jeopardy grounds.

{6} Our Supreme Court granted certiorari. The next day, Collier attempted to obtain a Section 30-18-1 (J) hearing from the Livestock Board, but the Livestock Board director notified Collier that it could provide him a hearing only upon court order from the criminal court. The director wrote Collier:

The . . . Livestock Board has statutory authority to hold a hearing on a dispute over what might be considered normally accepted agricultural practice. There needs to be an actual dispute, not just a request for an opinion. In your case, I believe we would need to have a court order identifying and describing exactly what the particulars of the dispute are. We will be glad to respond on those terms.

{7} While the State’s appeal in Collier’s criminal case was pending, Collier filed this civil action in the district court against the Livestock Board and the Livestock Board’s members in their individual capacities. Collier sought mandamus, asking the district court to order the Livestock Board to hold a Section 30-18-1 (J) hearing or, in the alternative, for a declaratory judgment and injunction, to state the Livestock Board’s obligations under Section 30-18-1 (J).

{8} In his petition for mandamus and complaint for declaratory relief, Collier asserted that he demanded the Livestock Board to hold a Section 30-18-1 (J) hearing to determine whether the conduct forming the basis of his criminal charge was a commonly accepted agricultural animal husbandry practice and thus exempted under Section 30-18-1 (I)(4) and that the Livestock Board has a mandatory non-discretionary duty to hold hearings under Section 30-18-1 (J). In Collier’s view, the Livestock Board impermissibly limited its duty to hold Section 30-18-1 (J) hearings to situations in which a criminal court orders the Livestock Board to conduct such a hearing.

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Related

State ex rel. Collier v. N.M. Livestock Bd.
2014 NMCA 10 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2013)

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Bluebook (online)
2014 NMCA 010, 5 N.M. 279, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-collier-v-new-mexico-livestock-board-nmctapp-2013.