State v. Boyett

• Court: New Mexico Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: Serna
• Citation: State v. Boyett, 185 P.3d 355, 2008 NMSC 30, 144 N.M. 184 (N.M. 2008)
• Decision Date: 28 April 2008
• Docket Number: No. 29,730.,29,730.
• Parties: STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Cecil BOYETT, Defendant-Appellant.

185 P.3d 355

2008 NMSC 030

144 N.M. 184

STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Cecil BOYETT, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 29,730.

Supreme Court of New Mexico.

April 28, 2008.

John Bigelow, Chief Public Defender, Sheila Lewis, Assistant Appellate Defender, Santa Fe, NM, for Appellant.

Gary K. King, Attorney General, Jacqueline R. Medina, Assistant Attorney General, Santa Fe, NM, for Appellee.

OPINION

SERNA, Justice.

{1} Defendant Cecil Boyett appeals from his conviction for the first degree murder of Deborah Rhodes (Victim), contrary to NMSA 1978, Section 30-2-1(A) (1963, as amended through 1994). He alleges that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on his theory of the case and in denying his motion for a new trial. We discern no error and affirm Defendant's conviction.

I. BACKGROUND

{2} Defendant and Victim had a rancorous history. The enmity that each harbored for the other apparently had its roots in a romantic interest that both had in Renate Wilder (Wilder).

{3} Wilder and Victim were childhood friends who eventually moved in together and started an intimate relationship. Although their romance ended, the two remained close friends, living and working together. Wilder later met Defendant, and the two became romantically involved. Wilder eventually supplanted Victim's presence in her life with that of Defendant. She fired Victim from her bar and gave Victim's former job to Defendant. She ousted Victim from her home with the help of a restraining order and invited Defendant to move in. At one point, Victim discovered the entwined couple near the hot tub behind Wilder's house. Enraged, Victim retrieved a gun from the house and used it to threaten the couple. Disdain developed between Defendant and Victim, and Victim only occasionally returned to Wilder's home after she was forced out.

{4} Following a protracted courtship, Wilder and Defendant planned to marry on February 6, 2004. A few days prior to her wedding, Wilder absconded from the home that she shared with Defendant. She spent that time with Victim and did not tell Defendant where she was or what she was doing. Wondering as to her whereabouts, Defendant engaged in a variety of activities aimed at locating her but was unsuccessful in his attempts; he rightfully suspected that she was with Victim although he was unable, at that time, to confirm his suspicions.

{5} On the afternoon of February 5, 2004, Wilder departed Victim's company to return to her own home but had a car accident along the way. The accident occurred near Victim's residence and, for a variety of reasons, Victim offered to claim responsibility for it. Wilder accepted and departed the scene on foot, walking back to the house that she shared with Defendant. Shortly after Wilder returned to the house, Victim arrived. Victim's visit concluded when Defendant shot her in the head with a .357 revolver from approximately four feet away, but the events leading to that end were disputed at trial.

{6} The State successfully argued to the jury that Defendant hated Victim, was furious with her for having kept Wilder away without telling him about it, and shot her that afternoon to put an end to her meddling in the couple's affairs. The State theorized that Victim went to the house to return Wilder's keys and makeup bag, which she had forgotten in the wrecked car. The State argued that before Victim could accomplish that goal, Defendant opened the front door, shouted at her to leave the property, and then immediately shot her.

{7} Defendant's version of events was quite different. He claimed that Victim came to the house that day intent on killing him to prevent his impending marriage to Wilder. Defendant testified that he heard a loud banging at the front door, grabbed the gun that he kept nearby, and opened the door only to find a furious Victim on the doorstep. Defendant said that he shouted at Victim, telling her to get off his property, but in the process of trying to run her off, he observed her draw the gun that he knew she routinely carried. In fear for his life, Defendant raised his revolver and shot Victim. Defendant asserted that if he had not shot her, she would have fired her gun and fatally wounded him.

{8} Defendant had two theories of the case. First, he argued that he was not guilty because he acted lawfully in shooting Victim, either in self defense, defense of another, or defense of habitation. Second, he argued that he was not guilty because he was unable to form the specific intent necessary to commit first degree murder. To establish his theory that he lacked specific intent, Defendant filed a Notice of Incapacity to Form Specific Intent (Notice) with the trial court. Although his Notice listed three expert witnesses who could have testified in support of the defense, Defendant did not produce an expert witness at trial. The expert that Defendant expected to testify regarding his specific intent, Dr. Lori Martinez, withdrew on the eve of her scheduled testimony after receiving police reports and other records from the State. Defendant did not offer testimony from the other experts listed in his Notice, nor did he seek a continuance to procure such testimony.

{9} Defendant requested that the jury be instructed on both theories. The trial court concluded that the jury instruction related to defense of habitation, UJI 14-5170 NMRA, did not apply in this case because Defendant did not shoot Victim inside his home. The trial court denied Defendant's instruction on inability to form specific intent, UJI 14-5110 NMRA, because it required expert testimony and none had been provided. Based on the instructions that it was given, the jury convicted Defendant of first degree murder.

{10} After the verdict, Defendant filed a motion for a new trial. He alleged that he was surprised by Dr. Martinez's withdrawal and was unable to replace her when she refused to testify. Defendant also contended that the State had intimidated Dr. Martinez by providing her with the previously unseen reports and statements. Defendant argued that he was "without the ability to obtain another expert to testify to [the specific intent] matter," and thus he should be granted a new trial in which he could offer such expert testimony. The trial court denied Defendant's motion for a new trial and sentenced him to life in prison.

{11} Defendant is now before this Court on direct appeal. See N.M. Const. art. VI, § 2 ("Appeals from a judgment of the district court imposing a sentence of . . . life imprisonment shall be taken directly to the supreme court."); accord Rule 12-102(A)(1) NMRA. He challenges the trial court's refusal to instruct the jury on defense of habitation and inability to form specific intent, as well as its denial of his motion for a new trial. Concluding that the trial court made the proper ruling on those issues, we affirm Defendant's conviction. We write to clarify the law governing defense of habitation and to elucidate the evidentiary requirement for a jury instruction on inability to form specific intent.

II. DEFENDANT WAS NOT ENTITLED TO THE REQUESTED JURY INSTRUCTIONS

A. Standard of Review

{12} "The propriety of denying a jury instruction is a mixed question of law and fact that we review de novo." State v. Gaines, 2001-NMSC-036, ¶ 4, 131 N.M. 347, 36 P.3d 438. A defendant is entitled to an instruction on his or her theory of the case if evidence has been presented that is "sufficient to allow reasonable minds to differ as to all elements of the offense." State v. Gonzales, 2007-NMSC-059, ¶ 19, 143 N.M. 25, 172 P.3d 162. "When considering a defendant's requested instructions, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the giving of the requested instruction[s]." State v. Contreras, 2007-NMCA-119, ¶ 8, 142 N.M. 518, 167 P.3d 966 (alternation in original) (quoted authority omitted). Failure to instruct the jury on a defendant's theory of the case is reversible error only if the evidence at trial supported giving the instruction. See State v. Gardner, 85 N.M. 104, 107, 509 P.2d 871, 874 (1973) ("[T]he court need not instruct if there is absence of such evidence.").

{13} We address Defendant's claim to each of the requested instructions in turn.

B. Defense of Habitation

{14} The trial court denied the defense of habitation instruction based on its conclusion that the defense applies to only those situations in which an intruder is killed within the home. Picking up the torch lit by the trial court, the State now argues that the defense should be limited to situations in which a person forcibly enters a home and is killed while intruding therein. By that argument, the State seeks our endorsement of a bright line rule that would require an intruder to cross the threshold before an occupant's use of force to repel that entry could be justified by defense of habitation. Despite the State's contention, we are unwilling to draw such a bright line.

{15} Defense of habitation has long been recognized in New Mexico. See, e.g., State v. Bailey, 27 N.M. 145, 162-63, 198 P. 529, 534 (1921). It gives a person the right to use lethal force against an intruder when such force is necessary to prevent the commission of a felony in his or her home. Id. at 162, 198 P. at 534; see also UJI 14-5170. The defense is grounded in the theory that "[t]he home is one of the most important institutions of the state, and has ever been regarded as a place where a person has a right to stand his [or her] ground and repel, force by force, to the extent necessary for its protection." State v. Couch, 52 N.M. 127, 134, 193 P.2d 405, 409 (1946) (quoted authority omitted). Ultimately, in every purported defense of habitation, the use of deadly force is justified only if the defendant reasonably believed that the commission of a felony in his or her home was immediately at hand and that it was necessary to kill the intruder to prevent that occurrence. Id. at 133-34, 193 P.2d at 409...