State v. Ramirez

2008 NMCA 165, 198 P.3d 866, 145 N.M. 367
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 24, 2008
Docket27,214
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 2008 NMCA 165 (State v. Ramirez) 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. Ramirez, 2008 NMCA 165, 198 P.3d 866, 145 N.M. 367 (N.M. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

OPINION

ALARID, Judge.

{1} Sandra Ramirez (Defendant) appeals her convictions for two counts of burglary, one count of criminal trespass, and two counts of shoplifting. She raises four issues on appeal: (1) Defendant was entitled to jury instructions listing either shoplifting or larceny under $250 as a lesser-ineluded offense of felony burglary; (2) under the plain language of NMSA 1978, § 30-16-20(0 (2006), Defendant may not be charged with shoplifting and another offense arising from the same transaction; (3) Defendant’s convictions for both criminal trespass and burglary violate her right to be free from double jeopardy; and (4) the sentence imposed constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm Defendant’s convictions for two counts of burglary and one count of criminal trespass, reverse Defendant’s convictions for two counts of shoplifting, and remand to the district court for resentencing.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

{2} The facts of this case are not significantly in dispute. Based upon evidence introduced at trial, Defendant entered La Tienda Grocery Store in Carlsbad, New Mexico, at approximately 6:30 a.m. on March 29, 2006, concealed three bottles of alcohol on her person, and left the store without paying. Defendant entered La Tienda a second time that day at approximately 12:30 p.m., concealed two bottles of alcohol on her person, and left the store without paying. Both instances were captured on the store’s video surveillance system, a DVD that was entered into evidence as State’s Exhibit No. 2. Defendant returned to La Tienda a third time that same day, at approximately 2:20 p.m., and was arrested for criminal trespass based upon a criminal trespass warning that had been issued to her on behalf of La Tienda in 2002. At trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of burglary, two counts of shoplifting, and one count of criminal trespass.

DISCUSSION

1. Defendant’s Requested Jury Instructions on Lesser-included Offenses

{3} Defendant contends on appeal that the district court erred in refusing her request to instruct the jury on either shoplifting or larceny under $250 as a lesser-included offense of burglary.

A. Standard of Review

{4} “The propriety of jury instructions is a mixed question of law and fact.” State v. Romero, 2005-NMCA-060, ¶ 8, 137 N.M. 456, 112 P.3d 1113. “When considering a defendant’s requested instructions, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the giving of the requested instruction^.” Id. Viewing the facts in that manner, we review the issue de novo. Id. “When evidence at trial supports the giving of an instruction on a defendant’s theory of the case, failure to so instruct is reversible error.” State v. Brown, 1996-NMSC-073, ¶ 34, 122 N.M. 724, 931 P.2d 69.

B. The District Court Did Not Err in Refusing Defendant’s Requested Jury Instructions

{5} The trial court should honor a defendant’s request to instruct the jury on a lesser-included offense when:

(1) the defendant could not have committed the greater offense in the manner described in the charging document without also committing the lesser offense, and therefore notice of the greater offense necessarily incorporates notice of the lesser offense; (2) the evidence adduced at trial is sufficient to sustain a conviction on the lesser offense; and (3) the elements that distinguish the lesser and greater offenses are sufficiently in dispute such that a jury rationally could acquit on the greater offense and convict on the lesser.

State v. Meadors, 121 N.M. 38, 44, 908 P.2d 731, 737 (1995); see also State v. Darkis, 2000-NMCA-085, ¶ 14, 129 N.M. 547, 10 P.3d 871.

{6} In order to determine whether the defendant could have committed the greater offense without also committing the lesser offense, we examine the elements of burglary, larceny, and shoplifting. Shoplifting consists of willfully taking possession of or concealing any merchandise with the intention of converting it without paying for it. See § 30-16-20(A)(l)-(2). Burglary is the unauthorized entry of any structure with the intent to commit any felony or theft therein. See NMSA 1978, § 30-16-3 (1971). “The crime of burglary is complete when there is an unauthorized entry with the necessary intent; the intent does not have to be carried out after entry.” State v. McAfee, 78 N.M. 108, 111, 428 P.2d 647, 650 (1967). “Larceny consists of the stealing of anything of value that belongs to another.” See NMSA 1978, § 30-16-l(A) (2006). “Since stealing is a necessary element of larceny but is not a necessary element of burglary, larceny is not necessarily involved in a burglary.... Defendant could be convicted of and sentenced for both crimes.” McAfee, 78 N.M. at 111, 428 P.2d at 650.

{7} Burglary does not have any shared elements with either shoplifting or larceny. Therefore, looking only at the elements of the crimes in question, it is clear that Defendant could have committed the greater offense, burglary, without also committing the lesser offense of shoplifting or larceny.

{8} The second prong of our inquiry requires sufficient evidence to be presented at trial to sustain a conviction on the lesser offense. Further, “[i]n order to obtain an instruction on a lesser included offense, ‘[t]here must be some view of the evidence pursuant to which the lesser offense is the highest degree of crime committed, and that view must be reasonable.’ ” State v. Brown, 1998-NMSC-037, ¶ 12, 126 N.M. 338, 969 P.2d 313 (quoting State v. Curley, 1997-NMCA-038, ¶ 5, 123 N.M. 295, 939 P.2d 1103). Defendant twice entered La Tienda in violation of the criminal trespass notice, took bottles of liquor, and left without paying. It is clear that these actions fit the elements of both shoplifting and larceny; however, because Defendant’s entry into the store constituted criminal trespass, we do not find a reasonable view that the shoplifting or larceny was the highest degree of crime committed.

{9} Finally, Meadors requires the elements distinguishing the greater and lesser offenses to be sufficiently in dispute so that a rational jury could acquit on the greater offense and convict on the lesser. 121 N.M. at 44, 908 P.2d at 737. Defendant’s burden, then, is to show that whether she knew she was not allowed to enter La Tienda was sufficiently in dispute such that a rational jury could acquit on the burglary charge and convict on the shoplifting or larceny charge. At trial, a State’s witness, Police Officer Jaime Balencia, testified he arrested Defendant on March 29, 2006, for criminal trespass in the parking lot of La Tienda after being informed by the police dispatch officer that a criminal trespass warning for La Tienda had been issued to Defendant. Police Officer Martin Hernandez testified that he issued the criminal trespass warning to Defendant in 2002 and that she signed it. The State entered into evidence a copy of the criminal trespass warning signed by Defendant.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2008 NMCA 165, 198 P.3d 866, 145 N.M. 367, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-ramirez-nmctapp-2008.