State v. Aragon

656 P.2d 240, 99 N.M. 190
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 16, 1982
Docket5751
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 656 P.2d 240 (State v. Aragon) 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 v. Aragon, 656 P.2d 240, 99 N.M. 190 (N.M. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

OPINION

DONNELLY, Judge.

Defendant appeals from convictions for conspiracy, contrary to § 30-28-2, N.M.S.A. 1978 (1982 Cum.Supp.), receiving stolen property, contrary to § 30-16-11, N.M.S.A. 1978, and three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, contrary to § 30-6-3, N.M.S.A.1978. He asserts two grounds for reversal: (1) denial of defendant’s motion to dismiss for denial of a speedy trial under N.M.R.Crim.P. 37, N.M.S. A.1978 (1980 Repl.Pamph.); and (2) error in instructing the jury. We affirm.

The defendant was originally arrested and charged under a criminal information on July 2,1981, with burglary, larceny, and four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Following a preliminary hearing, defendant was bound over for trial on each of the charges in the information. On November 18, 1981, the morning the case was scheduled for trial, the State filed a nolle prosequi as to each of the charges in the information. The next day on November 19, 1981, a new criminal complaint was filed against defendant.

Under the new complaint, defendant was charged with conspiracy, receiving stolen property, and four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The defendant was arraigned on December 21,1981, on the charges in the new case, and pled “not guilty” as to each count. Defendant waived preliminary hearing and a new criminal information was filed against him on each charge listed in the criminal complaint.

On February 5,1982, the morning set for commencement of defendant’s trial in the second case, defendant moved to dismiss each of the four counts charging him with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Defendant asserted as grounds for the motion that the prosecution had acted improperly in filing the nolle prosequi as to the charges in the first case and then reinstating the same charges. Additionally, defendant argued that the prosecution’s dismissal of the first case and the filing of charges in the second case, growing out of the same alleged criminal event, violated defendant’s right to a speedy trial and the requirements of N.M.R.Crim.P. 37, supra.

At the hearing on the motion before the trial court, the prosecutor conceded that defense counsel’s statement as to the dates and events in the two cases were accurate. However, the prosecution stated that the basis for its dismissal of the original charges against defendant was due to information learned by it based upon statements taken from several of the juveniles involved. The State contended that it concluded from this new evidence that while defendant may have committed certain offenses, he did not commit the specific acts of burglary and larceny as alleged in the information filed in the first case. The prosecutor further stated that the basis for the four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor as charged in the second information was predicated upon the defendant’s acts of conspiracy to commit burglary and receiving stolen property.

The State submitted that the underlying facts relied upon by it for each of the charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor in the second case had changed from those of the first case.

The trial court denied defendant’s motion to dismiss the charges in the second criminal information and ruled that defendant’s motion was not timely filed and that an evidentiary hearing was not required.

I. Refusal to Grant Dismissal

Defendant contends that the trial court erred in his denial of the motion to dismiss because the existence of improper prosecutorial conduct and the State’s attempt to circumvent N.M.R.Crim.P. 37, supra, which mandates defendant’s right to a speedy trial. Defendant asserts further that the court erred in denying his motion without conducting an evidentiary hearing or requiring a showing by the State that the prosecution’s pretrial delay was occasioned for valid reasons and in good faith. Defendant has not argued the existence of constitutional issues emanating from dénial of a speedy trial, nor has defendant shown the existence of any prejudice as a result of the delay of trial herein.

In its denial of defendant’s motion, the trial court also ruled that the motion was not timely. Defendant also argues that his allegations of prosecutorial bad faith requires an evidentiary hearing.

The defendant’s motion to dismiss was timely raised. A motion seeking a dismissal under N.M.R.Crim.P. 37, supra, is not governed by the requirements of N.M. R.Crim.P. 33(e), N.M.S.A.1978 (1980 Repl. Pamph.), which specifies that motions shall be raised at arraignment or within twenty days thereafter, unless upon good cause the court waives the time requirement. N.M.R. Crim.P. 37, supra, contains no specific provision for time limits within which a motion to dismiss thereunder must be made. A defendant cannot be held to speculate at the time of arraignment or within twenty days therefrom whether there may be a violation of the six month rule. Defendant’s claim of circumvention of R.Crim. Proc. 37, supra, is an objection directed to the initiation of the prosecution by the second criminal information. Under R.Crim.Proc. 33(d)(1), supra, such an objection must be raised before trial. The objection was raised before trial.

In the face of defendant’s allegations of “bad faith” delay of the charges against him, can a trial court determine such issues without the necessity of an evidentiary hearing? We hold that the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion under the facts here shown was proper because there was nothing to support defendant’s assertion that the State attempted to circumvent the requirements of N.M.R.Crim.P. 37, supra.

State ex rel. Delgado v. Stanley, 83 N.M. 626, 495 P.2d 1073 (1972), dealt with contentions similar to that asserted in the instant case. There, defendant asserted that the State might seek to circumvent the language of N.M.R.Crim.P. 37 supra, by filing a nolle prosequi as to the original charges and by refiling new charges at a later date. The court held in Delgado, supra, that in the face of an assertion by a defendant that the State had filed a nolle prosequi in order to seek additional time for the prosecution of a case or to circumvent the statutory time requirements for the trial “the State must be prepared to demonstrate by proof the bona fides of the procedure it has utilized * * The court in Delgado further noted that, in the event of the failure of the State to do so, the court may hold that the time requirements of the rule are not tolled.

Defendant’s representations alleging improper conduct or motives on the part of the prosecution in filing a nolle prosequi of the original charges, do not require the prosecution to present evidence by means of an evidentiary hearing to rebut such contentions. Although the burden is cast upon the state to show that any delay in prosecution resulting from a dismissal of charges was occasioned for proper reasons and that the State acted in good faith, an evidentiary hearing is not required unless defendant’s showing is sufficient to raise an issue as to the bona fides of the State’s procedure. Compare State v. Beck, 97 N.M. 312, 639 P.2d 599 (Ct.App.1982); State v.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
656 P.2d 240, 99 N.M. 190, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-aragon-nmctapp-1982.