State v. DENZEL B.

2008 NMCA 118, 192 P.3d 260, 144 N.M. 746
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 7, 2008
Docket27,684
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 2008 NMCA 118 (State v. DENZEL B.) 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. DENZEL B., 2008 NMCA 118, 192 P.3d 260, 144 N.M. 746 (N.M. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinions

OPINION

CASTILLO, Judge.

{1} A jury found Denzel B. (Child) to be delinquent for committing an act of battery against a household member, contrary to NMSA 1978, § 30-3-15 (2007). Child appeals the trial court’s denial of a jury instruction for self-defense. We hold that the trial court properly denied the jury instruction, and we therefore affirm.

I.BACKGROUND

{2} Terry Johnson (Uncle) is the legal guardian of Child. Uncle and Child had an understanding that Child’s curfew was 10:00 p.m. on weeknights and midnight on weekends. On September 2, 2006, Child stayed out past his curfew and did not arrive home until approximately 9:00 a.m. the next morning. During the night, Uncle searched for Child and located him at a party. Not wanting to cause a scene, Uncle went home to wait up for Child. In the morning, Uncle confronted Child and put him on restriction, which meant that Child was only permitted to go to school and to study. Uncle testified that he was “really mad” and that he yelled at Child. Uncle further testified that Child was “just disrespecting me and everything of this nature____[I]t was like nonchalant, you know ...; so-so at that moment, I just took my belt off, and I started spanking him.”

{3} After the spanking, Uncle told Child to go to his room. Child complied, and Uncle followed; specifically, Uncle testified, “[W]e went in his room.” The argument continued in the bedroom, and Uncle and Child got into “a rassling match.” Child raised his fist, as if to punch Uncle, but Child changed his mind and tried to leave the room. Child pushed Uncle aside on the way out of the room. Uncle grabbed Child by the arm and pulled at his shirt. The shirt came off of Child, and he continued out the door. Uncle told Child that if he left the house, Uncle would call the police. Child left the house, and Uncle called the police.

{4} The State petitioned the trial court to find Child to be delinquent on two counts: (1) battery against a household member, based on Child’s pushing Uncle out of the way, and (2) assault against a household member, contrary to NMSA 1978, § 30-3-12(A)(2) (1995). At trial, Child requested that the trial court give the jury the following instruction on self-defense: •

Evidence has been presented that [Child] acted in self-defense.
[Child] acted in self-defense if:
1. There was an appearance of immediate danger of bodily harm to [Child] as a result of [Uncle’s] disciplining [Child] with a belt; and
2. [Child] was in fact put in fear of immediate bodily harm and [Child] shoved [Uncle] because of that fear; and
3. [Child] used an amount of force that [Child] believed was reasonable and necessary to prevent the bodily harm; and
4. The apparent danger would have caused a reasonable person in the same circumstances to act as [Child] did.
The burden is on the [S]tate to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that [Child] did not act in self-defense. If you have a reasonable doubt as to whether [Child] acted in self-defense, you must find [Child] not guilty.

This instruction was based on a uniform jury instruction, UJI 14-5181 NMRA. The trial court denied the motion. The jury determined that Child committed the delinquent act of battery on a household member but not assault on a household member. The trial court sentenced Child to two years of probation with the proviso that if Child successfully completed the first year, he would be released from the second year of probation. Child appeals the denial of the proffered jury instruction on self-defense and asks this Court to remand for a new trial.

II. DISCUSSION

{5} Whether the trial court properly denied a jury instruction is a mixed question of law and fact, which we review de novo. State v. Gaines, 2001-NMSC-036, ¶ 4, 131 N.M. 347, 36 P.3d 438. Child argues that the evidence presented at trial supported every element of self-defense and that the trial court was therefore required to give the instruction. Specifically, Child contends that “[Ujncle’s testimony, that he hit [Child] repeatedly with a belt, is all the ‘slight evidence’ [that is] required for the self-defense instruction.” The State responds in two ways. First, the State contends that Uncle’s act of hitting Child with a belt does not establish the elements of self-defense. Second, the State argues that a self-defense instruction was not warranted because Child’s proffered instruction did not tender a legally correct statement of the law.

A. Elements of Self-defense

{6} “In order for [the] defendant to be entitled to a self-defense instruction, there must be evidence that [the] defendant was put in fear by an apparent danger of immediate bodily harm, that his [actions] resulted from that fear, and that [the] defendant acted as a reasonable person would act under those circumstances.” State v. Lara, 109 N.M. 294, 297, 784 P.2d 1037, 1040 (Ct.App.1989). Child was required to present evidence supporting every element of self-defense in order to warrant a jury instruction on this issue. State v. Gonzales, 2007-NMSC-059, ¶ 19, 143 N.M. 25, 172 P.3d 162. “Whenever there is evidence, however slight, that the defendant acted in self-defense, the instruction should be given. Nevertheless, a defendant is not entitled to the instruction when the evidence is so slight as to be incapable of raising a reasonable doubt in the jury’s mind on whether a defendant ... did act in self-defense.” State v. Sutphin, 2007-NMSC-045, ¶ 22, 142 N.M. 191, 164 P.3d 72 (alteration in original) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).

{7} Child argues that the events on the morning of September 3 were a single continuous incident and that Uncle’s disciplinary action with the belt therefore affected Child’s later actions in the bedroom. Specifically, Child contends that the altercation “began with [Child’s] being hit repeatedly with a belt and continued with the wrestling match as [Child] attempted to leave____The physical fight only ended when [Child] pushed past [U]ncle and fled from the house.” The record is not clear about many of the details of the scuffle between Uncle and Child. Nonetheless, we acknowledge that sufficient facts were presented from which a jury could infer that Uncle’s striking Child with the belt only a short time before Uncle followed Child to the bedroom could have caused Child to believe that the discipline would continue and that he was in danger of imminent bodily harm. See State v. Ungarten, 115 N.M. 607, 610-11, 856 P.2d 569, 572-73 (Ct.App.1993) (stating that a defendant was entitled to a self-defense jury instruction when after being struck with a log, the defendant brandished a knife).

{8} Our Supreme Court has stated that “[t]he evidence of an appearance of immediate danger would support an inference that [the defendant was put in fear.” State v. Lopez, 2000-NMSC-003, ¶ 25, 128 N.M. 410, 993 P.2d 727.

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Bluebook (online)
2008 NMCA 118, 192 P.3d 260, 144 N.M. 746, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-denzel-b-nmctapp-2008.