State v. Hinojos

2014 NMCA 067, 6 N.M. 223
New Mexico Court of Appeals·Decided March 27, 2014·No. Docket 32,325·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

OPINION

GARCIA, Judge.

{1} Defendant appeals from a nunc pro tunc order filed by the district court that reinstated his probation. The district court determined that Defendant neither violated the terms of his probation nor was a fugitive for purposes of probation supervision. It nonetheless tolled Defendant’s term of probation during the period of time that Defendant was released to another jurisdiction and then incarcerated outside of the State of New Mexico. Since Defendant’s probation was improperly tolled, resulting in Defendant not being credited for time served on probation, we conclude that his term of probation had expired, and the district court did not have jurisdiction to reinstate Defendant’s probation.

BACKGROUND

{2} The facts of this case are undisputed. On June 6, 2007, Defendant réceived a consolidated sentence for his convictions in two cases. Defendant was sentenced to a term of imprisonment for 965 days and given credit for the 965 days already served in presentence confinement. He also received a partially suspended sentence of seven years and two months and was placed on supervised probation for a term of five years. After his sentence was imposed, but before he was released from custody or had an opportunity to meet with probation authorities, Defendant was extradited to the State of Texas. Texas dropped the charges against Defendant, but continued to hold him in custody until he was extradited to the State of Colorado. Defendant was then imprisoned in Colorado for four years based on a probation violation from a 1996 case. Upon finishing his prison term in Colorado, Defendant was once again extradited back to New Mexico and remained in custody until he appeared before the court. During this entire period of time, Defendant was continuously either in custody or incarcerated by New Mexico, Texas, or Colorado authorities.

{3} As a result of his uninterrupted incarceration in three states, Defendant was never able to report to probation authorities in New Mexico. The probation officer assigned to Defendant’s case heard that Defendant had been sent to Texas on an immigration hold, so she contacted customs and immigration officials (ICE) in Albuquerque and El Paso to verify this information. Neither ICE office reported that it had any record of Defendant. The probation officer did not conduct a further investigation before she concluded that Defendant’s whereabouts were unknown and that he was an absconder. As a result, the State filed a motion to revoke Defendant’s probation and a bench warrant was issued for Defendant’s arrest. When Defendant was returned to New Mexico custody in March 2012, the bench warrant was cancelled and the reason stated for cancellation was identified as, Defendant “has been arrested by [unknown].”

{4} Shortly after his return to New Mexico, the district court held a probation violation hearing on the State’s motion to revoke probation. Following argument, the district court refused to find that Defendant had violated his conditions of probation “when he was never able to walk to the [probation] office.” The court explained, “I can’t in good conscience find a violation of probation. I don’t know if that means we still have a term of probation, because he’s never done it. I think we still have it, but I can’t sanction him for violating it.” In its oral ruling, the court declared that Defendant was not an absconder or a fugitive but, because of circumstances beyond his control, “he was never able to honor the plea . . . and enter his probationary period.” No written order was issued prior to June 6, 2012, the expiration date of Defendant’s original five-year term of probation.

{5} On July 11,2012, D efendant was brought back into court for an alleged probation violation motion. At that time, the State presented the district court with a retroactive order reinstating probation. The district court signed the order, but added the handwritten designation “nunc pro tunc.” The order was filed on July 17,2012. It stated that Defendant did not violate the terms of his probation and was not a fugitive, but he nonetheless still owed the State the remaining term of his probation beginning from the date of his extradition. Defendant timely appealed the reinstatement of his probationary term.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

{6} “This case presents no factual dispute for us to review, and we must only determine whether the district court correctly interpreted and applied the law. We review issues of statutory and constitutional interpretation de novo.” State v. Ordunez, 2012-NMSC-024, ¶ 6, 283 P.3d 282 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

DISCUSSION

{7} On appeal, Defendant claims that the district court wrongfully deprived him of probation credit by tolling the start of his probation until his return to New Mexico. Defendant asserts that probation was originally imposed at sentencing on June 6, 2007. See State v. Jimenez, 2004-NMSC-012, ¶ 12, 135 N.M. 442, 90 P.3d 461 (“[The defendant was constructively on'probation from the date of his sentencing.”). He contends that his release to Texas, without his removal from custody, could not and did not stop the running of the sentence and probationary term that was imposed upon him by New Mexico. Consequently, Defendant maintains that the district court was without jurisdiction to modify his probation after his original term of probation expired on June 7, 2012. See NMSA 1978, § 31-20-8 (1977); State v. Trujillo, 2007-NMSC-017, ¶ 8, 141 N.M. 451, 157 P.3d 16. We agree.

{8} The State concedes that Defendant is entitled to credit for any time spent on probation, but argues that Defendant’s extradition to Texas tolled Defendant’s sentence by preventing him from starting probation. The State therefore asserts that the district court’s nunc pro tunc order did not impose a new term of probation, but instead only acted to restart the running of credit toward Defendant’s original term ofprobation. The State’s argument essentially concedes that probation was imposed, effective upon the entry of sentence, but counters that Defendant’s extradition acted to toll and prevent the earning of credit toward his probationary term. This argument is not well taken and is inconsistent with the State’s own actions undertaken in this case. Recognizing that Defendant’s probationary term was running, the State took specific action regarding Defendant’s failure to report for probation; it secured a warrant, it proceeded on a motion to have probation revoked, and it effectuated extradition from Colorado based upon a violation of probation. These actions are all anomalous and inappropriate if probation was tolled during the time Defendant was extradited to Texas and Colorado.

{9} The State’s argument also fails the test of simple logic. First, both the district court and the State concede that Defendant is entitled to some time spent on probation post-sentencing until the date of extradition and additional time served in custody after his return from Colorado. Defendant was not found to be a fugitive or an absconder from probation. See NMSA 1978, § 31-21-15(B), (C) (1989). The district court imposed probation and granted credit for time served on probation but then refused to give credit for a select portion of the probationary term on the theory that probation never actually started.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

State v. Hinojos, 2014 NMCA 067, 6 N.M. 223 (N.M. Ct. App. 2014).

2014 NMCA 067 (State v. Hinojos) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

State v. Kahn
New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2023
State v. Juarez
New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2023
State v. Brown
New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2019
State v. Ellis
New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2017
State v. Hinojos
2014 NMCA 67 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2014)