State v. Williams

730 P.2d 1196, 105 N.M. 214
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 26, 1986
Docket9099
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 730 P.2d 1196 (State v. Williams) 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. Williams, 730 P.2d 1196, 105 N.M. 214 (N.M. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

OPINION

ALARID, Judge.

Defendant appeals from multiple convictions and sentences stemming from a residential burglary in Albuquerque. We address (1) defendant’s two separate claims of double jeopardy; (2) claims of error as to jury instructions; and (3) a claim of judicial bias in sentencing. We affirm the convictions but vacate two of the sentences and remand for the entry of an amended judgment and sentence.

FACTS

The state’s principal witness testified that she unknowingly entered the home of her father-in-law while it was being burglarized by defendant and an accomplice. She said defendant threatened her with a silver. candelabra, then dragged her into one of the bedrooms where he bound her hands, removed her clothing, and began touching her breasts and genital area. Defendant was joined in this activity by his accomplice who did the same thing. She said defendant then tied her to the bed, and that he and the accomplice left the residence, taking her car with them. Defendant was convicted of aggravated burglary and aggravated assault, robbery, kidnaping, assault with intent to commit criminal sexual penetration, four counts of criminal sexual contact, the unlawful taking of a vehicle, larceny over $2,500 and conspiracy to commit larceny. He was sentenced to consecutive terms of imprisonment for each conviction, resulting in a total term of imprisonment of thirty-seven and one-half years.

I. DOUBLE JEOPARDY

Defendant raises two separate claims of double jeopardy, both involving the concept of merger. He argues, first, that the four counts of CSC must be merged into one count; and secondly, that his conviction for assault with intent to commit CSP must be merged into the conviction for kidnaping. Both claims involve the constitutional prohibition on multiple punishments for the same offense. The first claim requires a determination of whether the separate acts of sexual contact constituted separate or multiple criminal offenses. See State v. Edwards, 102 N.M. 413, 696 P.2d 1006 (Ct.App.), cert. quashed, 102 N.M. 412, 696 P.2d 1005 (1985). The second claim requires a determination of whether the greater offense of kidnaping necessarily involved the commission of the lesser crime of assault with intent to commit CSP. See State v. Johnson, 102 N.M. 110, 692 P.2d 35 (Ct.App.1984).

A. CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONTACT COUNTS

The initial claim raises a question of first impression concerning the “allowable unit of prosecution” under the statutory offense of criminal sexual contact, NMSA 1978, Section 30-9-12 (Repl.Pamp.1984). See State v. Edwards. The state obtained four separate convictions on the theory that defendant committed one offense by touching the victim’s breast, another by touching her genital area, both of which resulted in personal injury, and that he committed two additional offenses by touching the same areas, but was assisted the second time by his accomplice.

The proscription in Section 30-9-12 is as follows:

Criminal sexual contact is intentionally touching or applying force without consent to the unclothed intimate parts of another who has reached his eighteenth birthday * * * * For purposes of this section “intimate parts” means the primary genital area, groin, buttocks, anus or breast.

The statute makes the offense a misdemeanor when perpetrated through the use of force or coercion. It becomes a fourth degree felony under any of three aggravating circumstances: (1) the contact results in personal injury to the victim; (2) the perpetrator is aided or abetted by another; or (3) the perpetrator is armed with a deadly weapon. The state relied on the first aggravating factor for counts 6 and 7. It relied on the second aggravating factor for counts 8 and 9. Thus, two issues are presented: (1) whether Section 30-9-12 permits multiple counts based on multiple touchings, and (2) whether it permits multiple counts based on multiple aggravating factors.

The committee that drafted the uniform jury instructions applicable to Section 30-9-12 considered the latter question and determined that the aggravating factors should not be used to classify separate offenses:

Throughout the statutes on sexual offenses * * * alternative methods are set forth for committing the offenses. For example, there are three ways in which a defendant can commit criminal sexual contact in the fourth degree. * * * Separate instructions have been prepared for each of these methods, and where force or coercion is an essential element of a particular method, separate instructions for each definition of force or coercion have been prepared. There are, therefore, ten separate instructions setting forth the essential elements of the single crime of criminal sexual contact in the fourth degree.
In all cases where alternate methods of committing one offense are submitted to the jury, the defendant is being charged with only one offense and may be found guilty of only one offense.

Committee commentary, NMSA 1978, UJI Crim. 9.03 (Repl.Pamp.1982). The committee’s interpretation of the statute is persuasive. See State v. Orona, 97 N.M. 232, 638 P.2d 1077 (1982). We agree that the enumeration of different aggravating factors, or alternative methods of committing fourth degree CSC, does not evince a legislative intent to authorize multiple punishments for the same act. Thus, defendant’s conviction on counts 8 and 9, based on defendant’s contact with the victim’s breast and genital areas while aided by an accomplice, are not sustainable as separate offenses.

The question remains, however, whether the separate touchings of the breast and genital areas constitute separate offenses. In arguing that the offenses should be merged, defendant claims that the touching of the two areas constituted one continuing offense. He points to the victim’s own testimony that the incident lasted no more than five minutes and that there was no break in activity by the defendant. We disagree, however, that these facts are dis-positive. Defendant’s premise is akin to the “same transaction” test which our supreme court rejected in State v. Tanton, 88 N.M. 333, 540 P.2d 813 (1975). Our courts have instead held that whether a particular course of conduct involves one or more punishable offenses is largely a question of the legislative intent in proscribing the conduct. See State v. Ellenberger, 96 N.M. 287, 629 P.2d 1216 (1981); State v. Edwards. In ascertaining legislative intent, the courts must consider the statutory elements of the crime and whether the evidence offered in support of one offense would sustain a conviction of the other offense. See State v. Ellenberger.

In this case, the facts offered in support of count 6 were that defendant “manually manipulated” the victim’s breasts.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
730 P.2d 1196, 105 N.M. 214, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-williams-nmctapp-1986.