State v. Simpson

111 S. Ct. 2123, 867 P.2d 1150, 116 N.M. 768
CourtNew Mexico Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 24, 1993
Docket20585
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 111 S. Ct. 2123 (State v. Simpson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Simpson, 111 S. Ct. 2123, 867 P.2d 1150, 116 N.M. 768 (N.M. 1993).

Opinion

OPINION

MONTGOMERY, Justice.

Russell Simpson was convicted by a jury of two counts of homicide by vehicle (vehicular homicide) and one count of great bodily injury by vehicle under NMSA 1978, Subsections 66-8-101(A) and (B) (Cum.Supp.1993). 1 He appealed to the New Mexico Court of Appeals, which assigned his case to the summary calendar and in two successive calendar notices proposed summary affirmance. Simpson responded to the first calendar notice but not the second, and the Court of Appeals affirmed the convictions in an unpublished memorandum opinion. Simpson then petitioned this Court for a writ of certiorari, asserting that the statute under which he was convicted was unconstitutional as applied in his case. He raised various other questions for review by this Court on certiorari, including the constitutionality of the summary calendar procedure utilized by the Court of Appeals, as authorized by Rule 12-210 of our Rules of Appellate Procedure, SCRA 1986, 12-210 (Repl.Pamp.1992). We granted the petition under NMSA 1978, Section 34-5-14(B) (Repl.Pamp.1990), to consider the questions of constitutionality and substantial public interest raised by Simpson’s petition.

In addition to the briefs filed in this Court by the parties, extensive amicus curiae briefs, with supplements, were filed by the New Mexico Public Defender, the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (both attacking the summary calendar system), and the law firm of Jones, Snead, Wertheim, Rodriguez & Wentworth (defending the summary calendar system). Despite the parties’ and amici’s able briefs, we have concluded, for the reasons given later in this opinion, that this case does not provide an appropriate occasion to address the constitutionality of the summary calendar procedure. On the merits, we hold that the vehicular homicide and great bodily injury by motor vehicle statute is not unconstitutional as applied in this case. We also reject Simpson’s other claims of error by the trial court and, accordingly, affirm the convictions.

The facts in the case are relatively simple and straightforward — although they are accompanied by the tragic consequences of lost, damaged, and at least partially ruined lives that all too often attend an instance of driving while intoxicated. On December 17, 1990, Simpson was driving east in a Chevrolet station wagon on North Main Street in Las Cruces, New Mexico. His fiance, Heather Paula Silvers; his fiance’s daughter, Brandi Silvers; and his fiance’s friend, Susan Figueroa, were passengers in the vehicle. As Simpson entered the intersection of Main Street and Solano, Julian Sandoval, who was driving west on Main Street, was making a left turn from Main Street onto Solano. There is some dispute over whether Simpson entered the intersection of Main Street and Solano on a green or yellow light, but in any event the two vehicles collided and Simpson’s car careened into the traffic signal pole. Brandi Silvers and Susan Figueroa died from the impact, and Heather Paula Silvers suffered permanent impairment of brain functions.

Simpson was charged with two counts of homicide by motor vehicle and one count of great bodily injury by motor vehicle. He stipulated that his blood alcohol content was between .07 and .13 at the time of the collision. There was other evidence from which the ’jury could have inferred that Simpson was under the influence of intoxicating liquor. The speed limit at the intersection of Main Street and Solano was 35 miles per hour. There was other evidence enabling the jury to find that he was speeding. Witnesses testified that when he entered the intersection, he was driving in excess of the speed limit, somewhere between 35 and 53 miles per hour.

As stated above, he was tried and convicted on the counts charged. He was sentenced to incarceration for six years followed by two years of parole, suspended to incarceration for six months and probation for five years. The convictions were affirmed by the Court of Appeals. On certiorari, Simpson raises several issues, but before we address those issues we first consider the State’s contention that we should remand this case to the Court of Appeals.

1. Failure to respond to calendar notice does not require remand.

The State urges us to remand to the Court of Appeals because Simpson failed to respond to that Court’s second calendar notice. The State asserts that Rule 12-210(D) required Simpson to respond and that we should not review the case until Simpson has complied with that purported requirement.

Rule 12-210(D) prescribes the procedure to follow when a case has been assigned to the summary calendar. It provides that after a docketing statement has been filed, the appellate court is to issue a notice stating its proposed disposition and the basis therefor. Subparagraph D(3) of the rule goes on to provide:

[Ajppellate counsel or trial counsel shall have ten (10) days from date of service of the appellate court clerk’s notice of proposed disposition to file a memorandum setting forth reasons why the proposed disposition should or should not be made and why the case should or should not be assigned to the summary calendar, but the party shall be restricted to arguing only issues contained in the docketing statement. The docketing statement may be amended at this time for good cause shown with the permission of the appellate court[.]

While the rule thus gives a party ten days to file a response to a calendar notice, contrary to the State’s assertion it does not require a party to file a response.

In the present case, the Court of Appeals issued two calendar notices, both proposing summary affirmance. In those notices the Court refused to consider Simpson’s challenges to the uniform jury instructions given in the case, stating that such challenges “are best addressed to our supreme court.” Thus, Simpson evidently saw no reason to prolong the debate with the Court of Appeals and instead elected to take his chances by filing a petition for a writ of certiorari in this Court. He was entitled to make that choice, and Rule 12-210(D)(3) did not require him to do otherwise.

2. Homicide by vehicle statute is constitutional os applied in this case.

Simpson’s first argument on certiorari is that New Mexico’s homicide by vehicle statute is unconstitutional as applied to him under the facts of this case and that the district court erred by giving jury instructions that track the requirements of the statute.

Section 66-8-101, headed “Homicide by vehicle; great bodily injury by vehicle[,]” defines “homicide by vehicle” as “the killing of a human being in the unlawful operation of a motor vehicle” and “great bodily injury by vehicle” as “the injuring of a human being, to the extent defined in Section 30-1-12 NMSA 1978, 2 1125 in the unlawful operation of a motor vehicle.” Under our Motor Vehicle Code, the unlawful operation of a motor vehicle includes driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor, proscribed by NMSA 1978, Section 66-8-102(A) (Cum.Supp.1993), and driving recklessly, penalized in NMSA 1978, Section 66-8-113(A) (Repl.Pamp.1987).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
111 S. Ct. 2123, 867 P.2d 1150, 116 N.M. 768, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-simpson-nm-1993.