State v. Lara

797 P.2d 296, 110 N.M. 507
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 26, 1990
Docket11197
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 797 P.2d 296 (State v. Lara) 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. Lara, 797 P.2d 296, 110 N.M. 507 (N.M. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

OPINION

APODACA, Judge.

Defendant appeals his jury conviction for aggravated battery under one count of an indictment. He was acquitted under another count of aggravated battery and under one count of aggravated assault. He raises seven issues on appeal: (1) improper exercise of prosecutor’s peremptory challenges in violation of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986); (2) illegality of warrantless arrest and the subsequent search of defendant’s home and erroneous denial of motion to suppress the resulting statements and evidence; (3) erroneous refusal of jury instruction on defendant’s theories of self-defense and defense of property; (4) state’s failure to present exculpatory evidence to the grand jury requiring dismissal of the indictment; (5) erroneous denial of defendant’s motion to exclude reference to his prior felony convictions; (6) erroneous denial of defendant’s motion to require the state to elect charges under count 1; and (7) denial of due process and a fair trial by virtue of cumulative error. Not being persuaded by defendant’s arguments with respect to all issues, we affirm his conviction.

FACTS

On the night of the incident leading to defendant’s arrest, defendant, his friend (Carla), her brother (James), and James’ friend (Gloria) had gone to a nightclub. Defendant and Carla argued, and defendant left the bar angry. Being without a car, Carla, James, and Gloria later got a ride to defendant’s home. Carla wanted to talk to defendant and knocked at the front door. When there was no answer, she went to the back door as defendant had previously instructed her to do. James and Gloria waited a few feet away from the house in the back yard. Carla testified defendant let her in, cursed at her, and hit her as she stepped inside the house. She blacked out momentarily. Upon regaining consciousness, she ran out of the house, and defendant chased her. She turned around and saw something sharp hit her elbow, where she later realized she had been cut.

James testified he saw Carla, bleeding, running out of the house. Defendant ran to where James and Gloria were standing and cursed at them, accusing them of breaking his car’s windshield. Defendant lifted his arm as if to hit Gloria, and James raised his hand to block defendant’s blow. James immediately felt a sting and later noticed his hand was bleeding. Although defendant later claimed James had kicked him, James denied it. Carla, James, and Gloria finally ran away from defendant. Police officers encountered the victims on a public street a short distance from defendant’s residence. Carla and James were bleeding. They told the officers what had happened, and the officers then proceeded to defendant’s house.

Upon arrival, they knocked on defendant’s front door and announced themselves as police officers. Defendant let them in. Once inside, the officers arrested and handcuffed defendant and read him his Miranda rights. While performing a protective sweep of the residence, the officers noticed blood stains on the wall and floor of the kitchen. They told defendant they were investigating a stabbing and asked him where the knife was. Defendant admitted to the stabbing, claiming he was only defending himself and his property, and verbally directed the officers to a drawer in the kitchen, where they found the knife. Defendant then told his version of what had occurred, claiming he thought someone had broken into the house. He went into the kitchen, saw a figure in the dark, and immediately began swinging. After Carla identified herself, defendant chased her outside with the knife because he was still angry over their argument. Once he was outside, defendant claimed James kicked him and that he had swung back with the knife to protect himself.

Defendant was charged with one count of aggravated battery (against Carla), one count of aggravated assault (against Gloria), and one count of aggravated battery (against James). He was convicted of aggravated battery against James and acquitted under the other two counts. However, a mistrial was declared with respect to an alternative count in connection with the charge of aggravated battery against Carla.

DISCUSSION

Prosecutor’s Use of Peremptory Challenges.

After voir dire, five prospective jurors, including three hispanics, were excused for cause. The prosecutor then used two of his three peremptory challenges to strike hispanic members of the venire and did not use the third challenge. The prosecutor also used its alternative peremptory to strike an alternate hispanic jury venire member. Defendant struck five jurors, including one hispanic. The final jury chosen included two hispanic members. Defendant, relying on Batson, argued the prosecutor had used his peremptory challenges in a discriminatory manner. The trial court then asked the prosecutor to explain the basis for the challenges. The prosecutor complied and the trial court found the prosecutor’s reasoning acceptable.

A defendant may challenge the constitutionality of the state’s selection of members of the petit jury when he shows he is a member of a cognizable racial group and establishes a prima facie case that potential jurors from his group were excluded from the jury for reasons of race. State v. Goode, 107 N.M. 298, 756 P.2d 578 (Ct.App.1988); State v. Sandoval, 105 N.M. 696, 736 P.2d 501 (Ct.App.1987). Under the sixth amendment, a defendant is entitled to select a petit jury from a venire that constitutes a representative cross-section of the community in which he is tried. State v. Aragon, 109 N.M. 197, 784 P.2d 16 (1989). To establish a prima facie case, defendant must show that: (1) he is a member of a cognizable racial group; (2) the state has exercised its peremptory challenges to remove members of that group from the jury panel; and (3) these facts and any other relevant circumstances raise an inference that the state used its challenges to exclude members from the panel solely on account of their race. State v. Goode.

Although the trial court did not expressly determine whether defendant had made a prima facie case, it did inquire into the prosecutor’s reasons for the peremptory challenges. Our case law is clear that a defendant must first make a prima facie showing of the improper use of such challenges and only then does the burden shift to the state to come forward with a neutral explanation for its challenges. See State v. Moore, 109 N.M. 119, 782 P.2d 91 (Ct.App.1989).

The state argues that this case is factually indistinguishable from our decision in State v. Jim, 107 N.M. 779, 765 P.2d 195 (Ct.App.1988). Jim held that the defendant had failed to establish a prima facie case of discriminatory use by the state in its peremptory challenges. We agree with the state that our holding in Jim is dispositive of this issue and that defendant failed in establishing a prima facie case. The state concedes that the first two elements of defendant’s prima facie burden are not at issue here. However, it argues that, as was the case in Jim, defendant failed to make a prima facie case with respect to the third element.

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

Related

State v. Mascareno-Haidle
514 P.3d 454 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 2022)
State v. Benavidez
New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2021
State v. Begay
New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2018
State v. Urquidi
New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2018
State v. Head
New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2017
State v. Davis
2013 NMSC 28 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 2013)
State v. Eckard
2012 NMCA 67 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2012)
State v. Otuafi
New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2011
State v. Hornbeck
2008 NMCA 039 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2008)
State v. AUGUSTIN M.
2003 NMCA 065 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2003)
State v. Gaines
2001 NMSC 036 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 2001)
State v. Nieto
12 P.3d 442 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 2000)
Commonwealth v. Crouse
729 A.2d 588 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1999)
State v. Arredondo
1997 NMCA 081 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1997)
State v. Vallejos
924 P.2d 727 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1996)
State v. Armijo
887 P.2d 1269 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1994)
State v. Lucero
884 P.2d 1175 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1994)
State v. Dominguez
853 P.2d 147 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1993)
State v. Baldonado
847 P.2d 751 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1992)
State v. Aguayo
835 P.2d 840 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1992)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
797 P.2d 296, 110 N.M. 507, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lara-nmctapp-1990.