State v. Padilla

2006 NMCA 070, 137 P.3d 640, 139 N.M. 700
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 26, 2006
Docket24,990, 24,999
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 2006 NMCA 070 (State v. Padilla) 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. Padilla, 2006 NMCA 070, 137 P.3d 640, 139 N.M. 700 (N.M. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinions

OPINION

WECHSLER, Judge.

{1} In this appeal, we address whether a defendant held in prison in another state has a right under the Interstate Agreement on Detainers, NMSA 1978, § 31-5-12 (1971) (IAD), to a final disposition of habitual offender status within 180 days of serving a request contemplated by the IAD. Because the IAD does not apply to sentencing and because a habitual offender proceeding addresses sentence enhancement, we hold that a defendant does not have such a right and affirm.

{2} The IAD is a multistate agreement concerning the cooperation of states that are parties to the agreement to enable disposition of charges pending in one party state against a defendant who is imprisoned in another party state. Section 31-5-12. Article 3(A) of the IAD states the basis for a state to lodge a detainer against a prisoner of another state, establishes the prisoner’s right to make a request for a final disposition of proceedings in another state, and sets a time limit of 180 days for trial. Section 31-5-12, art. 3(A). It provides:

Whenever a person has entered upon a term of imprisonment in a penal or correctional institution of a party state, and whenever during the continuance of the term of imprisonment there is pending in any other party state any untried indictment, information or complaint on the basis of which a detainer has been lodged against the prisoner, he shall be brought to trial within one hundred eighty days after he has caused to be delivered to the prosecuting officer and the appropriate court of the prosecuting officer’s jurisdiction written notice of the place of his imprisonment and his request for a final disposition to be made of the indictment, information or complaint, but for good cause shown in open court, the prisoner or his counsel being present, the court having jurisdiction of the matter may grant any necessary or reasonable continuance. The request of the prisoner shall be accompanied by a certificate of the appropriate official having custody of the prisoner, stating the term of commitment under which the prisoner is being held, the time already served, the time remaining to be served on the sentence, the amount of good time earned, the time of parole eligibility of the prisoner and any decisions of the state parole agency relating to the prisoner.

{3} Defendant John Padilla pleaded no contest to four counts of forgery in Chaves County District Court. The State filed a supplemental criminal information, stating that, on the basis of four prior felony convictions, Defendant was a habitual offender justifying an enhancement of his sentence by eight years. Defendant failed to appear for sentencing, and the district court issued a bench warrant for his arrest. He was subsequently arrested and imprisoned in Arizona. Arizona is also a party state to the IAD. Ariz.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 31-481 (2002).

{4} The State placed a detainer on Defendant on August 14, 2002. It concedes that Defendant requested a final disposition with respect to the detainer under the IAD. Although the details of the detainer and the request are not clear from the record before us, in denying Defendant’s motion to dismiss, the district court found, and neither party contests, that the State failed to act on the request because it did not have Defendant “transported to New Mexico within 180 days after Arizona notified New Mexico” under the IAD. The State and Defendant reached an agreement concerning sentencing, resulting in the State filing an amended supplemental information stating only two prior felony convictions and Defendant admitting to the convictions. The district court entered its judgment, sentence and commitment, from which Defendant appeals.

{5} On appeal, Defendant focuses his argument on the supplemental information. We focus our analysis, therefore, on the issue of whether the IAD required the State to transport Defendant when his criminal liability had already been determined in the Chaves County proceeding.

{6} Our IAD case law has distinguished pretrial proceedings from sentencing proceedings. State v. Sparks, 104 N.M. 62, 716 P.2d 253 (Ct.App.1986). We held in Sparks that “a request for the disposition of an outstanding sentencing is not cognizable under the IAD.” Id. at 64, 716 P.2d at 255. We relied on Carchman v. Nash, 473 U.S. 716, 105 S.Ct. 3401, 87 L.Ed.2d 516 (1985), in which the United States Supreme Court held that the IAD does not apply to probation revocation proceedings. Sparks, 104 N.M. at 65, 716 P.2d at 256. We reasoned that the plain meaning of the IAD’s language requiring its application to an “untried indictment, information or complaint” did not apply to sentencing, but rather referred to “documents initiating criminal prosecution by charging the individual with a crime.” Id. We also reasoned that the IAD’s word “untried” further indicated that the IAD did not apply to sentencing because the defendant had already been tried and convicted for the crimes charged. Id. We lastly reasoned that the policy considerations underlying the IAD did not apply to sentencing. Id. at 65-66, 716 P.2d at 256-57.

{7} In contending that Sparks does not apply to his ease, Defendant points out that the State filed a supplemental information, requiring him to answer to “untried” charges of being a habitual offender. We acknowledge this distinction, but it is addressed by Carchman, on which we directly relied in Sparks. In Carchman, the United States Supreme Court held that the IAD did not apply to probation revocation proceedings. Carchman, 473 U.S. at 734, 105 S.Ct. 3401. As we noted in Sparks, the Supreme Court interpreted “indictment,” “information,” and “complaint,” as used in the IAD, to “refer to documents charging an individual with having committed a criminal offense.” Carchman, 473 U.S. at 724, 105 S.Ct. 3401. It interpreted “untried” in the IAD context to “refer to matters that can be brought to [a] full trial.” Id. Accordingly, it concluded that even though a probation violation proceeding may involve an underlying criminal offense, it did not fall within the IAD requirements because it does not involve the prosecution or trial of that offense. Id. at 724-25, 105 S.Ct. 3401.

{8} Based on Carchman, the distinction Defendant raises between Sparks and this case does not counsel reversal. The supplemental information, like the charging document in Carchman, does not charge Defendant with a new crime, but only as a habitual offender based on prior convictions. In addition, although Defendant faces additional factual allegations concerning his identity as the person convicted of the crimes listed in the supplemental information, the resolution of these issues, as with the issues of probation revocation in Carchman, does not require a trial of any offense. A habitual offender proceeding determines a defendant’s status as a habitual offender, not whether a defendant has committed a crime. See NMSA 1978, § 31-18-17 (2003) (providing that a person with prior convictions may be a habitual offender); State v. Aragon, 116 N.M. 267, 269, 861 P.2d 948, 950 (1993) (referring to “habitual offender status”). It relates only to the enhancement of a sentence.

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State v. Padilla
2006 NMCA 070 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2006)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2006 NMCA 070, 137 P.3d 640, 139 N.M. 700, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-padilla-nmctapp-2006.