State v. Ayala

CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 7, 2011
Docket29,309
StatusUnpublished

This text of State v. Ayala (State v. Ayala) 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. Ayala, (N.M. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

1 This memorandum opinion was not selected for publication in the New Mexico Reports. Please 2 see Rule 12-405 NMRA for restrictions on the citation of unpublished memorandum opinions. 3 Please also note that this electronic memorandum opinion may contain computer-generated 4 errors or other deviations from the official paper version filed by the Court of Appeals and does 5 not include the filing date. 6 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO

7 STATE OF NEW MEXICO,

8 Plaintiff-Appellee,

9 v. NO. 29,309

10 EVARISTO AYALA,

11 Defendant-Appellant.

12 APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF BERNALILLO COUNTY 13 Kenneth H. Martinez, District Judge

14 Gary K. King, Attorney General 15 Santa Fe, NM 16 Ralph E. Trujillo, Assistant Attorney General 17 Albuquerque, NM

18 for Appellee

19 John A. McCall 20 Albuquerque, NM

21 for Appellant

22 MEMORANDUM OPINION

23 GARCIA, Judge.

24 Defendant appeals his convictions of second-degree murder pursuant to NMSA 1 1978, Section 30-2-1(B) (1994), two counts of tampering with evidence pursuant to

2 NMSA 1978, Section 30-22-5 (2003), conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence

3 pursuant to NMSA 1978, Section 30-28-2 (1979) and NMSA 1978, Section 30-22-5

4 (2003), and unlawful taking of a motor vehicle pursuant to NMSA 1978, Section 30-

5 16-1 (1987) (amended 2006). Defendant raises three issues on appeal: (1) whether

6 the jury instruction on the homicide charge was erroneous; (2) whether substantial

7 evidence supports a finding that Defendant did not act in self-defense or defense of

8 another; and (3) whether the district court erred in denying Defendant’s motion to

9 suppress evidence seized under a search warrant that was based upon an earlier

10 warrantless search of Defendant’s mother’s apartment. We determine the district

11 court erred when it denied Defendant’s motion to suppress the evidence seized

12 pursuant to a warrantless search of Defendant’s mother’s apartment. We reverse and

13 remand this matter to the district court for a new trial.

14 BACKGROUND

15 While visiting her boyfriend, Wally Garcia, at the Santa Rosa prison facility

16 Defendant’s neighbor, Christa Wyrick, provided authorities with information

17 regarding a possible shooting. This information included details about Defendant

18 shooting an unknown person in Albuquerque. Authorities turned the information over

19 to the Albuquerque Police Department and Detective Frank Flores initiated an

2 1 investigation. He interviewed Ms. Wyrick by telephone before she left the Santa Rosa

2 prison. Ms. Wyrick stated in her phone interview that Defendant told her “I killed that

3 dude” or “I shot that f**ker.” Detective Flores indicated that “[t]here wasn’t enough

4 information to know whether somebody had been killed or shot.”

5 Detective Flores immediately went to the apartment complex where, according

6 to Wyrick, Defendant’s mother’s apartment (Mother’s Apartment) was located, “to

7 find out and see if there was somebody there that needed help in that apartment.” The

8 officers confirmed with neighbors that Defendant, his mother, and brother lived at

9 Mother’s Apartment. “All we knew was somebody had been shot or killed in that

10 apartment possibly.” The officers “knocked several times [and] couldn’t get any

11 response.” It “[d]idn’t look like anybody was there[. The l]ights were off at that

12 point.” The officers also called out and looked in the windows. Detective Flores then

13 discussed entering the location with his supervisor, Sergeant Argueta. Detective

14 Flores testified that “it’s hard to say how long somebody can live being shot,

15 depending on where they are shot . . . [w]e just couldn’t take that risk of not checking

16 . . . my main concern was making sure nobody was in there that needed help.” “It

17 could have been a body or someone shot that needed aid[, w]e didn’t know at that time

18 to take that risk not to find out.” Detective Flores also testified that, depending upon

19 the availability of a judge, it could take three or four additional hours to obtain a

3 1 warrant. Instead of waiting for a warrant, the officers forcibly entered Mother’s

2 Apartment without a warrant and “look[ed] for . . . somebody injured or a body . . .

3 we didn’t touch anything.” At the time of the warrantless entry, Officer Flores and

4 Sergeant Argueta were aware that it was approximately forty-eight hours after the

5 alleged shooting or murder. Police seized no physical evidence as a result of

6 Detective Flores’ initial warrantless entry into Mother’s Apartment.

7 Although police did not seize any physical evidence, they did use observations

8 of blood found inside Mother’s Apartment as material information to obtain a

9 subsequent search warrant for the premises. To rule on Defendant’s motion to

10 suppress, the district court looked at the actual affidavit and subsequent search

11 warrant. Defendant’s motion to suppress was denied. The district court’s denial of

12 the motion to suppress was based on the officers’ affidavit.

13 DISCUSSION

14 1. The Warrantless Search of Mother’s Apartment

15 We review the district court’s denial of Defendant’s motion to suppress as a

16 mixed question of law and fact. State v. Ryon, 2005-NMSC-005, ¶ 11, 137 N.M. 174,

17 108 P.3d 1032. We view the facts in the light most favorable to the prevailing party

18 and defer to the district court’s findings of historical facts and witness credibility

19 when supported by substantial evidence. Id. The legality of a search, however,

4 1 ultimately turns on a question of reasonableness. Id. We must carefully balance

2 constitutional values “to shape the parameters of police conduct by placing the

3 constitutional requirement of reasonableness in a factual context.” Id. (internal

4 quotation marks and citation omitted).

5 “Warrantless searches and seizures inside a home are presumptively

6 unreasonable, subject only to a few specific, narrowly defined exceptions.” Id. ¶ 23.

7 “[T]he motivation for the entry [of a home] without a warrant or probable cause must

8 be a strong sense of an emergency.” Id. ¶ 27. The State argues that the emergency

9 assistance doctrine establishes a valid exception to the warrant requirements for the

10 search of Mother’s Apartment. We apply the three-part test adopted in Ryon to

11 determine whether the emergency assistance doctrine applies. 2005-NMSC-005, ¶¶ 9,

12 29 (applying the three- part test established in People v. Mitchell, 347 N.E.2d 607

13 (N.Y. 1976)). “The emergency assistance doctrine requires an emergency, a strong

14 perception that action is required to protect against imminent danger to life or limb,

15 [and] an emergency that is sufficiently compelling to make a warrantless entry into the

16 home objectively reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.” Ryon, 2005-NMSC-005,

17 ¶ 31. “[I]ndividual privacy expectations must at times yield to a paramount interest

18 in protecting and preserving life.” Id. ¶ 28. As such, “[p]olice need not ignore an

19 emergency simply because they are conducting a criminal investigation.” Id.

5 1 Under the first part of the Mitchell test, police must have reasonable grounds

2 to believe an emergency is at hand and there is an immediate need for police

3 assistance to protect life or property. Ryon, 2005-NMSC-005, ¶ 29. To justify

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Chavez v. Board of County Commissioners
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State v. Hunter
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State v. Gurule
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State v. Graham
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State v. Duran
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State v. Post
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State v. Gallegos
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State v. Ryon
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State v. Foxen
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Bluebook (online)
State v. Ayala, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-ayala-nmctapp-2011.