State v. Leeson

255 P.3d 401, 149 N.M. 823
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 18, 2011
Docket29,716
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 255 P.3d 401 (State v. Leeson) 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. Leeson, 255 P.3d 401, 149 N.M. 823 (N.M. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION

CASTILLO, Chief Judge.

{1} Defendant John Leeson was convicted of sixteen counts of sexual exploitation of children in violation of NMSA 1978, Section 30-6A-3(D) (2007). On appeal, he claims that the district court erred in denying his motion to merge the counts, that the district court wrongly determined his confession was voluntary, and that the district court should have granted his motion for mistrial. We find no error in the proceedings below and affirm.

BACKGROUND

{2} Between February and October 2007, Defendant took numerous digital photographs of his live-in girlfriend’s two daughters. The children were under the age of thirteen at the time the photographs were taken. The photographs were not admitted into the record proper, but we discern from the record that they were highly sexually suggestive and involved, in part, close-ups of the children’s genitalia and buttocks. Defendant’s girlfriend inadvertently discovered several of the images and reported the matter to the police. Defendant was arrested and, during a police interview, confessed to taking the photographs and further admitted that he had a “problem” and needed “counseling.” A subsequent search of Defendant’s computer revealed that he possessed many other sexualized images of children.

{3} The State brought two separate cases against Defendant. The matter before us concerns only the photographs that Defendant took of the child victims. As to those photographs, Defendant was charged by amended criminal information with twenty counts of “Sexual Exploitation of Children (Manufacturing),” in violation of Section 30-6A-3(D). This statute provides, in relevant part, that “[i]t is unlawful for a person to intentionally manufacture any obscene visual or print medium depicting any prohibited sexual act or simulation of such an act if one or more of the participants in that act is a child under eighteen years of age.” Id.

{4} Prior to trial, Defendant moved to have the twenty counts merged into one count citing the double jeopardy clauses of the United States and New Mexico Constitutions and also filed a motion calling into question the voluntariness of his confession. The court reserved ruling on the merger issue, apparently persuaded that the issue would be best addressed after trial, and denied Defendant’s motion concerning the confession, concluding that Defendant’s statements to the police were voluntary.

{5} At trial, a video of Defendant’s confession was played for the jury. In that video, Defendant was heard making references to past drug use. This prompted Defendant to move for a mistrial, but the court denied that motion and instructed the jury to disregard any alleged criminal acts that were not charged.

{6} At the close of trial, the district court denied Defendant’s motion to merge the counts and concluded that it was up to the jury to decide whether Defendant had committed each of the twenty violations charged. The jury determined that Defendant was guilty of only sixteen of the twenty counts. The court entered judgment and sentenced Defendant. Defendant appeals.

DISCUSSION

{7} On appeal, Defendant challenges the district court’s denial of his motion to merge the counts, asserts that the court erred in determining that his confession was voluntary, and claims that the court should have granted his motion for mistrial. We address these arguments in turn but first discuss a problem we have identified with the court’s judgment and sentence.

Judgment and Sentence

{8} Defendant was initially charged by criminal information with twenty counts of violating Section 30-6A-3(C). As noted, the State amended the criminal information and charged Defendant with twenty counts of violating Section 30-6A-3(D). At trial, the jury was properly instructed on the essential elements relating to Section 30-6A-3(D). However, for reasons that are not at all clear, the judgment and sentence indicates that Defendant was convicted of three counts of violating Section 30-6A-3(D) and thirteen counts of violating Section 30-6A-3(C). In addition, Defendant was sentenced on three counts of sexual exploitation (manufacturing), a violation of Section 30-6A-3(D), and thirteen counts of sexual exploitation (recording), a violation of Section 30-6A-3(C).

{9} The significance of the discrepancy between the charges and the judgment and sentence is unclear to us. We cannot determine whether the discrepancy between the charges and the judgment is merely a scrivener’s error or something more significant. The parties do not appear to have recognized the inconsistency and have not raised it in their briefs. Although remand is necessary to clarify the matter, this issue does not interfere with our ability to address the issues on appeal as they are unrelated to, and unaffected by, the discrepancy.

Merger

{10} Citing the double jeopardy clauses of the United States and New Mexico Constitutions, Defendant argues that the district court erred when it denied his motion to merge the counts. “A double jeopardy claim is a question of law that we review de novo.” State v. Bernal, 2006-NMSC-050, ¶ 6, 140 N.M. 644, 146 P.3d 289.

{11} “The double jeopardy clause of the [F]ifth [A]mendment, made applicable to the states by the [Fourteenth [Ajmendment due process clause, provides: ‘[N]or shall any person be subject for the same offen[s]e to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb[.]’ ” Swafford v. State, 112 N.M. 3, 7, 810 P.2d 1223, 1227 (1991) (fifth alteration in original) (citation omitted). “Our courts long have held that the state and federal constitutional prohibitions against double jeopardy are of such similarity that they should be construed and interpreted in the same fashion.” Herron v. State, 111 N.M. 357, 358-59 n. 2, 805 P.2d 624, 625-26 n. 2 (1991). The United States Supreme Court has previously “stated a tripartite model of the double jeopardy clause: It protects against a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal. It protects against a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction. And it protects against multiple punishments for the same offense.” Swafford, 112 N.M. at 7, 810 P.2d at 1227. Defendant has invoked the last of these three protections.

{12} “In multiple punishment cases there are two types of potential issues: ‘(1) multiple violations of the same statute, referred to as ‘unit of prosecution’ cases; and (2) violations of multiple statutes, referred to as ‘double-description’ cases.’ ” State v. Collins, 2007-NMCA-106, ¶ 18, 142 N.M. 419, 166 P.3d 480 (citation omitted). We are concerned here with the former of these two types, a unit of prosecution case.

{13} The relevant inquiry in a unit of prosecution case “is whether the [L]egislature intended punishment for the entire course of conduct or for each discrete act.” Swafford, 112 N.M. at 8, 810 P.2d at 1228. “For unit-of-prosecution challenges, the only basis for dismissal is proof that a suspect is charged with more counts of the same statutory crime than is statutorily authorized.” Bernal, 2006-NMSC-050, ¶ 13, 140 N.M. 644, 146 P.3d 289.

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Bluebook (online)
255 P.3d 401, 149 N.M. 823, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-leeson-nmctapp-2011.