State v. Encinias

726 P.2d 1174, 104 N.M. 740
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 2, 1986
Docket9073, 9081
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 726 P.2d 1174 (State v. Encinias) 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. Encinias, 726 P.2d 1174, 104 N.M. 740 (N.M. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

OPINION

HENDLEY, Chief Judge.

Defendants appeal their convictions of battery on a peace officer. They were sentenced to eighteen months imprisonment and a $5,000 fine for those convictions. See NMSA 1978, §§ 30-22-24 (Repl.Pamp.1984) and 31-18-15(A)(4) and (D)(3) (Repl.Pamp.1981). The trial court also found aggravating circumstances and enhanced their basic sentences by six months.

The trial court suspended Hollowell's fine and eighteen months of the term of his imprisonment. It suspended Encinias’ fine and twelve months of the term of his imprisonment. Hollowell was ordered to serve six months in jail, followed by five years probation; Encinias was ordered to serve twelve months in jail, followed by five years probation. The trial court further ordered that Hollowell was not entitled to credit for time served on probation against the suspended portion of his sentence until the forty-third month of probation, and that Encinias was not entitled to credit for time served on probation until the forty-ninth month of probation. Defendants appeal. We consolidate the appeals on our own motion and discuss: (1) sentence enhancement; (2) probation; and (3) deferral of credit time. We affirm on the first two issues, and reverse on the third issue.

Sentence Enhancement

There is no question that Hollowed struck the officer as charged. However, many of the witnesses had widely differing recollections of what happened next. One version had Hollowed kicking and shoving the officer and throwing him over a car. Another version had the officer as the aggressor and Hollowed as the victim. Still another version was that nothing happened. The testimony as to Encinias’ participation in the incident was also conflicting. There was testimony that Encinias grabbed the officer in a “bear hug” and threw the officer over several cars.

The jury found defendants guilty by general verdict. The jury was not requested to find that any one of the recounted versions was true. Defendants contend that the trial court erred in drawing its own factual conclusions as grounds for enhancing their sentences. We disagree.

Clearly, the fact that Hollowed struck the officer is sufficient evidence upon which to convict him of battery on a peace officer. See NMSA 1978, UJI Crim. 22.10 (Repl.Pamp.1982). Similarly, the fact that Encinias grabbed the officer and threw him around is sufficient to convict Encinias of that offense. The jury was not required to find any facts beyond those. At sentencing, however, the trial court found “as a fact that aggravating circumstances surround the commission of the offense in that the battery committed on the peace officer also constituted a humiliating manhandling of such officer offensive to elemental concepts of civilized order.” The trial court based its findings on “the sentencing proceedings and from certain testimony given in the trial.”

When a defendant is convicted of a felony, the trial court must conduct a sentencing hearing to determine whether mitigating or aggravating circumstances exist. NMSA 1978, § 31-18-15.1(A) (Repl.Pamp.1981). If the trial court finds that an aggravating circumstance exists, it may enhance the basic term of imprisonment. In determining whether to alter a basic sentence, the trial court may properly consider the circumstances surrounding the commission of the crime. State v. Wilson, 97 N.M. 534, 641 P.2d 1081 (Ct.App.1982). See also State v. Segotta, 100 N.M. 498, 672 P.2d 1129 (1983). In reviewing a trial court’s finding that an aggravating circumstance exists, this Court will view the evidence in the light most favorable to the finding, and resolve all conflicts and inferences in favor of that finding. Cf. State v. Tovar, 98 N.M. 655, 651 P.2d 1299 (1982). We will affirm the trial court’s finding so long as it is supported by substantial evidence.

Defendants’ reliance on State v. Blea, 84 N.M. 595, 506 P.2d 339 (Ct.App.1973), and State v. Chavez, 101 N.M. 136, 679 P.2d 804 (1984), is misplaced. In Blea, we held that because the statute relied upon for enhancing the sentence added a new element to the crime for which defendant was convicted, defendant was entitled to be tried by the jury on that question. But see State v. Barreras, 88 N.M. 52, 536 P.2d 1108 (Ct.App.1975) (the statute in question in Blea does not create a new class of crimes). In Chavez, the Supreme Court reversed the trial court’s grant of a new trial because the lower court had invaded the province of the jury at the guilt phase of the proceeding. These two cases stand for the proposition that a defendant is entitled to a jury trial on the question of guilt. The sentence, however, is not an element of the conviction; rather, it is merely a consequence of the conviction. State v. Ferris, 80 N.M. 663, 459 P.2d 462 (Ct.App.1969). A convicted defendant has no right, absent statutory authority, to a jury trial on the question of an appropriate sentence. Compare NMSA 1978, UJI Crim. 50.06 (Repl.Pamp.1982) with NMSA 1978, § 31-20A-1(B) (Repl.Pamp.1981) and NMSA 1978, UJI Crim. 39.33 (Cum.Supp. 1985).

Encinias, relying on City of Alamogordo v. Ohlrich, 95 N.M. 725, 625 P.2d 1242 (Ct.App.1981), also argues that there was no evidence presented at trial to support the trial court’s finding that the officer was “humiliated” by the attack on him. The fact that Encinias violently grabbed the officer and physically threw him over several cars while a large group of people watched would certainly lead to a reasonable inference that the officer was humiliated. Ohlrich is not applicable to the instant case. Baiting with words and physical abuse are two entirely different things.

Defendants were tried and found guilty. The trial court, pursuant to its statutory duty, held a sentencing hearing and found that an aggravating circumstance accompanied the commission of the crime as to each defendant. The trial court’s findings were supported by the testimony of at least one witness, i.e., by substantial evidence. We affirm the trial court’s findings of aggravating circumstances and its enhancement of defendants’ basic sentences.

Probation

Hollowell relies on State v. Vigil, 103 N.M. 581, 711 P.2d 26 (Ct.App.1985), in support of his argument that the trial court erred in placing him on supervised probation for five years when he was convicted of a fourth degree felony which carries a basic term of incarceration of eighteen months. The Vigil decision was based on Section 31-20-6 as it existed in 1984 when Vigil committed the offense charged. At that time, Section 31-20-6(D) expressly provided that supervised probation could not exceed the maximum term of incarceration for the offense committed.

Section 31-20-6 was amended by 1985 N.M. Laws, ch. 75, Section 2.

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Bluebook (online)
726 P.2d 1174, 104 N.M. 740, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-encinias-nmctapp-1986.