State v. Montano

620 P.2d 887, 95 N.M. 233
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 18, 1980
Docket4639
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 620 P.2d 887 (State v. Montano) 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. Montano, 620 P.2d 887, 95 N.M. 233 (N.M. Ct. App. 1980).

Opinions

OPINION

LOPEZ, Judge.

Defendant appeals her conviction of second degree murder contrary to § 30-2-1, N.M.S.A.1978. We reverse.

Four issues are raised: 1. whether the trial court erred in refusing to give the jury a mandatory instruction concerning the voluntariness of a defendant’s out of court statement, when the defendant first suggested the instruction be given one and a half hours after the jury had returned to deliberate; 2. and 3. whether the court erred in refusing to instruct on self-defense and voluntary manslaughter; and 4. whether certain of defendant’s statements should have been suppressed as being contrary to Miranda and involuntary.

A little after 8:00 A.M. on the morning of September 25, 1979, Merciana Serna, and George Kimbrell went to the defendant’s house in Roswell. They had come for some beer, which they drank while waiting for that morning’s parade to start around 10:00. After the parade, they returned to the defendant’s house until one of the bars opened early in the afternoon. When the two men came back to her house around 6 o’clock that evening, Kimbrell was so drunk that he passed out in the car. He joined the others in the house on awakening. The men remained at defendant’s house, drinking, late into the night against her wishes. Serna was hostile. After defendant refused to cook supper for him, he knocked a hole in her bathroom wall. Serna spent most of the evening alone in the kitchen, drinking; Kimbrell was in another room with defendant. Finally, after midnight Kimbrell agreed to leave and take Serna with him. On learning they were to go, Serna got very angry and cursed defendant. He looked at her threateningly and started to rise from his chair near the kitchen table. Defendant then noticed the loaded gun she had left on the table. She had brought it to the kitchen earlier that night, she said, after hearing some noises outside which disturbed her. She was fearful of some teenagers who had threatened her before, and she knew the men were too drunk to defend her. The gun had been left on the table inadvertently, according to her. She had intended earlier to take it back with her to the other room. Seeing Serna look so menacing, she grabbed the gun and backed into the sink. The gun discharged, and Serna was killed.

Defendant called the police. Her first statement to the police, made when they arrived, was that Serna had shot himself. At the request of the police, defendant went to the police station at around 4:00 A.M. and gave a second statement to that effect. That morning at 11:00, a policeman returned to defendant’s house. Before asking her any questions, she told him that she had killed Serna. This was her third statement. She was taken to the police department where she was given her Miranda warnings. A fourth statement, a taped confession, was then made. The tape was admitted into evidence. About one and a half hours after the jury retired to deliberate, the defense attorney requested the court to instruct the jury on the voluntariness of the defendant’s statement as required by N.M.U.J.I.Crim. 40.40, N.M.S.A. 1978. The court refused.

Jury instruction. The use note for N.M.U.J.I.Crim. 40.40 states that the instruction “ * * * must be used when the court has made a determination that a statement by the defendant is voluntary and then submits it to the jury for consideration.” In the present case, the judge did make a determination that defendant’s confession was voluntary and the prosecution did introduce the tape at trial.

The fact that the defendant did not request the instruction be given until after the jury retired to deliberate is dispositive of the issue. Except for instructions pertaining to questions of law which are essential for a conviction of the crime charged, in order to preserve claimed error of failure to instruct, a party must tender a correct written instruction on the point of law he wishes charged before the jury is instructed. N.M.R.Crim.P. 41(d), N.M.S.A.1978. Although N.M.R.Crim.P. 43, N.M.S.A.1978 allows the trial court the discretion to give the jury additional or corrected instructions after they retire, it does not require that the instructions be given. The error claimed by defendant is not preserved on appeal because of her failure to timely request the instruction.

Self-defense. When the evidence permits, excuse or justification may be raised as a defense and decided by the factfinder. State v. Noble, 90 N.M. 360, 563 P.2d 1153 (1977). If there is evidence sufficient to raise a reasonable doubt in the jury’s mind as to whether the defendant acted in self-defense, an instruction on self-defense must be given. State v. Heisler, 58 N.M. 446, 272 P.2d 660 (1954). For self-defense to succeed in excusing the defendant, the jury must find that the defendant was put in fear by an apparent danger of immediate death or great bodily harm, that the killing resulted from that fear, and that the defendant acted as a reasonable person would act in those circumstances. N.M.U.J.I. 41.41, N.M.S.A. 1978. An instruction on self-defense should not be given when there is no evidence that the defendant killed out of fear. State v. Najar, 94 N.M. 193, 608 P.2d 169 (Ct.App.), cert. denied, N.M., 614 P.2d 545 (1980). In the case before us there is evidence that Montano feared, death or great bodily harm from Serna immediately before she shot him. Serna, seated in the kitchen had sworn at her and, in her words, “looked as if he wanted to kill me,” when she had told him he and Kimbrell had to leave. He had been angry with her earlier that night-angry enough to knock a hole in her bathroom wall-and, a loaded gun was now lying on the table in the kitchen. Moreover, Serna was drunk. While one inference from this latter fact might be that he was incapable of harming defendant, another equally permissible inference could be that he was more irrational and violent than usual. There is evidence that Montano shot Serna out of fear. She said that she was “in shock, scared * * * (and) frightened.” when the gun went off. A jury could have found that, in the circumstances, she acted reasonably. The jury should have been instructed on self-defense, because there was sufficient evidence to raise a reasonable doubt as to whether Montano acted from that motive.

Voluntary manslaughter. The defendant is entitled to have his theory of the case submitted to the jury under proper instructions where the evidence supports it. State v. Benavidez, 19 N.M.B.Bull. 889, N.M., 616 P.2d 419 (1980). An instruction on voluntary manslaughter should be given when there is sufficient evidence to sustain a conviction on the charge; Id. See, State v. Lujan, 94 N.M. 232, 608 P.2d 1114 (1980); but, it is error to instruct the jury on voluntary manslaughter when the facts do not establish that that crime was committed. State v. Lopez, 79 N.M. 282, 442 P.2d 594 (1968); State v. Ramirez, 89 N.M. 635, 556 P.2d 43 (Ct.App.1976); see, State v. Smith, 89 N.M. 770, 558 P.2d 39 (1976); see generally, State v. Ortega, 77 N.M.

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

Related

State v. J Hunt
New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2009
State v. Duarte
915 P.2d 309 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1996)
State v. Ungarten
856 P.2d 569 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1993)
State v. Lara
797 P.2d 296 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1990)
State v. Greyeyes
734 P.2d 789 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1987)
State v. Branchal
684 P.2d 1163 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1984)
State v. Swise
669 P.2d 732 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1983)
State v. Segotta
665 P.2d 280 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1983)
State v. Chavez
661 P.2d 887 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1983)
Sells v. State
653 P.2d 162 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1982)
State v. Casteneda
642 P.2d 1129 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1982)
State v. Martinez
641 P.2d 1087 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1982)
State v. Gonzales
632 P.2d 1194 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1981)
State v. Montano
620 P.2d 887 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1980)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
620 P.2d 887, 95 N.M. 233, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-montano-nmctapp-1980.