State v. DeSantos

575 P.2d 612, 91 N.M. 428
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 31, 1978
Docket2923
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 575 P.2d 612 (State v. DeSantos) 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. DeSantos, 575 P.2d 612, 91 N.M. 428 (N.M. Ct. App. 1978).

Opinion

OPINION

WOOD, Chief Judge.

The two offenses involved, murder and unlawfully taking a vehicle, occurred November 1, 1973. Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree and unlawfully taking a vehicle on March 3, 1975. Sentence was imposed on March 3,1975, and an amended sentence was imposed on March 11, 1975. On June 29, 1976 the first degree murder conviction was reversed; the vehicle conviction was affirmed. State v. DeSantos, 89 N.M. 458, 553 P.2d 1265 (1976). On February 11, 1977 defendant was convicted of second degree murder. Delay in the appeal from the second degree murder conviction resulted from the transcript not being filed until August 22, 1977 and defendant’s brief-in-chief not being filed until October 25, 1977. The State’s answer brief was timely, being filed on November 14, 1977. The issues involve: (1) use of defendant’s testimony at the former trial; (2) deposition testimony; and (3) propriety of the sentence.

Use of Defendant’s Former Trial Testimony

Defendant testified at the first trial. Upon retrial, the State introduced this former trial testimony. Defendant concedes the general rule is that defendant’s testimony at a former trial may be used against him upon retrial. See State v. Wright, 38 N.M. 427, 34 P.2d 870 (1934). He asserts the general rule is inapplicable.

Defendant contends the general rule is inapplicable if, prior to testifying in the first trial, he was not warned that his testimony might be used against him in a future trial. He claims that absent such an explicit warning, he did not waive his privilege against self-incrimination in future trials. Harrison v. United States, 392 U.S. 219, 88 S.Ct. 2008, 20 L.Ed.2d 1047 (1968) states:

[W]e ... do not question the general evidentiary rule that a defendant’s testimony at a former trial is admissible in evidence against him in later proceedings. A defendant who chooses to testify waives his privilege against compulsory self-incrimination with respect to the testimony he gives, and that waiver is no less effective or complete because the defendant may have been motivated to take the stand in the first place only by reason of the strength of the lawful evidence adduced against him.

Defendant does not claim that he testified in his former trial in order to overcome the impact of illegally obtained evidence. See Harrison v. United States, supra. Nor does he claim that his testimony in the former trial was involuntary or given after invoking the testimonial privilege. In this situation, defendant waived his privilege against self-incrimination when he testified at his former trial. No explicit warning was required. See Edmonds v. United States, 106 U.S.App.D.C. 373, 273 F.2d 108 (1959).

Annot., 5 A.L.R.2d 1404, § 3, and Edmonds v. United States, supra, both indicate the general rule is applicable in the absence of a statute governing the situation. See Kirby v. The Commonwealth, 77 Va. 681, 46 Am.Rep. 747 (1883).

Defendant asserts that § 41-15-7, N.M. S.A. 1953 (2d Repl. Vol. 6) prohibits use of defendant’s former trial testimony at a subsequent trial. This statute reads:

The district court to which any criminal cause shall be remanded for new trial shall proceed thereon in the same manner as if said cause had not been theretofore tried.

Section 41-15-7, supra, was enacted as § 57 of the Laws 1917, ch. 43. The title of that statute reads: “An Act Providing Appellate Procedure in Civil and Criminal Cases, and Repealing Certain Sections of Existing Law.” State v. Nelson, 65 N.M. 403, 338 P.2d 301 (1959) states that § 41-15-7, supra, “simply means that the district court to which any case is remanded for a new trial shall re-examine and re-try all issues of fact.” Neither the wording of § 41-15-7, supra, nor the title of the act of which that section is a part suggests in any manner that § 41-15-7, supra, applies to the admissibility of evidence upon retrial. Section 41-15-7, supra, does not prevent application of the general rule.

Defendant states:

[A]t the first trial the Defendant was facing the Death sentence and felt compelled to take the stand, while in the second trial the death sentence was not available to the appellee and the Defendant could reasonably be presumed to be acting under a different set of expectations and assumptions about his strategies and tactics to be used at the second trial.

Defendant contends he “must have the same choice of tactics available to him as if he had never been tried’"on the issue before.” Putting a defendant to a choice of strategy or tactics is not a violation of the privilege against compulsory self-incrimination. State v. Smith, 88 N.M. 541, 543 P.2d 834 (Ct.App.1975); State v. Lindsey, 81 N.M. 173, 464 P.2d 903 (Ct.App.1969), cert. denied, 398 U.S. 904, 90 S.Ct. 1692, 26 L.Ed.2d 62 (1970).

The general rule applied. Defendant’s testimony at the former trial was properly admitted into evidence against him at the retrial.

Deposition Testimony

Prior to retrial, the deposition of a hair comparison expert was taken; this deposition was admitted as evidence. Defendant asserts this was error. We disagree.

In December, 1976 the prosecutor moved for an order authorizing the taking of the deposition on the basis that the expert was a material witness and his testimony concerning the hair comparison was relevant. The deposition was sought on the basis the expert would not be able to attend the trial because the expert would be outside the continental United States on the dates set for trial. Defendant filed a memorandum opposing the prosecutor’s motion; this memorandum asserted the prosecutor had “the intention of using the deposition at trial because Mr. Wallace [the expert] cannot appear at trial as it is currently set.”

Subsequently, the parties stipulated that the prosecutor’s motion “may be heard by the Court upon written memoranda of the parties and the setting heretofore made for December 20, 1976, is vacated.” The trial court’s order recites that the prosecutor’s motion was heard upon “the arguments of counsel”. This order found that the expert would be outside the continental United States on the trial date, that it was necessary that the expert’s testimony be perpetrated prior to the witness’s departure to prevent injustice. This order authorizes the taking of the deposition “for perpetuation of his testimony to be used at the trial.”

Defendant does not claim that the trial court erred in authorizing the taking of the deposition. See Rule of Crim.Proc. 29(a). His claim goes to use of the deposition at trial.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
575 P.2d 612, 91 N.M. 428, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-desantos-nmctapp-1978.