New Mexico Supreme Court Decisions 2011
Date: December 14, 2011
Citation: 2012-NMSC-002
Docket Number: 32,917
Justia Opinion Summary: On certification from the federal district court, two questions came before the Supreme Court on whether the New Mexico Department of Labor's "Charge of Discrimination" form fairly and adequately allowed a claimant to…
Date: December 14, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-045
Docket Number: 33,028
Justia Opinion Summary: The New Mexico Legislature passed House Bill 59 during the 2011 legislative session. The Bill sought to amend five different sections of the Unemployment Compensation Act in order to address an impending insolvency in…
Date: December 5, 2011
Citation: 2012-NMSC-001
Docket Number: 31,100
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Timothy Allen appealed the district court's dismissal of his petition for habeas relief. He alleged he received ineffective assistance of counsel after he was sentenced to death for the 1994 kidnapping, sexual…
Date: November 22, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-044
Docket Number: 32,388
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Curtis Harper was indicted on fifteen counts of criminal sexual penetration of a child under the age of thirteen. During a docket call, the district court learned for the first time that not all witness…
Date: November 21, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-043
Docket Number: 33,029
Justia Opinion Summary: In the General Appropriation Act of 2011, the Legislature appropriated $150,000 to the Department of Finance and Administration "[f]or disbursement to the New Mexico mortgage finance authority to carry out the…
Date: October 31, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-041
Docket Number: 32,000
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant directly appealed her conviction for intentional child abuse that resulted in the death of her eight-year-old daughter. On appeal, she argued that: (1) the jury was improperly instructed as to the elements of…
Date: October 27, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-040
Docket Number: 32,234
Justia Opinion Summary: In "State v. Williamson," (212 P.3d 376) the Supreme Court advised district court judges reviewing search warrants after the fact to defer to the judgment and reasonable inferences of the judge who issued the warrant "if…
Date: October 11, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-039
Docket Number: 32,131
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal involved a loss-of-consortium claim brought by Plaintiff Bill Wachocki (Bill), the adult brother of Jason Wachocki (Jason). Twenty-two-year-old Jason was killed when his vehicle was struck by a speeding van…
Date: September 14, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-038
Docket Number: 32,130
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Debbie Cruz was convicted of issuing payroll checks with insufficient funds to cover them. Defendant was charged with four counts of issuing worthless checks, pursuant to the "Worthless Check Act." Convicted…
Date: August 22, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-037
Docket Number: 32,486
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1985, at the behest of the City of Rio Rancho, Amrep Southwest Inc. recorded a plat for the Vista Hills West Unit 1 (VHWU1) subdivision, granting the City a drainage easement over ten acres identified as 'Parcel F.' …
Date: August 17, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-036
Docket Number: 32,344
Justia Opinion Summary: On December 12, 2002, Defendant Dr. Steven Wenrich delivered Plaintiff Cynthia Provencio's fourth child via caesarean section. Prior to surgery, Mrs. Provencio consented to Defendant contemporaneously performing a tubal…
Date: August 2, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-035
Docket Number: 30,257
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Ramon Lopez was convicted by a jury of multiple crimes, including first-degree felony murder. The Supreme Court addressed two of the issues Defendant raised on appeal: whether Defendant's right to confront…
Date: July 27, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-033
Docket Number: 32,340
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court granted certiorari in this case to review a decision that upheld a district court's order compelling arbitration of Petitioner Kim Rivera's claims against a title loan lender, American General Financial…
Date: July 27, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-034
Docket Number: 32,475
Justia Opinion Summary: This case consolidated appeals that challenged the Public Regulation Commission's (PRC) effort to comply with the Efficient Use of Energy Act (EUEA). The EUEA was amended by the Legislature, requiring the PRC to…
Date: July 19, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-031
Docket Number: 32,080
Justia Opinion Summary: This case came before the Supreme Court on a petition invoking its emergency original jurisdiction to review the indefinite detention of thirty-two courtroom spectators (Petitioners) who had all been summarily ordered to…
Date: July 19, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-032
Docket Number: 32,311
Justia Opinion Summary: Through its opinion in this case, the Supreme Court addressed an exception in the New Mexico Workers' Compensation Act (the Act) that permitted compensation for injuries incurred in travel by employees when those…
Date: June 27, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-030
Docket Number: 32,447
Justia Opinion Summary: Siblings Michael and Desiree Mendoza attended a wedding reception at the Santa Ana Star Casino operated by Petitioner, Tamaya Enterprises, Inc. (the Casino), where they were served alcoholic beverages and became…
Date: June 21, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-029
Docket Number: 32,193
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant TW Telecom of New Mexico (TW Telecom) appealed a final order issued by the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) in "In the Matter of the Development of an Alternative Form of Regulation Plan for Qwest…
Date: June 17, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-028
Docket Number: 32,126
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Ronald Myers was convicted on seven counts under the Sexual Exploitation of Children Act (the Act) for covertly videotaping two female minors while they used the bathroom in a government office in 2004. …
Date: June 15, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-026
Docket Number: 32,263
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court granted certiorari to resolve the question of whether the Fourth Amendment prohibits an under-clothing search as part of a search incident to arrest when the arresting officer has reason to suspect that…
Date: June 15, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-027
Docket Number: 31,204
Justia Opinion Summary: In this first-degree murder case, the Supreme Court affirmed Defendant Lawrence Gallegos' convictions for murder, aggravated arson and conspiracy to commit murder. The Court found, however, that Defendant's convictions…
Date: June 13, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-025
Docket Number: 31,905
Justia Opinion Summary: The crux of this appeal is whether Defendant Albert Ramirez knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily entered into his plea agreement with the State of New Mexico. At his plea hearing, Defendant expressed confusion about…
Date: June 1, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-020
Docket Number: 32,411
Justia Opinion Summary: Carol Sloan, a New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) Commissioner, was convicted and subsequently sentenced for aggravated battery and burglary. That same day, the Attorney General filed a petition for a writ of…
Date: May 31, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-019
Docket Number: 32,422
Justia Opinion Summary: The willful judicial misconduct at issue in this case arose by Judge Robert Schwartz's untimely recusal after initiating a romantic relationship with an assistant public defender that had cases pending before him and…
Date: May 24, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-024
Docket Number: 31,619
Justia Opinion Summary: Sixteen-year-old Defendant Oden Gutierrez confessed to shooting and killing Thomas Powell in Powell's home and stealing his car. Defendant was charged by criminal information with an open charge of murder, aggravated…
Date: May 20, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-023
Docket Number: 32,170
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue presented in this appeal was whether a police officer could temporarily remove a visible firearm from a vehicle to prevent immediate access to it by an occupant during the short duration of a lawful traffic…
Date: May 13, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-018
Docket Number: 32,905
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners are organized labor representatives actively involved in representing public employees. They sought a writ of mandamus from the Supreme Court to prohibit the Governor from removing two members of the Public…
Date: May 13, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-022
Docket Number: 32,149
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Timothy Sandoval was convicted of the second-degree murder of Jeff McCormick. The central issue at trial was whether McCormick was a mere bystander or an actual participant with the two other men involved in an…
Date: May 12, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-021
Docket Number: 32,137
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue presented in this appeal was whether Defendant's requested involuntary manslaughter jury instruction was properly denied by the district court. Defendant Clinton Skippings was convicted in a jury trial of…
Date: April 12, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-017
Docket Number: 32,202
Date: March 8, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-011
Docket Number: 32,139
Date: February 17, 2011
Citations: 2011-NMSC-006, 247 P.3d 286
Docket Numbers: 32,806, 32,811
Date: February 17, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-006
Docket Numbers: 32,806, 32,811
Date: February 4, 2011
Citations: 2011-NMSC-007, 247 P.3d 736
Docket Number: 32,001
Date: January 24, 2011
Citations: 2011-NMSC-004, 248 P.3d 878
Docket Number: 32,197
Date: January 24, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-004
Docket Number: 32,197
Date: January 21, 2011
Citations: 2011-NMSC-005, 248 P.3d 863
Docket Number: 31,738
Date: January 21, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-005
Docket Number: 31,738
Date: January 12, 2011
Citations: 2011-NMSC-003, 246 P.3d 1057
Docket Number: 30,782
Date: January 3, 2011
Citations: 2011-NMSC-002, 248 P.3d 856
Docket Number: 31,724
Date: January 3, 2011
Citation: 2011-NMSC-002
Docket Number: 31,724
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