State v. Morales

2002 NMCA 052, 45 P.3d 406, 132 N.M. 146
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 21, 2002
Docket21,324
StatusPublished
Cited by57 cases

This text of 2002 NMCA 052 (State v. Morales) 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. Morales, 2002 NMCA 052, 45 P.3d 406, 132 N.M. 146 (N.M. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION

BOSSON, Chief Judge.

{1} In this case we decide, as an issue of first impression, that the State must prove the scientific reliability of a drug field test in a manner consistent with the Daubert/Alberico standard, if it wishes to use the results of that test at trial to identify a controlled substance. Because the State offered no such foundation, we reverse Defendant’s conviction for possession of heroin and remand for a new trial on that charge. We affirm Defendant’s remaining convictions for aggravated assault (deadly weapon) and aggravated battery on a peace officer (deadly weapon).

BACKGROUND

{2} On appeal, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict below. When the facts are disputed below, we resolve conflicting versions of an event in a manner that supports the verdict. State v. Apodaca, 118 N.M. 762, 765-66, 887 P.2d 756, 759-60 (1994).

{3} Defendant is a long-distance truck driver. When he is not on the road, he lives with his parents in Anthony, New Mexico. On October 8, 1998, he borrowed his father’s car. At about 1:00 p.m., Defendant met his cousin, an acknowledged heroin addict, who had just gotten out of jail that day. At about 3:00 p.m., they drove to El Paso so the cousin could visit his girlfriend, and the three of them drove back to Anthony where they went to the cousin’s house for a time, and then drove around Anthony. At about 9:30 that evening, Defendant decided he wanted to go home. He testified that he and his cousin were going to give his cousin’s girlfriend a ride to her mother’s house. On the way, Defendant pulled into a vacant lot. As he was about to get out of the car, he saw a man on a bicycle pedaling up to the car. The man was going very fast and looked mad. Defendant testified that his cousin looked back, saw the man, and shouted “go, go!” Defendant got scared and started to drive away.

{4} The man on the bicycle was Deputy Ordonez of the sheriffs department, who was on bike patrol that evening. Deputy Ordonez testified that when he was alongside the car, he identified himself as a deputy sheriff and told Defendant to stop the car. Instead of stopping, the driver accelerated, drove to the end of the vacant lot, did a U-tum, and came back toward Deputy Ordonez. Deputy Ordonez got off his bicycle to wave the car down. However, instead of slowing down, the car came straight at him. Afraid that he would be hit, Deputy Ordonez pulled his duty weapon and pointed it at the car. When the car still did not slow down, Deputy Ordonez began to spin away so he would not be hit, but the car hit his left knee as it went by;j throwing him up on the vehicle. Deputy Ordonez landed on his feet, again identified himself as an officer, and ordered Defendant to stop the vehicle. Instead of stopping, the car accelerated away from Deputy Ordonez, and he fell to the ground.

{5} Deputy Ordonez had called for backup before he approached Defendant’s car in the vacant lot. As he was lying on the ground, he saw Deputy Luevano approach the vacant lot in his sheriffs vehicle. Deputy Luevano had already engaged his emergency equipment, which included flashing lights, both white and colored. As he pulled into the vacant lot, Deputy Luevano turned on his spotlight and aimed it at the car as it approached him. Deputy Luevano got out of his vehicle, pulled out his weapon and yelled “Sheriffs Department, stop!” The car did not stop. Deputy Luevano testified that he thought the car .was going to hit him, and he could feel the car brush his clothes as it went by. The vehicle left the vacant lot and drove away. As Deputy Luevano pursued, the car turned into an apartment complex next to the vacant lot and came to a stop. Defendant was arrested and his car impounded. Defendant was charged with various offenses arising from this encounter.

{6} The next day, deputies from the sheriffs department searched the car. Defendant does not argue that the search was unlawful. Initially, the deputies used a narcotics dog to sniff the vehicle. Based on the dog’s reaction, the deputies searched the interior of the car on the driver’s side and found a substance wrapped in foil under the floor mat on the driver’s side. Deputy Gonzales performed a drug field test on the substance.

{7} At trial, Deputy Gonzales testified about the results of the drug field test and that the substance tested positive for heroin. Based upon that testimony, the substance was admitted into evidence. For reasons not clear from the record, the State did not present any evidence from a state crime laboratory to identify the substance as heroin. Defendant was convicted of possession of heroin.

DISCUSSION

Whether the Results of the Drug Field Test Should Have Been Admitted

{8} The issue before us is whether the drug field test had to satisfy the criteria for admission of scientific evidence established by Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993), and State v. Alberico, 116 N.M. 156, 861 P.2d 192 (1993). The State responds on appeal that Defendant failed to preserve this issue for review. On the merits of the question, the State argues in the alternative that the drug field test was not scientific evidence, and that, even if it was scientific evidence, the court properly admitted it under the Daubert/Alberico standard.

{9} Testimony on this issue was presented by two different sheriffs deputies, Gonzales and Wright. Deputy Gonzales is the K 9 handler for the sheriffs department. During his initial testimony, he testified about the search of the vehicle and the use of the narcotics dog as part of the search. During the course of his testimony, Deputy Gonzales described the drug field test and indicated (twice) that it had “flashed” .positive for heroin. Deputy Gonzales was not shown the substance found in the vehicle, nor was he asked to identify it. Defendant did not object at this time to Deputy Gonzales’ testimony about the field test.

{10} After Deputy Gonzales finished testifying, the State called Investigator Wright, who had actually found the substance under the floor mat on the driver’s side of the car, and he identified State’s exhibit 15 as that same substance. When the State moved to admit exhibit 15 into evidence, Defendant objected, arguing that there was no proper foundation for identifying the substance as heroin, and Defendant specifically referred to the field test. Later, out of the presence of the jury, Defendant expanded his objection to include a citation to State v. Torres, 1999-NMSC-010, 127 N.M. 20, 976 P.2d 20. Defendant argued that the foundation required of the field test was similar to the foundation our Supreme Court required of the HGN test for intoxication in Torres. Defendant argued that if the State was going to rely on the results of the field test to admit exhibit 15, then it must produce an expert to testify about the scientific principles implicit in the field test and the scientific reliability of those results.

{11} The State responded that it did not need to provide scientific evidence.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2002 NMCA 052, 45 P.3d 406, 132 N.M. 146, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-morales-nmctapp-2002.