State v. Gallegos

587 P.2d 1347, 92 N.M. 336
New Mexico Court of Appeals·Decided November 21, 1978·No. 3666·Published·Cited by 28 cases

Opinion

OPINION

WOOD, Chief Judge.

The victim was knifed in a fight; defendant appeals his conviction of aggravated battery. Issues listed in the docketing statement, but not briefed, were abandoned. State v. Ortiz, 90 N.M. 319, 563 P.2d 113 (Ct.App.1977). Defendant’s appellate contention is that statements made by him to the investigating officer were improperly admitted. This contention involves: (1) requirements for admissibility; (2) procedure for admissibility; and (3) propriety of admitting the statements.

Requirements for Admissibility

The statements made by defendant were inculpatory statements. Without considering whether the statements were confessions, we apply the standard for admissibility of confessions to the admissibility of these statements. See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966).

Two prerequisites, or foundation requirements, for admissibility are: 1) a prima facie showing of voluntariness, State v. Barnett, 85 N.M. 301, 512 P.2d 61 (1973); State v. Watson, 82 N.M. 769, 487 P.2d 197 (Ct.App.1971); and 2) compliance with the advice of rights required by Miranda v. Arizona, supra “to secure the privilege against self-incrimination.”

It is, of course, defendant’s right to require that these foundational requirements are met. “[A]bsent some contemporaneous challenge” to these foundational requirements in the trial court, an appellate claim that foundational requirements were not met will not be reviewed. See Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 97 S.Ct. 2497, 53 L.Ed.2d 594 (1977), reh. denied, 434 U.S. 880, 98 S.Ct. 241, 54 L.Ed.2d 163 (1977); State v. Word, 80 N.M. 377, 456 P.2d 210 (Ct.App.1969). This is no more than the application of procedural rules. Error may not be predicated upon a ruling admitting evidence unless there was “a timely objection or motion to strike appears of record, stating the specific ground of objection, if the specific ground was not apparent from the context”. Evidence Rule 103(a)(1). “To preserve a question for review it must appear that a ruling or decision by the trial court was fairly invoked”. N.M.Crim.App. 308; Melon v. State, 90 N.M. 787, 568 P.2d 1233 (1977).

Procedure for Admissibility

(a) During the direct examination of the investigating officer, the prosecutor sought to introduce statements made to the officer by defendant. When defendant objected to the admissibility of the statements, the prosecutor claimed that defendant’s objection should not be considered because defendant never sought to suppress the statements under Rule of Crim.Proc. 18(c). This rule reads:

(c) Time for Filing. A motion to suppress shall be made within twenty days after the entry of a plea, unless, upon good cause shown, the trial court waives the time requirement of this rule.

Because defendant did not seek suppression of the statements prior to trial, the State claims defendant could not object to admission of the statements at trial. The State relies on State v. Helker, 88 N.M. 650, 545 P.2d 1028 (Ct.App.1975), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 836, 97 S.Ct. 103, 50 L.Ed.2d 102 (1976).

State v. Helker, supra, held that the time limitation of Rule of Crim.Proc. 18(c) was proper and did not violate a defendant’s constitutional right to be heard on the voluntariness of a confession. Helker did not consider whether defendant’s objection to the admission of a statement at trial should not be heard if there was no pretrial motion to suppress.

If defendant had affirmatively sought suppression of the statements and had offered evidence to support suppression, the trial court could properly have excluded such evidence and denied the motion to suppress because untimely under Rule of Crim.Proc. 18(c). See State v. Aragon, 89 N.M. 91, 547 P.2d 574 (Ct.App.1976). Defendant did not, however, seek to suppress the statements. His trial court claim was a limited claim. Defendant’s claim went only to the foundation requirements for the admission of the statements. These foundation requirements were preliminary questions concerning admissibility. Evidence Rule 104(a). These preliminary questions went to evidence being offered by the prosecutor. Defendant’s right to be heard on whether the prosecutor had laid a sufficient foundation for admission of the statements was not barred by the fact that defendant had not sought to suppress the statements under Rule of Crim.Proc. 18(c).

(b) We consider the contents of defendant’s objection later in this opinion. After objecting, defendant sought, and was permitted, to voir dire the officer. The voir dire was conducted in the presence of the jury. Defendant contends it was plain or fundamental error to conduct the hearing in the presence of the jury.

Defendant has presented nothing which demonstrates fundamental error, as that term is explained in State v. Rodriguez, 81 N.M. 503, 469 P.2d 148 (1970). His plain error claim is necessarily predicated on Evidence Rule 103(d), which requires notice of plain errors affecting substantial rights even though the asserted errors were not brought to the attention of the trial court. Defendant did not ask the trial court to exclude the jury during the voir dire of the officer, and no question concerning the jury’s presence during the voir dire was raised in the trial court.

Defendant asserts there were two errors, either of which amounted to plain error.

First, defendant relies on Evidence Rule 104(c) which states: “Hearings on the admissibility of confessions shall in all cases be conducted out of the hearing of the jury.” The voir dire of the officer was a hearing on the admissibility of defendant’s inculpatory statements. Since the hearing was in the presence of the jury, Evidence Rule 104(c) was violated. This error did not, however, adversely affect any substantial right of defendant because defendant’s statements were properly admitted. The violation of Evidence Rule 104(c) was not plain error because the violation did not result in a miscarriage of justice and the violation did not affect the fairness or integrity of the trial. State v. Marquez, 87 N.M. 57, 529 P.2d 283 (Ct.App.1974). Compare State v. Lara, 88 N.M. 233, 539 P.2d 623 (Ct.App.1975) with State v. Baca, 89 N.M. 204, 549 P.2d 282 (1976).

Second, defendant asserts that he had a right, under the Constitution, to have a hearing on the voluntariness of his statements out of the presence of the jury. He relies on Jackson v.

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State v. Gallegos, 587 P.2d 1347, 92 N.M. 336 (N.M. Ct. App. 1978).

587 P.2d 1347 (State v. Gallegos) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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