New Mexico Supreme Court Decisions 2015
Date: December 21, 2015
Docket Number: 35,075
Justia Opinion Summary: There was only one judge on the Tenth Judicial District Court which had jurisdiction over the counties of Quay, DeBaca, and Harding. In 2008, Albert J. Mitchell, Jr. won a contested election for Tenth Judicial District…
Date: December 10, 2015
Docket Number: 34,146
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Mary Ann Madrid appealed the grant of summary judgment in favor of Brinker Restaurant Corporation and its employee Randi Russell on the issue of causation. This case arose out of a tragic motorcycle accident…
Date: December 10, 2015
Docket Number: 35,049
Justia Opinion Summary: Following a second trial, Defendant Danny Surratt was convicted of criminal sexual penetration of a minor. Defendant appealed his conviction, claiming the district attorney serving as special prosecutor at the second…
Date: November 19, 2015
Docket Number: 34,546
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent Nancy Garduno was ineligible for unemployment benefits because her employer terminated her for misconduct connected with her employment. The Cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico Department of Workforce…
Date: November 19, 2015
Docket Number: 34,549
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted Jeremy Nichols of child abuse resulting in death or great bodily harm, finding him guilty on a theory of negligently permitting medical neglect of his six-month-old son Kaden Nichols that allegedly…
Date: November 12, 2015
Docket Number: 34,637
Justia Opinion Summary: Four years and three months after Defendant Mark Serros was arrested and charged with sexually abusing his nephew, the district court dismissed his case, concluding that his right to a speedy trial under the Sixth…
Date: November 12, 2015
Docket Number: 34,974
Justia Opinion Summary: The New Mexico Department of Public Education’s (Department) Instructional Material Bureau purchases non-religious instructional materials selected by public or private schools, with funds appropriated by the Legislature…
Date: October 30, 2015
Docket Number: 35,160
Justia Opinion Summary: The County Assessor for Eddy County sought to use money in a county property valuation fund (as established by the Legislature in 1986) to contract with a private company for technical assistance in locating and valuing…
Date: October 19, 2015
Docket Number: 34,548
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Norman Davis was convicted of possession of marijuana after New Mexico State Police consensually searched his greenhouse and seized 14 marijuana plants. That search was the result of “Operation Yerba Buena…
Date: October 15, 2015
Docket Number: 34,995
Justia Opinion Summary: DeAngelo M. (Child) was thirteen years and eight days old when, during a custodial interrogation by three law enforcement officers, he made inculpatory statements regarding a burglary, which connected him to a murder.…
Date: September 28, 2015
Docket Number: 34,768
Justia Opinion Summary: The Public Regulation Commission (PRC) granted Southwestern Public Service Company’s (SPS) application to: (1) include a prepaid pension asset in its rate base in order for SPS to earn a return on this asset; and (2)…
Date: September 10, 2015
Docket Number: 34,085
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Kenneth Badilla bought a pair of work boots at Wal-Mart. He claimed the soles of the boots came unglued, causing him to trip and injure his back. More than three years later, he sued Wal-Mart and its store…
Date: September 10, 2015
Citation: 2015-NMSC-030
Docket Number: 34,311
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with and convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and tampering with evidence. The district court sentenced…
Date: September 10, 2015
Docket Number: 34,411
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Donovan King and Justin Mark arrived at Kevin Lossiah’s apartment the morning of May 29, 2011. Initially, Lossiah’s neighbors saw Defendant and Mark outside the apartment. The neighbor later heard banging…
Date: September 10, 2015
Docket Number: 34,526
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, police officers made their arrest for shoplifting at the scene of the crime, without any prior opportunity to secure a warrant. Surveillance cameras at Sportsman’s Warehouse in Albuquerque caught defendant…
Date: August 20, 2015
Docket Number: 34,985
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, the Governor appointed District Judge Sheri Raphaelson to fill a vacancy in Division V of the First Judicial District Court created when then-District Judge Tim Garcia was appointed to the New Mexico Court of…
Date: August 13, 2015
Docket Number: 34,811
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellee Emily Kane ran for elective office while she was employed at the Albuquerque Fire Department (the AFD) as a captain. Article X, Section 3 of the Charter of the City of Albuquerque (1989), and the City of…
Date: August 10, 2015
Docket Number: 34,501
Justia Opinion Summary: Ken Snow worked as an operator for the Navajo Refinery. During a procedure called a "turn-around" at the refinery, a hose assembly came loose and struck Snow, causing "serious, life-changing injuries." Snow and his wife…
Date: June 25, 2015
Docket Number: 33,775
Justia Opinion Summary: In March 2007, Plaintiff Dara Hem brought suit in a Texas federal court after he was seriously injured in an accident. Hem was traveling through northern New Mexico when his Toyota truck separated from the U-Haul trailer…
Date: June 25, 2015
Docket Number: 34,013
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal centered on the second of two qui tam actions filed by former New Mexico Education Retirement Board ("ERB") Chief Investment Officer Frank Foy and his wife Suzanne ("Foys"), attacking the management of the…
Date: June 25, 2015
Docket Numbers: 34,122, 34,142
Justia Opinion Summary: In a consolidated appeal, Respondents Steven B. and Ernie Begaye were both enrolled members of the Navajo Nation who were accused of offenses committed on Parcel Three of Fort Wingate (Parcel Three). The question this…
Date: June 15, 2015
Docket Number: 34,554
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007, the remainder beneficiaries of two testamentary trusts sued defendant Bank of America for its actions as trustee from 1991 through 2003. The beneficiaries alleged that the Bank had invested trust assets in an…
Date: June 15, 2015
Docket Number: 34,719
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue this case presented for the Supreme Court's review centered on whether the Director of the Labor Relations Division of the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions (DWS) was in violation of the Public Works…
Date: May 28, 2015
Docket Number: 34,516
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-respondent Aide Sanchez was at the Santa Teresa port of entry attempting to enter the United States from Mexico, when Border Patrol agents seized marijuana from her van. In "New Mexico v. Cardenas-Alvarez," (25…
Date: May 11, 2015
Docket Number: 34,447
Justia Opinion Summary: Officer Glen Gutierrez, on duty as a full-time salaried police officer of the Pueblo of Pojoaque and also commissioned as a Santa Fe County deputy sheriff, was patrolling a portion of U.S. Highway 84/285 located within…
Date: May 7, 2015
Docket Number: 33,781
Justia Opinion Summary: The New Mexico Supreme Court previously issued an opinion after defendant Adriana Cabezuela's first trial in which a jury convicted her of intentional child abuse resulting in the death of her eight-month-old daughter…
Date: May 4, 2015
Docket Number: 34,120
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Abraham Baca was arrested by Sergeant Martin Trujillo for aggravated DWI and driving left of center of a roadway. The State filed a criminal complaint against Defendant in Magistrate Court. While the magistrate…
Date: April 16, 2015
Docket Number: 34,295
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Rodrigo Dominguez was convicted for voluntary manslaughter and shooting at or from a motor vehicle resulting in the death of one person, and the aggravated battery and shooting at or from a motor vehicle…
Date: April 6, 2015
Docket Number: 34,182
Justia Opinion Summary: In a matter of first impression for the New Mexico Supreme Court, the issues this case presented related to the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission's authority and procedures in regulating utility rates of a…
Date: March 26, 2015
Docket Number: 34,607
Justia Opinion Summary: A trucking company purchased a liability insurance policy covering its tractors and trailers. The policy stipulated that liability coverage would be limited to "$1,000,000 each ‘accident.’" A tractor-trailer rig insured…
Date: March 12, 2015
Docket Number: 33,967
Justia Opinion Summary: Baby 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…
Date: March 12, 2015
Docket Number: 34,204
Justia Opinion Summary: Attorney Daniel Faber filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of three assistant attorneys who alleged alleging gender discrimination in connection with their salaries. The Attorney General filed a motion to stay litigation…
Date: March 9, 2015
Docket Number: 34,435
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Jason Strauch allegedly revealed to his wife that he had been sexually abusing their minor daughter. Defendant moved out of the family home for a time and began attending counseling with a private-practice…
Date: March 9, 2015
Docket Numbers: 34,499, 34,880
Justia Opinion Summary: Three former New Mexico State employees were denied unemployment compensation benefits by the Department of Workforce Solutions because they were in positions designated as "a major nontenured policy-making or advisory…
Date: February 20, 2015
Citation: 2015-NMSC-004
Docket Number: 33,632
Date: February 19, 2015
Docket Number: 34,286
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent Dr. Emre Yedidag was an employee-physician for Roswell Clinic Corp. and Roswell Hospital Corp. (Eastern New Mexico Medical Center). During a peer review of another Eastern employee-physician, Dr. Akbar Ali,…
Date: February 16, 2015
Docket Number: 33,684
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Michael Astorga was convicted by jury of first degree murder, tampering with evidence, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The State sought the death penalty; a sentencing jury could not unanimously…
Date: February 5, 2015
Docket Number: 34,271
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Donnie Silvas was convicted by jury of trafficking a controlled substance by possession with intent to distribute, and conspiracy to commit trafficking of the controlled substance. Both charges stemmed from one…
Date: January 12, 2015
Docket Number: 34,311
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Cesar Favela filed a motion requesting permission to withdraw his guilty plea, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel after his attorney failed to advise him that his guilty plea would result in…
Date: January 8, 2015
Docket Number: 34,365
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue this case presented for the Supreme Court's review was one of res judicata, and whether the preclusive effect of a fee proceeding in bankruptcy court on a later lawsuit for legal malpractice allegedly committed…
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