State v. Jacquez

CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 8, 2018
DocketA-1-CA-35963
StatusUnpublished

This text of State v. Jacquez (State v. Jacquez) 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. Jacquez, (N.M. Ct. App. 2018).

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 Please see Rule 12-405 NMRA for restrictions on the citation of unpublished memorandum opinions.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 VIGIL (Kiehne & French, part.)

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

3 STATE OF NEW MEXICO,

4 Plaintiff-Appellee,

5 v. NO. A-1-CA-35963

6 LESHEENA JACQUEZ,

7 Defendant-Appellant.

8 APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF SAN JUAN COUNTY 9 John A. Dean, Jr., District Judge

10 Hector H. Balderas, Attorney General 11 Santa Fe, NM 12 Laurie Blevins, Assistant Attorney General 13 Albuquerque, NM

14 for Appellee

15 Bennett J. Baur, Chief Public Defender 16 Nina Lalevic, Assistant Appellate Defender 17 Santa Fe, NM

18 for Appellant

19 MEMORANDUM OPINION 1 VIGIL, Judge.

2 {1} Defendant Lesheena Jacquez conditionally pleaded no contest to charges of

3 armed robbery, in violation of NMSA 1978, Section 30-16-2 (1973), and unlawful

4 taking of a motor vehicle, in violation of NMSA 1978, Section 30-16D-1 (2009),

5 reserving her right to appeal the district court’s denial of her motion to dismiss on

6 speedy trial grounds. We affirm.

7 I. BACKGROUND

8 {2} Defendant was arrested on November 1, 2013, on charges of armed robbery,

9 robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, unlawful taking of a vehicle or

10 motor vehicle, tampering with evidence, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon,

11 and battery. Defendant waived a preliminary hearing on November 14, 2014, and

12 the State filed a criminal information on January 28, 2014. After the criminal

13 information was filed, but before February 10, 2014, Defendant was released “to

14 federal authorities who presented the [San Juan County] Detention Center with a

15 [f]ederal [w]rit of [h]abeas [c]orpus ad [p]rosequendum” for charges of “homicide

16 and associated crimes occurring on the Navajo Reservation.” Until Defendant’s

17 waiver of arraignment on July 15, 2014, the district court continued her

18 arraignment three times because Defendant was in federal custody. During the last

19 setting for Defendant’s arraignment, April 21, 2014, neither party knew her

20 whereabouts because federal authorities said she was in the Sandoval County

2 1 Detention Center, but officials at the Sandoval County Detention Center said she

2 was not there. Consequently, the district court issued a warrant for Defendant’s

3 arrest. At a status conference on October 6, 2014, defense counsel confirmed

4 Defendant was in federal custody. Additionally, while he did not anticipate going

5 to trial in this case, counsel requested the district court set a date for trial. The

6 district court set December 16, 2014, as the date of trial.

7 {3} Upon the State’s petition, the district court, on November 21, 2014, issued a

8 writ of habeas corpus ad prosequendum “command[ing the United States Marshall

9 for the District of New Mexico] to release the body of [Defendant] . . . to the San

10 Juan County Sheriff’s Department to transport [Defendant] . . . for a [j]ury [t]rial.”

11 The prosecutor assigned to Defendant’s federal case refused to release Defendant

12 into the State’s custody “because she [was] pending sentencing in [the] federal

13 case against her and [was] a witness in another pending federal case.” As a result,

14 the State, without opposition, requested the district court vacate the trial setting and

15 continue the case. The district court granted the State’s motion and scheduled a

16 jury trial on March 2, 2015. On February 18, 2015, the State, citing the federal

17 prosecutor’s “request[] that they be permitted to complete further proceedings in

18 the pending federal matters prior to” releasing Defendant into the State’s custody,

19 as well as the need to assign new counsel for the State, requested another

20 continuance. The district court granted the State’s unopposed motion and

3 1 scheduled a jury trial on July 1, 2015. The State again sought a continuance on

2 June 30, 2015, because of Defendant’s federal case. Defense counsel “concur[red]

3 with this motion[,]” and the district court granted it.

4 {4} During four subsequent pretrial settings in July, October, November 2015,

5 and January 2016, the State confirmed Defendant was awaiting sentencing in her

6 federal case and the federal authorities would not release Defendant into the State’s

7 custody until then. In the October 2015 setting, defense counsel requested the

8 district court set the matter for trial so as to secure Defendant’s release “sooner

9 rather than later.” In January 2016, defense counsel again requested the district

10 court set the matter for trial. The district court agreed and scheduled a jury trial on

11 March 30, 2016. That same day, defense counsel moved to dismiss for lack of

12 speedy trial, arguing the two years of delay, the State’s continuances, and

13 Defendant’s prolonged incarceration violated her right to a speedy trial. The

14 district court denied Defendant’s motion. To avoid repetition, the specific findings

15 of fact and conclusions of law in the district court’s order are developed in our

16 discussion below.

17 {5} On March 28, 2016, the State requested a continuance, citing the federal

18 authorities’ refusal to release Defendant into the State’s custody. The State did not

19 confirm whether Defendant opposed its motion, which the district court ultimately

20 granted. On May 24, 2016, the district court, upon the State’s petition, again issued

4 1 a writ of habeas corpus ad prosequendum, commanding the United States Marshall

2 to release Defendant into the State’s custody so she could be brought to trial.

3 However, federal authorities would not agree to return Defendant, and the State

4 filed a motion for a continuance, which defense counsel opposed. The district court

5 granted the State’s motion and scheduled a trial on August 3, 2016. Upon another

6 petition from the State, the district court issued a writ of habeas corpus ad

7 prosequendum on July 18, 2016. Although unclear, it appears from the booking

8 sheet that Defendant was released into the State’s custody on July 28, 2016. On

9 August 2, 2016, Defendant conditionally pleaded no contest to armed robbery and

10 unlawful taking of a motor vehicle.

11 II. DISCUSSION

12 {6} Defendant appeals, arguing her right to a speedy trial was violated. “In a

13 criminal prosecution, the accused is constitutionally entitled to a speedy trial.”

14 State v. Castro, 2017-NMSC-027, ¶ 15, 402 P.3d 688. “The right to a speedy trial

15 is unique in that it balances two separate interests: (1) preventing prejudice to the

16 accused, and (2) protecting societal interests in bringing the accused to trial.” Id.

17 “Whether a defendant has been deprived of the right requires a case-by-case

18 analysis.” State v. Dorais, 2016-NMCA-049, ¶ 20, 370 P.3d 771. In analyzing a

19 defendant’s speedy trial claim, we assess “the four factors presented by the United

20 States Supreme Court in Barker [v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514 (1972)] and adopted by

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Bluebook (online)
State v. Jacquez, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-jacquez-nmctapp-2018.