State v. Livernois

1997 NMSC 019, 934 P.2d 1057, 123 N.M. 128
CourtNew Mexico Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 26, 1997
Docket22296
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 1997 NMSC 019 (State v. Livernois) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Livernois, 1997 NMSC 019, 934 P.2d 1057, 123 N.M. 128 (N.M. 1997).

Opinion

OPINION

BACA, Justice.

1.Appellant Carl Livernois appeals his convictions for the first-degree murder, NMSA 1978, § 30-2-l(A) (Repl.Pamp.1994), and aggravated burglary, NMSA 1978, § 30-16-4(A) (Repl.Pamp.1994), that occurred March 4,1991, at Ideal Bowling Lanes in Rio Rancho. Appellant received a life sentence for the murder conviction and a nine-year sentence for aggravated burglary. We address the following issues on appeal: (1) whether the district court properly instructed the jury on all the essential elements of first-degree, felony murder; (2) whether the imposition of sentences for both first-degree murder and aggravated burglary violates the constitutional guarantee against double jeopardy; and (3) whether the State violated the Interstate Agreement on Detainers when it did not bring Appellant to trial within the prescribed 120-day limit, NMSA 1978, § 31-5-12, art. 4(C) (Repl.Pamp.1984). We note jurisdiction under SCRA 1986, 12-102(A)(2) (Repl.Pamp.1992) (directing to Supreme Court appeals from district courts in which sentence of life imprisonment has been imposed), and affirm.

I.

2. Early in the morning of March 4,1991, A1 Faudie arrived at work at Ideal Bowling Lanes bowling alley. James Chapman, a custodian at the bowling alley, had already arrived and was cleaning up after the night before. The lights of the bowling alley were off except for a light over the bowling pit area and a light in the business office. Faudie testified that after he arrived and began working at his desk, he heard loud voices outside the office. Faudie stepped out of his office to investigate. He looked down the concourse and saw two figures down the hallway, recognizing Chapman as one of the figures. Faudie did not recognize the other figure. Immediately after recognizing Chapman, Faudie heard Chapman say, “Al, call the cops, he has a gun.” Faudie then heard another voice say, “I told you to get down on the floor.” Before Faudie had a chance to react, he saw a flash of a gun and heard a pistol report. Faudie ran back into his office, locked the door and ran for the telephone. Faudie then heard two more gunshots, maybe three, in quick succession.

3. At about that same time, Ted Bonnell, another Ideal Lanes employee, arrived at the bowling alley. As he got out of his car, he heard a banging noise, like metal hitting metal. He entered the west end of the building and noticed a mop bucket and lights in the restroom and said “Good morning, Jim,” but received no answer. He then noticed someone going out the back door on the east side of the building and thought it was Chapman going outside to empty the trash. Bonnell then went into the office and saw Faudie, hiding behind a desk and looking “scared to death.” Faudie told Bonnell that there had been a shooting in the bowling alley, and Bonnell called the police. Afterward, they stepped out of the office and found Chapman lying on the concourse floor. Chapman had been shot once in the head and once in the right arm and died at the hospital several hours later. It was determined that he was shot with either a .357 or a .38 caliber revolver. One investigating police officer reported finding bicycle tracks outside the back door of the bowling alley.

4. Tomi Jo Delaney testified that at approximately the same time that police were responding to a call from the bowling alley, Appellant arrived on his bicycle at her home. Tomi Jo’s son, Elvis Delaney, and Appellant were inmates together before Appellant was released. Appellant had been living with Tomi Jo since his release two months earlier. At the time that Appellant arrived home, Tomi Jo was just about to leave to take her niece and son to school and also to stop by the juvenile probation office. She asked Appellant if he would go with her, and Appellant agreed. While they were at the juvenile probation office, they learned about the shooting at the bowling alley. Tomi Jo jokingly asked Appellant if he had anything to do with the shooting, to which Appellant responded, “Yeah, but they can’t prove what I did.” A few days later, Appellant approached Tomi Jo with a copy of the Rio Rancho newspaper containing an article about the shooting at the bowling alley. Appellant said to Tomi Jo, “This is what I did. This is what happened.”

5. Elvis Delaney recalled that during a telephone conversation with his mother, she was upset and had told him that Appellant had killed somebody. Elvis asked to speak with Appellant. Appellant told Elvis that he had a pistol and had shot somebody at a bowling alley. Appellant also told Elvis, “The guy wanted to play hero, so I shot him.” Elvis ordered Appellant to get out of his mother’s house. Appellant did and fled to Florida. During a later telephone conversation with Appellant, Elvis recalled that Appellant said he had thrown the pistol in a lake in Florida.

6. David Clark met Appellant while they were in prison together in Las Cruces. They spent five years together before Appellant was released in January 1991. Shortly after Clark was released from prison, he returned to his hometown in Florida. There, he and Appellant rented a mobile home as roommates. 'Clark testified that Appellant had a canvas carrying bag, which Appellant kept in his ear or inside their home. Clark saw numerous items in the bag, including a .357 pistol, a holster for the pistol, and .38 wad-cutter bullets. Clark also testified that one day he came home and found Appellant grinding the inside of the .357 pistol, destroying the rifling in the barrel, and disassembling the gun into three pieces. Appellant said that he received a telephone call from someone in New Mexico telling him that he was wanted for questioning about a murder and that he was destroying the pistol so authorities could not take a ballistics test. We will state additional material facts as they become relevant to each issue we discuss below.

7. On October 29, 1991, a complaint and arrest warrant were filed, charging Appellant with murder. On September 19, 1993, Appellant arrived in New Mexico from Florida, pursuant to the Interstate Compact on Detainers. On October 21,1993, Appellant was indicted for murder, and the indictment included a firearm enhancement. After trial, at which Appellant presented no evidence, the jury received instructions for first-degree premeditated murder and for first-degree felony murder. The jury returned a general verdict of first-degree murder and a verdict of aggravated burglary. Appellant now appeals.

II.

8. We address whether the trial court erred by instructing the jury on felony murder without requiring a finding that Appellant intended to murder Chapman. In addition to receiving an instruction for first-degree, premeditated murder, the jury received the following instruction for first-degree, felony murder:

For you to find the defendant guilty of felony murder, which is first degree murder, as charged in Count 1, the state must prove to your satisfaction beyond a reasonable doubt each of the following elements of the crime:
1. The defendant committed the crime of aggravated burglary under circumstances or in a manner dangerous to human life;
2. During the commission of the aggravated burglary the defendant caused the death of James Chapman.
3.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1997 NMSC 019, 934 P.2d 1057, 123 N.M. 128, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-livernois-nm-1997.