§ 31-16A-6 — Waivers; suspension of criminal proceedings

A. A defendant must secure or be appointed defense counsel to be present at a preprosecution diversion screening interview prior to applying for acceptance into a preprosecution diversion program, and, upon applying, the defendant shall waive his constitutional right to a preliminary hearing as set forth in Rule 15(d) of the Rules of Criminal Procedure for the Magistrate Courts [Rule 6-202D NMRA]. B. If a defendant is certified eligible by the district attorney and by the preprosecution diversion program, the defendant shall also waive his constitutional right to a speedy trial and any rights as provided by Rule 37(b) of the Rules of Criminal Procedure for the District Court [Courts] [Rule 5-604B NMRA]. Upon entry of this waiver, the district attorney shall divert the defendant into the preprosecution diversion program and criminal proceedings against the defendant shall be suspended. Participating defendants shall also waive any confidentiality provided by the Arrest Record Information Act [29-10-1 NMSA 1978] to permit scrutiny of records; provided that the publication of the personal information, except the name of the defendant, gathered while a defendant is participating in a program shall not be a public record.

Legislative History

Laws 1981, ch. 33, § 6.