State v. Gamlen

2009 NMCA 073, 213 P.3d 818, 146 N.M. 668
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 17, 2009
Docket28,215
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 2009 NMCA 073 (State v. Gamlen) 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. Gamlen, 2009 NMCA 073, 213 P.3d 818, 146 N.M. 668 (N.M. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

OPINION

WECHSLER, Judge.

{1} Defendant Meagan Gamlen appeals the district court’s judgment on record affirming the metropolitan court order finding Defendant guilty of driving while intoxicated and failure to maintain her lane. We consider (1) whether Defendant’s right to counsel of her choice under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution was violated as a result of a police officer’s inappropriate behavior during an interview with Defendant’s original chosen counsel and (2) whether the ordinance requiring a driver to maintain her lane is unconstitutionally vague. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

{2} In March 2006, Officer Jude Lujan of the Albuquerque Police Department observed a truck drift over the “fog line” for approximately sixty to seventy yards and initiated a traffic stop. Upon making contact with Defendant, Officer Lujan noticed that Defendant had bloodshot, watery eyes, slurred speech, and a strong odor of alcohol. Defendant admitted to having consumed three beers that evening. Officer Lujan had Defendant perform field sobriety tests and, as a result of numerous indications of intoxication from the tests, arrested Defendant for drunk driving. Officer Lujan charged Defendant with violation of Albuquerque, N.M., Traffic Code Section 8-2-1-42 (1974), for failure to maintain a traffic lane; NMSA 1978, Section 66-8-102 (2008), for driving while intoxicated; and NMSA 1978, Section 66-8-138 (2001), for possession of an open alcoholic beverage while in a motor vehicle.

{3} Defendant hired Thomas J. Mescall II as her attorney. Mescall interviewed Officer Lujan in September 2006. Before the interview began, Officer Lujan called Meseall a “son of a bitch,” and during the interview, Officer Lujan used his middle finger to refer to the report while he was answering questions, a gesture that Meseall considered obscene. Officer Lujan was also noticeably irritated during the interview, stated numerous times that he did not want to repeat answers, and left the interview early to appear in court. About a week after the interview, Lisa Torraco substituted for Meseall as Defendant’s counsel. Torraco and Meseall testified that Meseall had determined that it was in Defendant’s best interest that Torraco replace Meseall as counsel. Meseall informed Defendant that she could oppose his withdrawal, but Defendant chose not to do so.

{4} Defendant filed a motion to suppress Officer Lujan’s testimony, arguing that Officer Lujan’s actions “forced” her attorney of choice to withdraw from the case. During the hearing on the motion to suppress, Mes-call testified that he withdrew upon his and Defendant’s request to the court. Meseall further testified that he did not know how Defendant’s trial might have been impacted if Meseall had continued as Defendant’s counsel and later stated that Officer Lujan might perjure himself or color his testimony.

{5} The metropolitan court ultimately denied Defendant’s motion to suppress and found that, although Officer Lujan’s behavior could be viewed as offensive or rude, Defendant failed to provide evidence that required dismissal or suppression. Instead, the metropolitan court stated that Defendant made a voluntary choice that was unnecessary and unwarranted. Defendant’s case proceeded to trial. The metropolitan court found Defendant guilty of driving while intoxicated and failure to maintain a traffic lane. Defendant filed a motion to reconsider, arguing that the ordinance prohibiting failure to maintain a traffic lane was unconstitutionally vague. The metropolitan court entered a judgment and sentence, again finding Defendant guilty of driving while intoxicated and failure to maintain a traffic lane. Defendant appealed to the district court. The district court affirmed in a memorandum opinion, and Defendant appealed to this Court.

SIXTH AMENDMENT: DEPRIVATION OF COUNSEL OF CHOICE

{6} The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution states: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right ... to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.” U.S. Const, amend. VI. “[A]n element of this right is the right of a defendant who does not require appointed counsel to choose who will represent him.” United States v. Gonzalez-Lopez, 548 U.S. 140, 144, 126 S.Ct. 2557, 165 L.Ed.2d 409 (2006).

{7} Defendant argues that her Sixth Amendment right was violated because her chosen counsel, Meseall, withdrew from the case due to Officer Lujan’s conduct. Specifically, she argues that the metropolitan court erred by not dismissing the case “with prejudice because a[s]tate agent’s misconduct permanently deprived [Defendant] of her chosen counsel.” Defendant relies on United States v. Amlani, 111 F.3d 705, 710-11 (9th Cir. 1997), which held that allegations of prosecutorial disparagement of counsel in a defendant’s presence establish a Sixth Amendment claim.

{8} In Amlani, the state’s attorney disparaged the defendant’s counsel in front of the defendant, causing the defendant to lose confidence in his original chosen counsel’s competency and, therefore, to substitute counsel. Id. at 710. Amlani held that “a change in defense counsel caused by the prosecution’s misconduct itself establishes the requisite prejudice to vacate [the defendant’s] conviction” and that “the allegations state a Sixth Amendment claim.” Id. at 711-12. Defendant in the present case therefore contends that, “like the misconduct in Amlani [,] the error took on constitutional magnitude because of its result.”

{9} We assume without deciding that we would apply reasoning similar to Amlani and that Officer Lujan is a “state agent” for purposes of this opinion. See, e.g., People v. Hooper, 157 Mich.App. 669, 403 N.W.2d 605, 608 (1987) (recognizing that acts of an FBI agent or secret service agent are “attributable to the prosecution”). With these assumptions, if Defendant can establish a violation of her right to counsel of choice, she would be entitled to a reversal of her conviction without a showing that her new counsel failed to provide her a quality defense because, unlike a Sixth Amendment challenge for ineffective assistance of counsel, a violation of the right to counsel of choice in itself constitutes prejudice. See Gonzalez-Lopez, 548 U.S. at 147-48,126 S.Ct. 2557.

{10} To succeed in her arguments, however, Defendant must establish a sufficient causal link between Officer Lujan’s actions and Defendant’s decision to terminate Meseall’s services. Defendant contends in this regard that “[a]n error causes a deprivation of counsel whenever that error is the primary reason for the chosen attorney’s withdrawal.” We do not agree. Although the decision to withdraw as counsel is a private one made between an attorney and client, a court cannot be bound by the subjective decisions of an attorney and client in its scrutiny of a constitutional claim based upon the right to counsel of one’s choice. Regardless of the “primary reason” for the private decision for an attorney’s withdrawal, the court must nevertheless determine whether the alleged interference constitutes a constitutional infringement justifying a judicial remedy.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2009 NMCA 073, 213 P.3d 818, 146 N.M. 668, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gamlen-nmctapp-2009.