New Mexico Supreme Court Decisions 2017
Date: December 28, 2017
Docket Number: S-1-SC-36786
Justia Opinion Summary: The State filed a Motion for Pretrial Detention in this case involving a charge of first-degree murder, which was denied by the district court judge after an evidentiary hearing. The State appealed to the New Mexico…
Date: December 21, 2017
Docket Number: S-1-SC-35629
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury found Defendant Alejandro Ramirez guilty of shooting and killing Johnny Vialpando. Ramirez was convicted of several offenses, including first-degree murder, and the district court sentenced Ramirez to life…
Date: November 20, 2017
Docket Number: S-1-SC-35302
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Sarah Cahn invoked the due process exception to the New Mexico Medical Malpractice Act (MMA), but did not file her late-accruing medical malpractice claim against Respondent John Berryman, M.D. within twelve…
Date: November 9, 2017
Docket Number: S-1-SC-35976
Justia Opinion Summary: This case concerned the inventory search exception to the warrant requirement. Wesley Davis was arrested for operating a motorcycle without a license. Davis was carrying a backpack; during the stop, an Eddy County…
Date: October 23, 2017
Docket Number: S-1-SC-34630
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant John Ochoa appealed his convictions relating to criminal sexual contact of a minor, and the Court of Appeals reversed on speedy trial grounds. Defendant was arrested in 2008. Prior to a mistrial in 2010, trial…
Date: October 5, 2017
Docket Number: S-1-SC-34839
Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted defendant Benjamin David Baroz III of felony murder based on the predicate felony of shooting at or from a motor vehicle, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and possession of drug…
Date: October 5, 2017
Docket Number: S-1-SC-36197
Justia Opinion Summary: In the early morning April 23, 2011, the Bernalillo County Sheriff Department was conducting a DWI checkpoint in Albuquerque. Defendant Laressa Vargas was pulled over as part of the checkpoint. The Deputy at the…
Date: September 17, 2017
Docket Numbers: 36,169, 36,174
Justia Opinion Summary: The New Mexico Supreme Court consolidated two separate appeals of a final order of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) that granted a taxicab certificate to Q Cab, LLC for new taxicab service in…
Date: August 24, 2017
Docket Number: 36,062
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Jesus Castro was charged with two counts of criminal sexual penetration. Defendant had two trials: the first resulted in a mistrial, and after the second, a jury convicted him of one count of forced penile…
Date: August 17, 2017
Docket Number: 35,148
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent El Castillo Retirement Residences was a self-sustaining retirement and continuing care community, funded entirely by admission and monthly fees paid by residents who have met El Castillo’s requirements for…
Date: August 3, 2017
Docket Number: 35,524
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner League of Women Voters of New Mexico sought a writ of mandamus directing Respondent Advisory Committee to the New Mexico Compilation Commission, to effectuate the compilation of three constitutional amendments…
Date: June 30, 2017
Docket Number: 34,662
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Carlos Carrillo appealed his convictions for the murders of Christopher Kinney and Lyndsey Frost, tampering with evidence, and breaking and entering. Defendant argued: (1) the district court erred in allowing…
Date: June 30, 2017
Docket Number: 35,349
Justia Opinion Summary: Edward McElveny (McElveny) died intestate in 1991. In April 2013, McElveny’s grandson, Michael Phillips, filed an application with the Santa Fe County Probate Court (Probate Court) to be informally appointed personal…
Date: June 19, 2017
Docket Number: 34,252
Justia Opinion Summary: The New Mexico Supreme Court addressed the circumstances under which detectives may question a juvenile defendant in the absence of and without notification of a court-appointed attorney or court-appointed guardian ad…
Date: June 19, 2017
Docket Number: 35,974
Justia Opinion Summary: The New Mexico Supreme Court concluded that the minor children of a parent whom they allege was wrongfully shot and killed by a law enforcement officer could: (1) sue for loss of consortium damages under the New Mexico…
Date: May 22, 2017
Docket Number: 34,093
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners who pursue the recall of a local school board member under the Recall Act are entitled to the procedural protections of the New Mexico statute prohibiting strategic litigation against public participation…
Date: May 15, 2017
Docket Number: 35,881
Justia Opinion Summary: This case addressed the procedure for determining whether a jury was deadlocked. In this case, the jury announced that it was hung on Count 1, which required it to consider whether Defendant Clive Phillips was guilty of…
Date: April 27, 2017
Docket Number: 34,830
Justia Opinion Summary: The New Mexico Supreme Court clarified the circumstances under which a court may permissibly exclude a witness as a discovery sanction. Defendant-appellant Ashley Le Mier unsuccessfully attempted to smuggle illegal…
Date: March 30, 2017
Docket Number: 34,775
Justia Opinion Summary: Shortly before 4:00 am with a police officer in pursuit, Defendant Trevor Merhege ran through the front yard of a private residence that was enclosed by a three-foot-high wall. He became entangled on a chain link fence…
Date: March 13, 2017
Docket Number: 35,214
Justia Opinion Summary: Kimberly Montano, a New Mexico resident, sought bariatric surgery for her obesity in early 2004. At that time Eldo Frezza, M.D. was the only doctor from whom Montano could receive that surgery and still be covered by her…
Date: March 9, 2017
Docket Number: 35,407
Justia Opinion Summary: A court-appointed psychologist evaluated Defendant Desiree Linares and recommended that she be found incompetent to stand trial due to mental retardation. The State doubted the psychologist’s testing methodology and…
Date: February 6, 2017
Docket Number: 36,030
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner and Albuquerque resident David Crum was registered to vote in New Mexico as a qualified voter who declined to designate or state his political party affiliation (DTS). He sought to vote during the 2014 primary…
Date: January 26, 2017
Docket Number: 35,508
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Marcos Suazo became agitated while roughhousing with his friend Matthew Vigil. Suazo retrieved his shotgun and pointed it at Vigil. Vigil grabbed the shotgun and placed the barrel in his mouth. Suazo pulled the…
Date: January 26, 2017
Docket Number: 35,512
Justia Opinion Summary: The issue this case presented for the New Mexico Supreme Court’s review was whether a 2009 default foreclosure judgment could be collaterally attacked based on assertions that the judgment was void for lack of…
Date: January 23, 2017
Docket Number: 35,751
Justia Opinion Summary: Trevor Begay pleaded no contest to a petty misdemeanor count of battery. The County Magistrate Court imposed a 182-day sentence, suspended 171 days, credited Begay with 11 days of pre-sentence confinement, and imposed…
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