State v. Redhouse

269 P.3d 8, 2011 WL 6412135
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 26, 2011
Docket30,386
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 269 P.3d 8 (State v. Redhouse) 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. Redhouse, 269 P.3d 8, 2011 WL 6412135 (N.M. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

269 P.3d 8 (2011)
2011-NMCA-118

STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Shirley REDHOUSE, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 30,386.

Court of Appeals of New Mexico.

September 26, 2011.
Certiorari Denied, November 3, 2011, No. 33,259.

*9 Gary K. King, Attorney General, Santa Fe, NM, Francine A. Chavez, Assistant Attorney General, Albuquerque, NM, for Appellee.

Jacqueline L. Cooper, Acting Chief Public Defender, B. Douglas Wood III, Assistant Appellate Defender, Santa Fe, NM, for Appellant.

OPINION

GARCIA, Judge.

{1} The underlying issue in this case is whether Defendant Shirley Redhouse's uncounseled 1972 misdemeanor conviction for driving while intoxicated (DWI) could be used to enhance Defendant's current DWI conviction when she was not sentenced to any incarceration for the 1972 offense. The State asked the district court to reconsider its ruling on this issue as a legal error six days after Defendant's judgment and sentence was filed. We recognize that "[s]entencing may violate concepts of double jeopardy if not within objectively reasonable expectations of finality." March v. State, 109 N.M. 110, 111, 782 P.2d 82, 83 (1989). This case requires us to address and distinguish our decision in State v. Diaz, 2007-NMCA-026, 141 N.M. 223, 153 P.3d 57. Upon reconsideration, the district court amended Defendant's sentence based upon legal error regarding the 1972 conviction. Under the facts in this case, Defendant did not have a reasonable expectation of finality in her sentence because the State moved for reconsideration of the district court's ruling on the validity of the prior 1972 DWI conviction within thirty days of the district court's entry of a judgment and sentence. We hold that the district court did not violate Defendant's right to be free from double jeopardy when it re-examined the validity of Defendant's 1972 DWI conviction and amended Defendant's sentence which had been based upon a legal error regarding the prior 1972 conviction. We also hold that the district court did not err in determining that the 1972 conviction was valid for purposes of sentence enhancement. We affirm.

*10 BACKGROUND

{2} On November 30, 2009, Defendant pleaded guilty to aggravated DWI, contrary to NMSA 1978, Section 66-8-102(D)(1) (2008) (amended 2010). Sentencing occurred the same day. The State submitted four prior DWI convictions in order to enhance Defendant's current DWI conviction to a fifth and make the current offense a felony conviction. Defendant contested two of the prior DWI convictions, one from 1972 and one from 1973. The district court initially determined that neither of these two prior convictions could be used for enhancement purposes because neither showed that Defendant had been represented by counsel, yet the court determined that Defendant had been punished by imprisonment for both prior convictions. At the sentencing hearing, the district court asked the State if it wanted further time to contest its ruling regarding prior convictions, and the State declined. Based upon the district court's determination that Defendant had two prior DWI convictions, Defendant was sentenced to 364 days of incarceration. The district court gave Defendant credit for the 109 days served prior to sentencing, suspended the remaining 255 days of the sentence, and placed Defendant on unsupervised probation for 255 days. The judgment and sentence order was filed on December 3, 2009.

{3} On December 9, 2009, the State filed a motion for reconsideration arguing that the district court made a mistake of law when it concluded that the DWI convictions from 1972 and 1973 could not be used for enhancement purposes. Four hearings scheduled followed: January 20, 2010; February 22, 2010; March 10, 2010; and April 19, 2010. The State consequently argued that the district court had erred as a matter of law regarding the use of Defendant's 1972 and 1973 convictions as prior DWI convictions for sentencing purposes. The State did not present any new evidence or attempt to supplement the prior evidence regarding Defendant's 1972 and 1973 convictions. After the first hearing on January 20, 2010, the district court ruled that it had erred as a matter of law concerning the 1972 conviction. Under this ruling, the 1972 conviction counted as a prior DWI conviction even though there was no waiver of counsel because Defendant had not been sentenced to jail for the conviction. Upon Defendant's oral motion for reconsideration on February 22, 2010, the district court held two subsequent hearings and confirmed its ruling that the 1972 conviction could be used for enhancement purposes. However, the district court remained firm that the 1973 conviction could not be used as a prior DWI conviction.

{4} Defendant's judgment and sentence was amended to reflect that Defendant was convicted of a fourth DWI, which statutorily required her to serve at least six months in jail. § 66-8-102(G). Thus, Defendant was required to serve an additional seventy-one days in jail. Defendant appeals the amendment to her judgment and sentence. Defendant argues that she had an expectation of finality in the sentence imposed on December 3, 2009, prior to any reconsideration and subsequent amendment by the district court resulting in a double jeopardy violation. She further argues that a penalty of imprisonment was imposed under her 1972 DWI conviction and thus the district court erred in determining that the 1972 conviction was valid for the purposes of enhancement.

DISCUSSION

Standard of Review

{5} We review Defendant's contention that modification of her sentence violated her constitutional guarantee against double jeopardy under a de novo standard of review. State v. Lopez, 2008-NMCA-002, ¶ 12, 143 N.M. 274, 175 P.3d 942. Similarly, we review issues of statutory and constitutional interpretation regarding the validity of Defendant's prior conviction de novo. See State v. Lucero, 2007-NMSC-041, ¶ 8, 142 N.M. 102, 163 P.3d 489 (stating that appellate courts "review issues of statutory and constitutional interpretation de novo"). However, to the extent that factual issues are intertwined with issues of constitutional and statutory interpretation, we defer to the district court's factual findings as long as they are supported by substantial evidence. See State v. Rodriguez, 2006-NMSC-018, ¶ 3,139 N.M. 450, 134 P.3d 737.

*11 Defendant's Right to Finality in Sentencing Was Not Violated When the District Court Resentenced Her

{6} Defendant argues that the district court erred by reconsidering and resentencing her to an increased sentence because she had already substantially completed her sentence. Specifically, Defendant contends that the district court's modification of her sentence violated her right to finality in her sentence, implicating her constitutional guarantee against double jeopardy.

{7} It is well established that "a [district] court generally cannot increase a valid sentence once a defendant begins serving that sentence." State v. Porras, 1999-NMCA-016, ¶ 7, 126 N.M. 628, 973 P.2d 880. However, there is an exception to this rule of finality when the original sentence is illegal or improper. Id. Our appellate courts have determined that an original sentence is illegal if habitual offender enhancements based on prior convictions have not been included. See, e.g., State v. Freed, 1996-NMCA-044, ¶ 9, 121 N.M. 569, 915 P.2d 325.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
269 P.3d 8, 2011 WL 6412135, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-redhouse-nmctapp-2011.