New Mexico v. Montoya
Annotate this CaseBaby Breandra Pena (seventeen months old) died while in the care of defendant Nathan Montoya. Defendant was convicted of intentional child abuse resulting in the death of a child under twelve and sentenced to life imprisonment. The issue this case presented for the Supreme Court's review addressed "the ongoing confusion created by [New Mexico's] child abuse jury instructions. In review of defendant’s conviction on direct appeal, the Court held: (1) the jury instructions used in defendant’s trial accurately instructed the jury of the law that, when considered as a whole, were distinguishable from those used in previous cases which the Court reversed based on erroneous child abuse jury instructions; (2) reckless child abuse may, in some cases, be a lesser included offense of intentional child abuse resulting in the death of a child under twelve (by this opinion, the Court disavowed New Mexico cases suggesting otherwise); (3) when a jury is correctly instructed on both reckless and intentional child abuse resulting in the death of a child under twelve, a step-down instruction is appropriate; (4) the admission of a forensic pathologist’s expert testimony was not in error and that sufficient evidence was presented to convict defendant; and (5) it was abuse of discretion for the district court judge to refuse to consider mitigating the basic sentence of life imprisonment, based on the court’s mistaken understanding that the life sentence was mandatory and could not be altered. Defendant’s conviction for intentional child abuse was affirmed and the case remanded to the district court for resentencing with consideration of potential mitigating circumstances.
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