State v. Rodriguez

2009 NMCA 090, 215 P.3d 762, 146 N.M. 824
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 2, 2009
Docket27,437
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 2009 NMCA 090 (State v. Rodriguez) 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. Rodriguez, 2009 NMCA 090, 215 P.3d 762, 146 N.M. 824 (N.M. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

OPINION

VANZI, Judge.

{1} Defendant was convicted of: (1) possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), a fourth degree felony in violation of NMSA 1978, Section 30-31-23(D) (2005); (2) possession of a dangerous drug (Flexeril) without a prescription, a fourth degree felony in violation of NMSA 1978, Section 26-l-16(E) (2005); (3) attempt to escape from custody or control of a peace officer, a fourth degree felony in violation of NMSA 1978, Section 30-22-10 (1963); and (4) criminal damage to property ($1,000 or less), a petty misdemeanor in violation of NMSA 1978, Section 30-15-1 (1963). We address: (1) whether the State may, by filing a criminal information, charge Defendant with a fourth degree felony after Defendant was bound over to the district court by the magistrate court on a misdemeanor following a preliminary hearing; and (2) whether Defendant was entitled to a directed verdict on the charge of possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine) because of alleged gaps in the chain of custody of the methamphetamine seized from his person. We vacate Defendant’s conviction for violating Section 26-l-16(E) and affirm Defendant’s remaining convictions.

I. BACKGROUND

{2} Officers Roland Kroeger and Jerry Crowe of the Clovis Police Department were dispatched to a hotel after the Clovis Police Department received an anonymous tip that narcotics use was in progress. The officers knocked on Defendant’s hotel room door, and Defendant responded. When asked simple questions, Officer Crowe observed that Defendant’s responses “didn’t make sense.” The officers obtained Defendant’s consent to search his room. During the search, officers discovered two prescription pill bottles containing pills and a plastic baggy also containing pills in a duffel bag belonging to Defendant. The labels on the pill bottles indicated that the pills did not belong to Defendant. Using a field guide, the officers determined that the pill bottles contained two different types of prescription medication, Cephalexin and Flexeril. The pills in the plastic baggy were identified as Vicodin and another “narcotic painkiller.” Following Defendant’s arrest, the officers discovered a “small plastic bindle” in Defendant’s left front pocket that contained a substance the officers immediately recognized as methamphetamine.

{3} A criminal complaint was filed in the Curry County Magistrate Court which alleged that Defendant committed certain offenses including possession of methamphetamine and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription in violation of Section 30-31-23(C), a misdemeanor offense. Following a preliminary hearing, the magistrate judge found that there was probable cause to conclude that Defendant committed the offenses in the criminal complaint, and a bind-over order to stand trial in the district court was filed.

{4} The State subsequently filed a criminal information in the district court charging that Defendant committed the following offenses: (1) possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), a fourth degree felony in violation of Section 30-31-23(D); (2) possession of a dangerous drug (Flexeril) without a prescription, a fourth degree felony in violation of Section 26-l-16(E); (3) attempt to escape from custody or control of a peace officer, a fourth degree felony in violation of NMSA 1978, Section 30-22-10 (1963); and (4) criminal damage to property ($1,000 or less), a petty misdemeanor in violation of NMSA 1978, Section 30-15-1 (1963). Defendant waived arraignment on the charges set forth in the criminal information and entered a not guilty plea.

{5} At trial, Defendant moved to amend the criminal information with respect to Count II, possession of a dangerous drug without a prescription, arguing that the charge contained in the criminal information was improper. Defendant pointed out that the information charged him with a felony count of possession of a dangerous drug without a prescription, but the magistrate judge had bound him over for trial on a misdemeanor charge of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. The State argued that Defendant’s motion was untimely and that Defendant had waived his right to make the motion. At the close of trial, Defendant renewed the motion in the form of a motion to strike and a motion for directed verdict, which the district court denied.

{6} Defendant appeals, arguing that permitting the State to file a criminal information charging him with a felony offense, when a bind-over order issued by the magistrate court following the preliminary hearing only charges him with a misdemeanor offense, violates Article II, Section 14 of the New Mexico Constitution.

{7} Defendant also moved for directed verdict with regard to Count I, possession of a controlled substance, asserting that the State failed to adequately demonstrate a complete chain of custody concerning the substance Officer Crowe seized from Defendant during the search incident to arrest. Defendant argued that there was no way to demonstrate that the substance seized by Officer Crowe was the same substance James Mitkiff, an employee of the Department of Public Safety at the Northern Forensic Laboratory in Santa Fe, tested in his lab. Accordingly, Defendant argued that James Mitkiffs testimony that the substance he tested was methamphetamine had no bearing on the identity of the substance seized from Defendant. The district court denied the motion.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Due Process and the Bind-Over Order

{8} Defendant asserts that his right to due process, pursuant to Article II, Section 14 of the New Mexico Constitution, was violated when the State filed a criminal information that did not conform to the bind-over order stemming from his preliminary hearing before the magistrate judge. During trial, Defendant objected that altering the charges as set forth in the bind-over order was impermissible and that the felony charge stated in the criminal information for violating Section 26-l-16(E), possession of a dangerous drug without a prescription should be amended to reflect a petty misdemeanor charge of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. Because Defendant was never provided with an initial determination of probable cause for the charge of possession of a dangerous drug without a prescription, we conclude that Article II, Section 14 of the New Mexico Constitution governs the right at stake regarding this felony charge. Accordingly, we apply a de novo review. State v. Chavez, 2008-NMCA-125, ¶5, 144 N.M. 849, 192 P.3d 1226 (holding that appellate courts review constitutional claims de novo).

{9} The criminal complaint initiating the prosecution of Defendant was not included in the record of proceedings. Thus, to resolve this issue we must rely upon the record before the Court to establish the underlying facts. It is undisputed by the parties that the criminal complaint filed in the magistrate court charged Defendant with possession of a controlled substance without a prescription in violation of Section 30-31-23(0, a misdemeanor offense. Defendant was bound over for trial on this misdemeanor charge.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2009 NMCA 090, 215 P.3d 762, 146 N.M. 824, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-rodriguez-nmctapp-2009.