State v. Garner

CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 20, 2017
Docket34,941
StatusUnpublished

This text of State v. Garner (State v. Garner) 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. Garner, (N.M. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

This memorandum opinion was not selected for publication in the New Mexico Appellate Reports. Please see Rule 12-405 NMRA for restrictions on the citation of unpublished memorandum opinions. Please also note that this electronic memorandum opinion may contain computer-generated errors or other deviations from the official paper version filed by the Court of Appeals and does not include the filing date.

1 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO

2 STATE OF NEW MEXICO,

3 Plaintiff-Appellee,

4 v. No. 34,941

5 MICHELLE GARNER,

6 Defendant-Appellant.

7 APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF OTERO COUNTY 8 Angie K. Schneider, District Judge

9 Hector H. Balderas, Attorney General 10 Santa Fe, NM 11 Elizabeth Ashton, Assistant Attorney General 12 Albuquerque, NM

13 for Appellee

14 Bennett J. Baur, Chief Public Defender 15 Allison H. Jaramillo, Assistant Appellate Defender 16 Santa Fe, NM

17 for Appellant

18 MEMORANDUM OPINION

19 SUTIN, Judge. 1 {1} Defendant Michelle Garner appeals her convictions for battery on a peace

2 officer and resisting, evading, or obstructing an officer. On appeal, she contends that

3 her convictions violate double jeopardy principles and that fundamental error occurred

4 when the district court considered facts that transpired in the course of a different case

5 when sentencing Defendant. For the reasons that follow, we reverse with respect to

6 the first issue and affirm as to the second issue.

7 BACKGROUND

8 {2} Defendant’s convictions arose out of an incident that occurred at Defendant’s

9 daughter’s home on June 27, 2013. Detective Eliza Fernandez of the Alamogordo

10 Police Department was on patrol when she received an intake call from the Children,

11 Youth, and Families Department (CYFD) to assist in an investigation. Due to her

12 concerns about the investigation, Detective Fernandez called for a supervisor, and

13 Sergeant Adam Prudencio responded to the scene. The State and defense stipulated

14 at trial that the police were lawfully present at the home.

15 {3} As Sergeant Prudencio spoke with Defendant’s daughter, Krystal Romero,

16 Detective Fernandez was photographing the residence as part of the investigation.

17 Detective Fernandez heard a female voice yell, “You’re not going to take my

18 grandchildren!” The voice belonged to Defendant. Detective Fernandez stopped what

19 she was doing and went into the living room area, where Sergeant Prudencio was

2 1 speaking with Defendant and trying to calm her down. Defendant calmed down, took

2 one of her grandchildren, and went outside to smoke a cigarette.

3 {4} At that point, Detective Fernandez stepped out of the home to call the on-call

4 assistant district attorney to seek advice regarding the situation; a decision was made

5 to remove the children from the home and obtain medical treatment. While Defendant

6 was on the porch, Detective Fernandez re-entered the home and informed Ms.

7 Romero, who was on a couch just inside the front door, of this decision. Upon hearing

8 this, Ms. Romero screamed out, and Defendant ran inside.

9 {5} Detective Fernandez testified at trial that as Defendant was coming through the

10 door, Sergeant Prudencio told her to “back off.” Defendant pushed the sergeant and

11 punched him in the chest with a closed fist. Sergeant Prudencio began trying to secure

12 Defendant by performing a wrist lock; to do so, he went out the front door onto the

13 porch, where there was a platform. Sergeant Prudencio was on the ground with

14 Defendant, telling her to stop resisting, and Detective Fernandez got on the ground as

15 well. When Detective Fernandez was asked, “How did they get on the ground[,]” she

16 testified, “I don’t know, it happened so quick.” Detective Fernandez saw that the

17 sergeant needed assistance, so she went to the ground, tried to grab Defendant’s other

18 arm, and told Defendant to stop resisting several times. Defendant was kicking quite

19 a bit at that time, and both officers were on the ground, trying to secure Defendant.

3 1 She further testified that she saw Defendant strike Sergeant Prudencio in his upper leg

2 and above his groin. Detective Fernandez testified that she was kicked by Defendant

3 in her right knee and was kicked multiple times because Defendant was kicking back

4 and forth. She described Defendant’s kicks as “mule kicks,” where Defendant’s

5 stomach was to the ground and Defendant was kicking her legs back. Detective

6 Fernandez estimated that the entire event, from Defendant’s initial striking of Sergeant

7 Prudencio to Defendant’s thrashing, took between one and a half to two minutes.

8 Defendant ceased kicking once she was in handcuffs and up off of the ground.

9 {6} Sergeant Prudencio also testified at trial. He stated that he reached Ms.

10 Romero’s home prior to Defendant and that when Defendant arrived, about ten

11 minutes later, she was “angry” and was repeatedly yelling, “You’re not taking my

12 grandchildren.” He told Defendant to calm down, and she took one of her

13 grandchildren to the porch and began smoking a cigarette. Defendant was outside for

14 no more than five minutes when she heard that the decision had been made to take

15 custody of at least one of the children, and Defendant bolted through the front door.

16 The sergeant testified that Defendant “came charging inside,” he was standing about

17 three feet in front of the door, and Defendant shoved him and tried to push past him.

18 Sergeant Prudencio told Defendant to calm down and go back outside numerous

19 times. Defendant kept trying to get around the sergeant by pushing and shoving him,

4 1 until he had to start pushing her outside. When Defendant got to the doorway opening,

2 she kicked him in the groin and punched him in the chest. Sergeant Prudencio

3 observed that Defendant was preparing to punch him again, so he grabbed her wrist

4 so she could not hit him again. To accomplish the wrist lock, the sergeant grabbed

5 Defendant’s right wrist, turned it in a minor twist, which put pressure on Defendant

6 to bring her to the floor. Defendant was trying to pull back away from him while he

7 had her wrist, and Defendant continued kicking him in the knees, so he exerted more

8 pressure on Defendant’s wrist. Defendant went to her knees and was trying to bite him

9 on his legs. Sergeant Prudencio grabbed Defendant from behind her head and pushed

10 her head to the sidewalk. The sergeant held Defendant that way and instructed her to

11 put her other arm behind her back. Throughout this time, Defendant was yelling out

12 that Sergeant Prudencio was hurting her. Defendant did not become compliant until

13 she was in handcuffs.

14 {7} Based on the foregoing events, Defendant was charged with two counts of

15 battery on a peace officer and resisting, evading, or obstructing an officer. At trial,

16 defense counsel requested a jury instruction on self-defense as it pertained to the

17 battery against Sergeant Prudencio, which was given. The jury convicted Defendant

18 of one count of battery upon a peace officer against Detective Fernandez, one count

5 1 of battery upon a peace officer against Sergeant Prudencio, and one count of resisting,

2 evading, or obstructing an officer, with respect to the sergeant. This appeal followed.

3 DISCUSSION

4 Double Jeopardy

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Bluebook (online)
State v. Garner, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-garner-nmctapp-2017.