State v. Lavone

2011 NMCA 084, 261 P.3d 1105, 150 N.M. 473
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 24, 2011
Docket29,266; 33,084
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 2011 NMCA 084 (State v. Lavone) 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. Lavone, 2011 NMCA 084, 261 P.3d 1105, 150 N.M. 473 (N.M. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION

FRY, Judge.

{1} While driving under the influence of alcohol, Defendant struck a pedestrian at night on a busy street, knocking her into oncoming lanes of traffic, and immediately left the scene. The victim died, and Defendant pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle (driving while under the influence of liquor). At sentencing, the district court classified Defendant’s offense as a serious violent offense under the Earned Meritorious Deductions Act (EMDA), NMSA 1978, § 33-2-34 (2006), which limits his ability to earn good time. The district court reasoned that by failing to stop and render aid, Defendant left the victim in danger of being hit by other vehicles at a time when he did not know her condition. Defendant appeals the district court’s decision and raises other issues related to the fairness of his sentencing hearing. We hold that the court did not abuse its discretion in determining that the offense was a serious violent offense. We reject Defendant’s other claims and affirm.

BACKGROUND

{2} After dark, at about 8:30 p.m. on March 21, 2007, Defendant was driving northbound on St. Francis Drive in Santa Fe, New Mexico. There is no evidence that he was speeding, but his blood alcohol content was above the legal limit. He struck the victim, a pedestrian, as she attempted to cross St. Francis Drive at the intersection of Paseo de Peralta. It appears that the victim was knocked into the southbound lanes of St. Francis Drive and that, because of darkness, it would have been more difficult for the drivers of other vehicles to see her. Defendant did not stop to render aid and instead drove away from the scene. He stopped later in Tesuque, New Mexico, and called 911.

{3} At the sentencing hearing, Defendant claimed that he failed to stop at the time of the accident because the accident triggered his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The State argued that Defendant’s crime should be designated as a serious violent offense under the EMDA because Defendant, without knowing the victim’s condition, failed to stop and render aid to her. The district court agreed, and this appeal followed.

DISCUSSION The EMDA

{4} Under the EMDA, some offenses are per se serious violent offenses, while other listed offenses may, in the court’s discretion, be found to be so. The offense in the present case, third degree homicide by vehicle, is in the discretionary category. See § 33-2-34(L)(4)(o). To designate an offense as a serious violent one, the district court must determine that the crime was “committed in a physically violent manner either with an intent to do serious harm or with recklessness in the face of knowledge that one’s acts are reasonably likely to result in serious harm.” State v. Solano, 2009-NMCA-098, ¶ 10, 146 N.M. 831, 215 P.3d 769 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted), cert, denied, 2009-NMCERT-007, 147 N.M. 363, 223 P.3d 360.

{5} We review the court’s ruling for an abuse of discretion. See Solano, 2009-NMCA-098, ¶ 7,146 N.M. 831, 215 P.3d 769. A court abuses its discretion if it acts contrary to law or when its decision is not supported by substantial evidence. In conducting our review for abuse of discretion, we consider whether the court’s serious violent offender designation is supported by sufficient evidence, free of legal error, and reflects a reasonable choice among alternatives. Id.

{6} This Court has decided a number of cases considering whether a particular vehicular homicide conviction was properly determined to be a serious violent offense. All of these cases involved a defendant who had a history of drinking or facts demonstrating recklessness. See id. ¶¶ 13-18 (involving a defendant who had a prior criminal history involving alcohol-related offenses and who drove at a high rate of speed and caused a particularly violent collision with a bicyclist); State v. Worrick, 2006-NMCA-035, ¶ 9, 139 N.M. 247, 131 P.3d 97 (involving a defendant who had an extremely high blood alcohol content and a history of intoxication); State v. Montoya, 2005-NMCA-078, ¶¶9-10, 137 N.M. 713, 114 P.3d 393 (concerning a defendant who had a long prior history of a drinking problem); State v. Wildgrube, 2003-NMCA-108, ¶ 37, 134 N.M. 262, 75 P.3d 862 (concerning a defendant who had four previous arrests for alcohol-related offenses and two convictions for driving while intoxicated).

{7} By contrast, Defendant in the present case has no record and no past history of drinking and driving. There is no evidence of speeding or reckless driving before the accident. The district court found Defendant’s offense to be a serious violent one based solely on his failure to stop and help, reasoning that he left the victim in danger from oncoming traffic at a time when Defendant did not know her condition. We must decide whether this is sufficient.

{8} A determination that an offense is a serious violent offense may not be based on the physically violent death of the victim and must be based on something more than the mere elements of the crime. See Solano, 2009-NMCA-098, ¶18, 146 N.M. 831, 215 P.3d 769. The determination is highly dependent on the “particular factual context” of the case. State v. Rudolfo, 2008-NMSC-036, ¶ 37, 144 N.M. 305, 187 P.3d 170; see also State v. Morales, 2002-NMCA-016, ¶ 16, 131 N.M. 530, 39 P.3d 747 (recognizing that there are “differences in the ways of committing the offenses listed in Section 33-2-34(L)(4)(n)”).

{9} Sentencing statutes indicate the Legislature’s intent that district courts have broad sentencing discretion. See State v. Clah, 1997-NMCA-091, ¶ 19, 124 N.M. 6, 946 P.2d 210 (stating that “the sentencing statutes evidence a legislative intent that the trial court have a wide variety of options by which to sentence” (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)). In the sentencing context, generally, a district court must consider many factors when it makes a sentencing determination, and the court is given broad discretion to fashion a sentence “appropriate to the offense and the offender.” State v. Sinyard, 100 N.M. 694, 697, 675 P.2d 426, 429 (Ct.App.1983). These general principles, combined with Rudolfo’s direction to consider the “particular factual context,” indicate that a district court is given broad discretion under the EMDA to consider all relevant factors.

{10} Considering the “particular factual context,” as required by Rudolfo, we conclude that the district court appropriately acted within its discretion in determining that the offense was a serious violent one. The court’s determination was not based solely on the physically violent death of the victim or on the elements of the crime. Rather, it was based on Defendant’s indifference to the victim’s condition and to her vulnerability to oncoming traffic. Although Defendant’s recklessness occurred immediately after the accident rather than before it, that fact does not change our conclusion. Defendant’s conduct in leaving the scene of the accident still demonstrated reckless disregard for the victim, who had been thrown into traffic lanes, and potentially increased the risk of harm to her. Accordingly, the district court could reasonably conclude that Defendant’s conduct constituted “recklessness in the face of knowledge that one’s acts are reasonably likely to result in serious harm.” Solano, 2009-NMCA-098, ¶ 10, 146 N.M.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2011 NMCA 084, 261 P.3d 1105, 150 N.M. 473, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lavone-nmctapp-2011.