State v. McDaniel

CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 1, 2015
Docket31,501
StatusUnpublished

This text of State v. McDaniel (State v. McDaniel) 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. McDaniel, (N.M. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

This memorandum opinion was not selected for publication in the New Mexico Appellate Reports. Please see Rule 12-405 NMRA for restrictions on the citation of unpublished memorandum opinions. Please also note that this electronic memorandum opinion may contain computer-generated errors or other deviations from the official paper version filed by the Court of Appeals and does not include the filing date.

1 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO

2 STATE OF NEW MEXICO,

3 Plaintiff-Appellee,

4 v. NO. 31,501

5 CARLEOUS McDANIEL,

6 Defendant-Appellant.

7 APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF BERNALILLO COUNTY 8 Neil Candelaria, District Judge

9 Hector H. Balderas, Attorney General 10 Nicole Beder, Assistant Attorney General 11 Santa Fe, NM

12 for Appellee

13 Jorge A. Alavarado, Chief Public Defender 14 Nicole S. Murray, Assistant Appellate Defender 15 Santa Fe, NM

16 for Appellant

17 MEMORANDUM OPINION

18 VIGIL, Chief Judge. 1 {1} Defendant Carleous McDaniel appeals his convictions for attempted first

2 degree murder and four counts of aggravated battery. We affirm in part, reverse in

3 part, and remand.

4 {2} On the afternoon of December 31, 2008, (New Year’s Eve) Defendant called

5 his ex-wife Kimberly Davison to ask if he could go to her home to visit their children.

6 She agreed. That same day, Davison, her boyfriend Anthony Hicks, and Terrence

7 Turner decided to have a small New Year’s Eve party at Davison’s home.

8 {3} Alicia Coleman, Adrian Lewis, Nakisha Alexander, Katrina Bustos, Turner,

9 Hicks, Davison, and several children attended the party. Everyone at the party was

10 drinking alcohol except Davison. Coleman and Hicks had been drinking since early

11 in the afternoon. The party guests described Hicks as “sloppy drunk.” At one point

12 Hicks knocked the Christmas tree down while dancing.

13 {4} When Defendant initially arrived, Coleman went to his car and spoke with him.

14 She told Defendant that they did not want any problems. Defendant responded that he

15 did not go there to cause any problems, he only wanted to see his kids. When

16 Defendant entered Davison’s home he greeted his children. Defendant held Josiah,

17 eighteen months, and Tamar, five years old, sat on his lap. His attention was toward

18 the children.

2 1 {5} At one point, Defendant left the party with Turner and Lewis to buy a cigar.

2 While in the car, Lewis spotted a gun in Defendant’s pocket. When they returned the

3 three men were talking and laughing. They then went outside to smoke marijuana.

4 {6} Later Defendant was sitting on the couch holding Tamar and Josiah. Davison

5 tried to talk to him about the children. At some point Hicks fell into Defendant while

6 he was holding Josiah. Defendant said to Hicks, “Look, please be careful,” and

7 “You’re wasted.”

8 {7} Defendant and Lewis were talking and then they began to “tussle.” Defendant

9 claims that Lewis was threatening him with a broken bottle, but no witnesses testified

10 to Lewis holding anything in his hands. Defendant then fired a shot at Lewis. The shot

11 hit Lewis in the face knocking him to the ground. Lewis then stood up and ran out the

12 door. Lewis testified to Defendant firing multiple shots in the house. However,

13 Defendant testified to firing only one shot, Alexander testified to Defendant firing

14 shots at Lewis outside, and no other witnesses testified to hearing gun shots. Lewis

15 and Alexander also testified that Defendant chased Lewis outside and then returned

16 to the house.

17 {8} Then Defendant and Hicks began arguing in the hallway. Defendant testified

18 that Hicks pulled out a pistol. Davison heard Hicks say, “I’m not tripping on you.

19 Those are your kids.” Coleman was standing between the two men. She bent down

3 1 to pick up her child, and Defendant fired a shot at Hicks’s head. Defendant ran out the

2 door and left the scene.

3 {9} Davison and her guests called 911. Police officers and an ambulance arrived.

4 {10} Defendant was arrested on January 12, 2009, and indicted by a grand jury on

5 January 27, 2009. The public defender assigned three attorneys to Defendant’s case

6 over the twenty-seven month period he awaited trial. Defendant stood trial on April

7 12, 2011. A jury convicted defendant of attempted first degree murder, aggravated

8 battery causing great bodily harm, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon

9 towards Hicks; and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and aggravated

10 battery with a deadly weapon towards Lewis. Defendant brings five arguments on

11 appeal: (1) a delay of twenty-seven months from arrest until trial violated his

12 constitutional right to a speedy trial; (2) the multiple convictions violate the

13 prohibition against double jeopardy; (3) the evidence was insufficient to support a

14 finding beyond a reasonable doubt; (4) he was denied effective assistance of counsel;

15 and (5) he was denied his right to testify before the grand jury. We address each issue.

16 I. Right to a Speedy Trial

17 {11} Defendant appeals his convictions arguing that a delay of twenty-seven months

18 from arrest until trial violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial.

4 1 {12} “Violation of the speedy trial right is only determined through a review of the

2 circumstances of a case[.]” State v. Garza, 2009-NMSC-038, ¶ 13, 146 N.M. 499, 212

3 P.3d 387. We apply the four-factor Barker balancing test to determine if there was a

4 violation of Defendant’s right. Id.

5 A. The Length of Delay

6 {13} Under the first prong of the Barker analysis, we determine whether the length

7 of the delay to bring the defendant’s case to trial is “presumptively prejudicial.” Id.

8 ¶ 15. “The length of delay serves two purposes under the speedy trial analysis.” State

9 v. Spearman, 2012-NMSC-023, ¶ 20, 283 P.3d 272. First, it triggers the analysis of

10 the speedy trial factors and, second, it is also a speedy trial factor to be weighed in the

11 overall balance. Id. “[T]he greater the delay the more heavily it will potentially weigh

12 against the State.” Garza, 2009-NMSC-038, ¶ 24. “[T]he burden of persuasion rests

13 with the State to demonstrate that, on balance, the defendant’s speedy trial right was

14 not violated.” Id. ¶ 16.

15 {14} In Garza, our Supreme Court adopted benchmarks for determining presumptive

16 prejudice: for a simple case, twelve months of delay becomes presumptively

17 prejudicial; for an intermediate case, fifteen months is presumptively prejudicial; and

18 for a complex case, eighteen months is presumptively prejudicial. Id. ¶ 48. In

19 distinguishing between the level of complexity for each case, we have stated that

5 1 “simple cases require less investigation and tend to involve primarily police officer

2 testimony during the trial.” State v. Laney, 2003-NMCA-144, ¶ 14, 134 N.M. 648, 81

3 P.3d 591 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Cases of intermediate

4 complexity “involve numerous or relatively difficult criminal charges and evidentiary

5 issues, numerous witnesses, expert testimony, and scientific evidence.” Id.

6 {15} Defendant argues that this is a simple case because the trial lasted just over

7 three days, there were six civilian witnesses including Defendant, and law

8 enforcement officers that were called as witnesses. Defendant argues that although

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Related

Barker v. Wingo
407 U.S. 514 (Supreme Court, 1972)
Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
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United States v. Mechanik
475 U.S. 66 (Supreme Court, 1986)
State v. Montoya
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State v. Garza
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State v. Belanger
2009 NMSC 025 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 2009)
State v. Bent
2012 NMSC 38 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 2012)
State v. Spearman
2012 NMSC 23 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 2012)
State v. Swick
2012 NMSC 18 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 2012)
State v. Arrendondo
2012 NMSC 013 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 2012)
State v. Moreno
2010 NMCA 044 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2010)
State v. Gonzales
2011 NMCA 007 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2010)
State v. Baca
1997 NMSC 059 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1997)
State v. Baca
1997 NMSC 045 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1997)
State v. Garcia
837 P.2d 862 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1992)
State v. Dartez
1998 NMCA 009 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1997)
State v. Sutphin
753 P.2d 1314 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1988)
State v. Boyer
712 P.2d 1 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1985)
Swafford v. State
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Bluebook (online)
State v. McDaniel, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mcdaniel-nmctapp-2015.