State v. Turrietta

CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 9, 2009
Docket29,508
StatusUnpublished

This text of State v. Turrietta (State v. Turrietta) 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. Turrietta, (N.M. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

1 This memorandum opinion was not selected for publication in the New Mexico Reports. Please 2 see Rule 12-405 NMRA for restrictions on the citation of unpublished memorandum opinions. 3 Please also note that this electronic memorandum opinion may contain computer-generated 4 errors or other deviations from the official paper version filed by the Court of Appeals and does 5 not include the filing date.

6 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO

7 STATE OF NEW MEXICO,

8 Plaintiff-Appellee,

9 v. NO. 29,508

10 GILBERT TURRIETTA,

11 Defendant-Appellant.

12 APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF BERNALILLO COUNTY 13 Albert S. Murdoch, District Judge

14 Gary K. King, Attorney General 15 Santa Fe, NM

16 for Appellee

17 Hugh W. Dangler, Chief Public Defender 18 Santa Fe, NM 19 Linda Yen, Assistant Public Defender 20 Albuquerque, NM

21 for Appellant

22 MEMORANDUM OPINION

23 VIGIL, Judge. 1 Defendant appeals his convictions in Metropolitan Court for battery against

2 a household member and assault against a household member. [RP 118-19] These

3 convictions were affirmed by the district court in an on-record appeal. [RP 202]

4 Defendant appealed to our Court, and we issued a notice proposing to affirm.

5 Defendant responded with a memorandum in opposition. We have considered the

6 arguments in the memorandum but we are not persuaded the analysis in our notice

7 is incorrect. We affirm.

8 BACKGROUND

9 There was evidence that Defendant and his girlfriend, Beryl Jean Garcia, had

10 been having an argument. [MIO 11] When Ms. Garcia left the house, Defendant

11 followed her outside with an axe and told her to come back inside so they could

12 take care of the problems they were having. [MIO 11] Later, after she had gone to

13 bed, Defendant came into the bedroom and threw an axe down very close to her

14 head. [MIO 12] Still later in the evening, Defendant forced her to the ground and

15 slapped her face several times. [MIO 13] There was evidence that when the

16 sheriff’s officer was dispatched he found her shaking and crying, with a bruise

17 around her right eye. [MIO 14] This evidence formed the basis for Defendant’s

18 convictions.

19 DISCUSSION

2 1 A. Speedy trial

2 Defendant first argues that his right to speedy trial was violated. [DS 25] To

3 determine whether a defendant's constitutional right to speedy trial has been

4 violated, we apply the four-factor balancing set forth in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S.

5 514 (1972). State v. Plouse, 2003-NMCA-048, ¶ 34, 133 N.M. 495, 64 P.3d 522.

6 Under the Barker test, we balance, in light of the facts and circumstances of the

7 particular case, (1) the length of the delay, (2) the reasons for the delay, (3) the

8 assertion of the right, and (4) the prejudice to the defendant. Plouse, 2003-

9 NMCA-048, ¶ 34. The first factor, the length of the delay, involves a two-fold

10 inquiry. State v. Laney, 2003-NMCA-144, ¶ 11, 134 N.M. 648, 81 P.3d 591. We

11 first decide whether the delay is presumptively prejudicial and, if it is, we then

12 balance the four factors to assess whether the defendant’s constitutional rights have

13 been violated. State v. Garza, 2009-NMSC-038, ¶ 23, ___ N.M. ___, 212 P.3d

14 387.

15 We are deferential to the trial court’s fact finding, but independently

16 examine the record to determine whether a speedy trial violation has taken place.

17 State v. Tortolito, 1997-NMCA-128, ¶ 6, 124 N.M. 368, 950 P.2d 811. We

18 analyze speedy trial claims on a case-by-case basis, examining all four factors in

19 order to weigh the conduct of both the prosecutor and defense, with no one factor

3 1 as talismanic. See State v. Urban, 2004-NMSC-007, ¶ 11, 135 N.M. 279, 87 P.3d

2 1061.

3 1. Length of Delay

4 In the present case, Defendant’s right to a speedy trial attached on October

5 19, 2006, when he was arrested on these misdemeanor charges. [DS 1] See State

6 v. Lujan, 2003-NMCA-087, ¶ 8, 134 N.M. 24, 71 P.3d 1286 (stating that the right

7 to a speedy trial attaches when the defendant becomes "accused"). His trial

8 occurred on July 30, 2007. [DS 7] Therefore, we are dealing with a delay of just

9 under nine-and-a-half months.

10 We accept that this is a simple case, and therefore the delay was

11 presumptively prejudicial. See Salandre v. State, 111 N.M. 422, 428 & n.3, 806

12 P.2d 562, 568 & n.3 (1991) (concluding that a minimum of nine months delay is

13 necessary to trigger further inquiry into the claim of a violation of the right to

14 speedy trial in simple cases, twelve months in cases of intermediate complexity,

15 and fifteen months in complex cases). We recognize that our Supreme Court

16 recently expanded the time limits, holding that presumptive delay in a simple case

17 is now twelve months, see Garza, 2009-NMSC-038, ¶ 47, but that case applies to

18 motions filed after August 13, 2007. Id. ¶ 50. Accordingly, the burden shifts to

4 1 the State to show that Defendant’s constitutional rights have not been violated. See

2 State v. Maddox, 2008-NMSC-062, ¶ 12, 145 N.M. 242, 195 P.3d 1254.

3 In determining the weight to be given to the length of delay, we consider the

4 extent to which the delay stretches beyond the bare minimum needed to trigger

5 examination of the claim. See State v. Stock, 2006-NMCA-140, ¶ 13, 140 N.M.

6 676, 147 P.3d 885. In this case, that delay stretched approximately two weeks

7 beyond the nine-month period establishing presumptive prejudice. The delay

8 therefore weighs only slightly against the State. Garza, 2009-NMSC-38, ¶ 24.

9 2. Reasons for Delay

10 We understand that some of the delay was caused by the State’s inability to

11 provide Victim for an interview until June 27, 2007. [RP 183; DS 8-9] Some of the

12 delay from April 25 until June 27 appears to have been caused by the fact that

13 pretrial matters needed to be considered. [DS 9] There is no showing that the State

14 engaged in deliberate tactics designed to thwart Defendant’s right to a speedy trial.

15 Therefore, we will weigh the reason for delay factor against the State, although not

16 heavily. See State v. Marquez, 2001-NMCA-062, ¶¶ 13, 17, 19, 130 N.M. 651, 29

17 P.3d 1052 (stating that negligence on the part of the State, resulting in delay,

18 should weigh against the State although not heavily).

19 3. Assertion of the Right

5 1 Defendant filed his speedy trial motion on the day of trial. [DS 8] This does

2 not persuade us to weigh Defendant’s assertion of the right in his favor. See State

3 v. Coffin, 1999-NMSC-038, ¶ 67, 128 N.M. 192, 991 P.2d 477 (stating that request

4 for speedy trial, filed two weeks before trial, was not sufficient to weigh this factor

5 in the defendant’s favor).

6 4. Prejudice

7 We consider three types of prejudice relevant to the speedy trial analysis:

8 (1) oppressive pretrial incarceration; (2) the accused’s anxiety and concern; and (3)

9 the possibility of an impairment to the defense. See Plouse, 2003-NMCA-048, ¶

10 51.

11 We conclude that this factor does not weigh in Defendant’s favor. We are

12 presented with no tangible prejudice to his defense and no evidence of Defendant’s

13 anxiety and concern.

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Related

State v. Garza
2009 NMSC 038 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 2009)
State v. Belanger
2009 NMSC 025 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 2009)
State v. Tortolito
950 P.2d 811 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1997)
State v. Baca
1997 NMSC 045 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1997)
State v. Hamilton
557 P.2d 1095 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1976)
State v. Varela
1999 NMSC 045 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1999)
State v. Parish
878 P.2d 988 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1994)
State v. Duffy
1998 NMSC 014 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1998)
State v. Allen
2000 NMSC 002 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1999)
Salandre v. State
806 P.2d 562 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1991)
State v. Coffin
1999 NMSC 038 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1999)
State v. Flanagan
801 P.2d 675 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 1990)
State v. Jernigan
2006 NMSC 003 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 2005)
State v. Lujan
2003 NMCA 087 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2003)
State v. Plouse
2003 NMCA 048 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2003)
State v. Urban
2004 NMSC 007 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 2004)
State v. Karr
212 P.3d 11 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2008)
State v. Orosco
833 P.2d 1146 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1992)
State v. Stock
147 P.3d 885 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2006)

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State v. Turrietta, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-turrietta-nmctapp-2009.