State v. Ramos

858 P.2d 94, 115 N.M. 718
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 8, 1993
Docket13505
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 858 P.2d 94 (State v. Ramos) 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. Ramos, 858 P.2d 94, 115 N.M. 718 (N.M. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

OPINION

ALARID, Judge.

Defendant appeals from his convictions for kidnapping and two counts of second degree criminal sexual penetration (hereinafter “CSP”). He raises several issues on appeal: (1) denial of his motion to produce the complaining witness’s psychotherapy records; (2) refusal to admit portions of emergency room records; (3) double jeopardy bar on punishment for kidnapping as a separate offense and use of kidnapping as the underlying felony of CSP; (4) failure to instruct the jury on the definitions of sexual intercourse and anal intercourse; and (5) denial of his motion for new trial based on prosecutorial misconduct. Issues raised in the docketing statement but not briefed are deemed abandoned. State v. Fish, 102 N.M. 775, 701 P.2d 374 (Ct.App.), cert. denied, 102 N.M. 734, 700 P.2d 197 (1985). We affirm.

FACTS

Defendant met the complaining witness (hereinafter “B.D.”) in a bar. During the course of the evening they played pool, drank beer, and danced together at various locations. B.D. also claims they smoked marijuana cigarettes that night. Near closing time, B.D. and Defendant left the bar together. B.D. testified that after Defendant’s truck left the bar parking lot, Defendant refused to take her home and no longer spoke to her. She asserts that when she started to object, Defendant grabbed her by the neck and hair, told her he was going to have sex with her, and drove to a secluded location in the desert.

B.D. testified that after Defendant parked his vehicle, he started removing her clothing, pulled her out of the cab by her hair, and placed her in the bed of his truck. She claims he held her by the throat and told her not to scream and, after removing the rest of her clothing, penetrated her vagina. Next, B.D. testified that when Defendant observed car headlights approaching, he threw B.D. on the ground and put dirt in her mouth so that she would not yell out. Once the approaching car passed, B.D. testified that Defendant picked her up by the hair and throat and put her back in the bed of the truck and penetrated her anus. B.D. then claims that Defendant closed the tailgate and began to drive off while B.D. was naked in the bed of the truck. She claims that when Defendant stopped at a main road, she jumped out and demanded her clothes from inside the passenger compartment. B.D. testified that Defendant threw the clothes at her and drove off after telling her that she had better not tell anyone about what had happened.

Defendant offers a different version of the events of that night. Defendant testified that B.D. consented to the sexual acts. Defendant claims that after they had sex, B.D. told him that she had a sexually transmittable disease. Defendant then claims that he told B.D. that she should have told him earlier about the ailment. Defendant asserts that this statement enraged B.D. and that at this point she walked away from the truck, called Defendant names, and threw a rock at his vehicle. Next, Defendant testified that after failing to persuade B.D. to get back in his truck, he drove off and left her.

B.D. walked to a nearby house and called the police. The police took B.D. to a hospital where she was examined by Dr. Angela Gardner.

DISCUSSION

Following trial before a jury, Defendant was convicted of two counts of criminal sexual penetration and one count of kidnapping contrary to NMSA 1978, Sections 30-9-11 (Cum.Supp.1992) and 30-4-1 (Repl.Pamp.1984). Defendant raises five issues on appeal which we consider separately.

I. B.D.’s Psychological Report

During pretrial discovery, Defendant learned that B.D. responded to a question contained on the hospital’s Suspected Rape Report form that she was sexually assaulted as a child by her father. Further, the questionnaire revealed that B.D. received psychotherapy treatment. which ended three months prior to the alleged assault by Defendant. Thereafter, Defendant filed pretrial motions to produce all psychological and psychiatric evaluations of B.D., to present evidence of B.D.’s past sexual conduct, and to require B.D. to submit to a psychological examination. The State acknowledged that B.D. received counseling at Southwest Counseling Center; however, B.D. invoked the psychotherapist-patient privilege to prevent disclosure of the information requested by Defendant. See SCRA 1986, 11-504 (Cum.Supp.1992).

After an evidentiary hearing concerning these motions, the trial court conducted an in camera review of B.D.’s psychotherapy records. After the in camera review, the trial court found that there was nothing in the records that justified their disclosure to Defendant. Thus, the trial court ordered that these materials not be disclosed and denied Defendant’s remaining motions.

Defendant argues that the trial court erred in failing to compel disclosure of B.D.’s psychotherapy records because, as his appellate briefs state, “the victim’s psychotherapy records may well contain evidence of psychotic or hallucinatory behavior relevant to credibility.” Defendant offers no New Mexico authority in support of his proposition for direct review of the requested information. Instead, Defendant cites decisions originating in Pennsylvania and one from California to advance his position. However, we do not find the cases cited by Defendant dispositive of the issue presently before this Court.

At issue in the present case is a rule of privilege adopted by our Supreme Court pursuant to authority vested in it by the state constitution, see Ammerman v. Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc., 89 N.M. 307, 551 P.2d 1354 (1976), cert. denied, 436 U.S. 906, 98 S.Ct. 2237, 56 L.Ed.2d 404 (1978), rather than a common-law privilege. To the extent that Defendant now argues that the New Mexico Constitution requires greater access to psychological records than that afforded by the United States Constitution, that claim was not made below. See State v. Sutton, 112 N.M. 449, 454, 816 P.2d 518, 523 (Ct.App.) (contention that New Mexico Constitution provides greater Fourth Amendment rights than the United States Constitution was not preserved), cert, denied, 112 N.M. 308, 815 P.2d 161 (1991). Therefore, we decline to address that issue at this time.

However, we do not intend to suggest that trial courts in all instances are prohibited from allowing defense counsel to review the type of material at issue here, either in camera or otherwise, upon proper request. We have previously recognized that defense counsel is generally in a better position than the trial judge to make the determination of what may or may not be useful to the defense. State v. Romero, 87 N.M. 279, 282, 532 P.2d 208, 211 (Ct.App.1975). On the other hand, in view of the sensitive and personal nature of the material here sought, and the policy of this state to allow victims to keep their private affairs private, see NMSA 1978, Section 30-9-16 (Repl.Pamp.1984); State v. Romero, 94 N.M.

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Bluebook (online)
858 P.2d 94, 115 N.M. 718, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-ramos-nmctapp-1993.