State v. Kirby

2003 NMCA 074, 70 P.3d 772, 133 N.M. 782
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 28, 2003
Docket22,967, 23,020
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 2003 NMCA 074 (State v. Kirby) 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. Kirby, 2003 NMCA 074, 70 P.3d 772, 133 N.M. 782 (N.M. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

OPINION

SUTIN, Judge.

{1} Two cases on appeal present for us the issue whether administrative imposition of the civil penalty contained in the New Mexico Securities Act bars, under New Mexico Double Jeopardy jurisprudence, a criminal prosecution under that Act for the same conduct on which the civil penalty was imposed. We have consolidated State v. Kirby, Docket No. 22,967, and State v. Collins, Docket No. 23,-020, for purposes of disposition of these cases on appeal.

{2} Each Defendant was indicted on criminal securities violations based on the same conduct for which administrative penalties were imposed. In each case, the district court dismissed criminal charges for securities violations on the ground that each Defendant had been unconstitutionally put in jeopardy by an order issued by the Securities Division of the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department (the Division). Based on a Securities Division hearing officer’s findings and conclusions, the acting director of the Division entered administrative orders that, among other things, imposed a monetary penalty on each Defendant. The State appeals in both cases.

{3} The appeals require this Court to analyze the extent, if any, to which the double jeopardy analysis and holding in State v. Nunez, 2000-NMSC-013, 129 N.M. 63, 2 P.3d 264, should be applied to preclude imposition of both civil and criminal penalties under the New Mexico Securities Act of 1986, NMSA 1978, §§ 58-13B-1 to -57 (1986, as amended through 1999) [hereinafter Securities Act or the Act], for the same conduct. We analyze Nunez together with two other New Mexico Supreme Court cases bearing on the issue before us: State ex rel. Schwartz v. Kennedy, 120 N.M. 619, 904 P.2d 1044 (1995), decided before Nunez; and City of Albuquerque v. One (1) 1984 White Chevy, 2002-NMSC-014, 132 N.M. 187, 46 P.3d 94 [hereinafter White Chevy], decided after Nunez. We decline to extend Nunez to the circumstances in these cases, and therefore reverse the dismissals in both Kirby and Collins.

KIRBY BACKGROUND AND DISPOSITION

{4} Some of the facts underlying the administrative order are virtually the same as those underlying the counts of the Kirby indictment. No issue exists on that point. In New Mexico, in 1998 Defendant engaged in transactions that became the subject matter of a Securities Division investigation and administrative proceeding. The administrative proceeding involved several transactions in which Defendant attempted, through misrepresentations, to sell securities without being a registered broker and without registering the securities, and supplied placement materials and disclosure statements to potential buyers that contained misrepresentations.

{5} The administrative order imposed a civil penalty of $75,000. How the hearing officer and acting director arrived at this amount is unclear. It may, but does not necessarily, reflect a finding that Defendant engaged in fifteen separate violations of the Securities Act, in that the maximum civil penalty allowed under the Act is $5,000 for each violation. See § 58-13B-37(B)(4) (authorizing an order “imposing a civil penalty up to a maximum of five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each violation”). The administrative order also required Defendant to pay $1,000 “for costs of investigation.” See § 58-13B-44(B).

{6} In addition to the penalty imposed, the administrative order, dated July 25, 2000, required Defendant to “cease and desist from offering to sell or selling securities of any kind in New Mexico without first complying with all provisions of the [Securities Act],” and “permanently barred [Defendant] from associating] with any licensed broker-dealer or investment advisor in this State.” See § 58-13B-37(B)(l), (3) (authorizing various administrative sanctions for violation of the Securities Act). The order further required Defendant to offer all purchasers of securities the opportunity to rescind their purchases and receive their money back. The Division never sought relief in the district court based on its administrative order. See §§ 58-13B-37(B)(5); -38 (authorizing court enforcement of administrative orders).

{7} Defendant filed a notice of appeal from the administrative order in August 2000 to the district court. In October 2000, a grand jury indicted Defendant for various violations under the Securities Act.

{8} In his statement of appellate issues, served in April 2001 in the district court appeal, Defendant asserted, among other things, that the administrative order should be vacated because Defendant did not knowingly and intelligently waive his right to counsel in the administrative proceeding. Also in April 2001, Defendant filed a “Notice of Dismissal in Part” of his appeal from the administrative order. In this notice of dismissal, Defendant stated that he “dismisses his appeal from the portion of the final order of the New Mexico Securities Division imposing on him a penalty of $75,000____By dismissing this portion of his appeal, [Defendant] does not concede that the penalty is appropriate or lawful.”

{9} In May 2001, the Division moved, with Defendant’s consent, to vacate the findings of fact, conclusions of law, and the administrative order because the record did not indicate that the hearing officer informed Defendant of his right to counsel or of potential adverse risks and consequences of proceeding without counsel. The district court vacated the administrative order, stating:

It is hereby ORDERED that the Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Final Order entered by the Acting Director of the Securities Division on July 25, 2000 in the administrative proceeding captioned In the Matter of: Continental Exchange Trust, Richard G. Kirby and Julie Kirby, Order No.2000-99-001-059(FO), be and hereby is vacated and set aside without prejudice. Appellant Richard G. Kirby had dismissed his appeal as to the portion of such administrative order providing for imposition of a civil penalty on him, and therefore the issue of such civil penalty is no longer before the Court in the current proceeding and the portion of the administrative order imposing a civil penalty on Appellant Richard G. Kirby is not affected by this order.

The court remanded the case to the Division for a new hearing.

{10} Shortly after the administrative order was vacated, Defendant filed a motion in his pending criminal case to bar further prosecution on the grounds that further prosecution would violate the double jeopardy clause of Article II, Section 15 of the New Mexico Constitution and the double jeopardy statute, NMSA 1978, § 30-1-10 (1963). In January 2002, the district court granted the motion and dismissed the criminal charges against Defendant with prejudice. The State appeals to this Court.

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Bluebook (online)
2003 NMCA 074, 70 P.3d 772, 133 N.M. 782, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-kirby-nmctapp-2003.