United States of America v. Reese
Annotate this CaseThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit certified a question of New Mexico Law to the New Mexico Supreme Court: "[i]f an otherwise-qualified person has completed a deferred sentence for a felony offense, is that person barred from holding public office without a pardon or certificate from the governor [. . .] or is that person’s right to hold office automatically restored [by the New Mexico Constitution]?" The New Mexico Court, in answering the question, held that after satisfactory completion of all conditions for a deferred sentence and the resulting dismissal of all charges, New Mexico restores a person’s civil rights, including the right to hold public office, by operation of law. James Reese entered a no contest plea to one felony of tampering with evidence, which was connected to aggravated assault charges. Reese was charged with tampering for hiding a knife. As a result of the plea, the State dismissed the aggravated assault charges, leaving only the evidence tampering charge. "The New Mexico Legislature established the deferred sentence as a means of judicial clemency. As such, dismissal of the criminal charges upon satisfaction of the conditions of deferment automatically restores a convicted felon’s civil rights by operation of law."
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