State v. Correa

• Decision Date: 29 September 2009
• Docket Number: No. 31,455.,31,455.
• Citation: 222 P.3d 1,2009 NMSC 051
• Parties: STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Danny CORREA, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: New Mexico Supreme Court

222 P.3d 1

2009 NMSC 051

STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Danny CORREA, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 31,455.

Supreme Court of New Mexico.

September 29, 2009.

Hugh W. Dangler, Chief Public Defender, Adrianne R. Turner, Assistant Appellate Defender, Santa Fe, NM, for Appellant.

Gary K. King, Attorney General, Andrea Sassa, Assistant Attorney General, Santa Fe, NM, for Appellee.

OPINION

BOSSON, Justice.

{1} We accepted certification from the Court of Appeals to address whether the Detoxification Reform Act (DRA), NMSA 1978, §§ 43-2-1.1 to -23 (1977, as amended through 2005), prohibits criminal prosecution for breaches of the peace when the suspect's behavior amounts to the normal manifestations of intoxication. For reasons discussed more fully below, we conclude that the DRA does not preclude the State from charging an accused with disorderly conduct when the accused's conduct otherwise satisfies the statutory elements of the charge, regardless of whether the offender is intoxicated. However, because the evidence in this case was insufficient to support a conviction for disorderly conduct, we reverse.

BACKGROUND

{2} On September 30, 2005, at approximately 10 p.m., Albuquerque police officers Lucas Townsend and Kelly Maes responded to a call from Defendant's neighbor, Robert Root, who alleged that Defendant had made death threats against him. After interviewing Root, police walked across the street to Defendant's home and knocked on the door. When Defendant answered the door, Officer Townsend identified himself as a police officer and stated that he wanted to talk to Defendant about the incident with Root. Defendant shut and locked the metal security door and stated that he did not want to speak with the officers. Officer Townsend made a second request for Defendant's cooperation, which was refused. Officer Townsend testified that Defendant raised his voice, used profanity, and instructed the officers to leave. The officers stated that Defendant appeared to be "heavily intoxicated" based on his slurred speech, bloodshot and watery eyes, and the smell of alcohol on his breath.

{3} At some point during this initial interaction, Defendant was joined at the front door by his friend, Marty Harrison, who also began making obscene gestures and yelling profanity at the officers through the metal security door. The officers retreated to the side of Defendant's house. As a result of Defendant's aggressive behavior, Officer Townsend was concerned for Root's safety and feared that Defendant might retaliate against Root for calling the police. The officers determined that Defendant and Harrison should not be left alone and decided to call additional officers to the scene. Approximately six officers arrived and took positions in Defendant's front driveway and in the backyard of a house adjacent to Defendant's home.

{4} Over the next three hours, a stand-off ensued while the officers maintained their watch. During that time, Defendant came out of the house two or three times. On each occasion, he would yell at the officers and then run back inside.¹ During these incidents, Defendant would swear at the police officers, tell them to leave his property, and make statements apparently designed to entice the officers to fight. After a few hours, the officers were satisfied that Defendant and Harrison had calmed down and left the scene without arresting either man.

{5} Nearly nine months later, Defendant was charged with one count of disorderly conduct as a result of this incident. Defendant was found guilty in the metropolitan court and sentenced to fifteen days in jail.² Defendant appealed to the district court, and after a de novo bench trial, that court also found Defendant guilty. Defendant appealed again to the Court of Appeals, challenging only whether the evidence was sufficient to support his conviction. That Court sua sponte raised the issue before us on certification—whether the DRA removes from criminal prosecutions "breaches of the peace otherwise punishable as petty misdemeanor disorderly conduct when the suspect's behavior amounts to the normal manifestations of intoxication."

DISCUSSION

The Detoxification Reform Act and Disorderly Conduct

{6} The DRA has a long history, and although it has been substantially revised over the years, its central purpose remains largely unchanged—to study the problems of alcoholism and to promote treatment and rehabilitation of alcoholics. See § 43-2-5. At issue in this case is Section 43-2-3 of the DRA, which states:

It is the policy of this state that intoxicated and incapacitated persons may not be subjected to criminal prosecution, but rather should be afforded protection. It is further the policy of this state that alcohol-impaired persons and drug-impaired persons should be afforded treatment in order that they may lead normal lives as productive members of society.

The Court of Appeals questions whether this section prohibits the State from prosecuting intoxicated persons for disorderly conduct pursuant to NMSA 1978, Section 30-20-1(A) (1967)³, and we are asked to construe the relationship between these two legislative enactments. Our research into the development of these two statutes has proved particularly helpful to understanding the effect of the modern DRA on New Mexico's current disorderly conduct statute. Therefore, we begin with an historical perspective of these two laws.

"Drunk and Disorderly"

{7} From New Mexico's earliest days, drunkenness and disorderly conduct were closely intertwined, and some of the first laws on record for the Territory address drunkenness and alcoholism. In 1855, for example, a person could be adjudged an "habitual drunkard" based on the affirmation of six men, and upon such determination, the district court could appoint a guardian or a trustee to manage both the person and his estate. See 1856 N.M. Laws, ch. 11, §§ 1-6. In addition, the Territorial Legislature passed an Act Against Persons Who Disturb Good Order, defined as

[e]very inhabitant within the limits of this Territory who shall appear drunk, or in their sound mind shall, within the plazas or streets, use, in loud voice, scandalous or obscene words, or may remain prostrate in the streets, or in any other public place, if they are not taken care of by some friend or relation who shall take them immediately to their houses, or prevent them from committing such scandal. Any person who shall commit such offences shall be immediately taken by any officer ... who, if in his judgment it should be necessary, may require the aid of the citizens, to place such delinquents in the county jail, from which they shall be set at liberty, for the first offense, the following day, having to pay the usual jail fees.⁴

Id. § 1.

{8} In 1891, our Territorial Legislature prohibited "Drunkenness and Disorderly Conduct" and declared that "[i]t shall be unlawful for any person to become intoxicated or disorderly, and any person found in such state shall upon conviction thereof before a justice of the peace be fined in a sum of not less than five dollars and not more than twenty-five dollars." 1891 N.M. Laws, ch. 9, § 9. This enactment remained in force and without substantial change until 1963,⁵ when the Legislature separated "disorderly conduct" from "drunkenness" as distinct offenses in the Criminal Code. See NMSA 1953, § 40A-20-1(A) (Vol. 6, 2d Repl.) (defining "disorderly conduct" as "violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud or otherwise disorderly conduct which tends to disturb the peace"); NMSA 1953, § 40A-20-2 (Vol. 6, 2d Repl.) ("Drunkenness consists of being so intoxicated in a public place that the person has become disorderly or is unable to care for his own safety. Whoever commits drunkenness is guilty of a petty misdemeanor."). "Drunkenness" remained a misdemeanor offense for an additional ten years when, in 1973, the Legislature repealed Section 40A-20-2 (being 1963 N.M. Laws, ch. 303, § 20-2), as part of the newly enacted Detoxification Act. See 1973 N.M. Laws, ch. 331, § 8.

The Detoxification Act

{9} In 1941, the Legislature created the Commission on Alcoholism to study the problems of alcoholism and to evaluate the methods and facilities available for treatment and rehabilitation. See 1949 N.M. Laws, ch. 114, § 3 (codified at NMSA 1953, § 46-12-3 (Vol. 7, Repl.)). In addition, the Legislature authorized the district courts to commit an alcoholic to an institution for up to three years if he was found to be a "habitual drunkard, chronic alcoholic, ... any person who has been five times convicted of intoxication ... or who is a person who has been legally determined to have lost the power of self control from the intemperate use of spirituous or intoxicating liquors." 1949 N.M. Laws, ch. 114, § 7 (codified at NMSA 1953, § 46-12-7 (Vol. 7, Repl.)).

{10} In 1973, the Legislature passed the Detoxification Act, which signaled a shift in the way the state addresses alcoholism. NMSA 1953, §§ 46-14-1 to -7 (Vol. 7, Repl., 1975 Pocket Supp.). Notably, the Legislature repealed Section 40A-20-2 and decriminalized "drunkenness." See 1973 N.M. Laws, ch. 331, § 8.⁶ Rather than continuing to punish alcoholism, the Act authorized peace officers to transport intoxicated persons to their residences, or to a health care facility or jail—in that order, depending on the circumstances—until the intoxicated person became orderly. Section 46-14-3. The Act noted, however, that "[a]n intoxicated person held in protective custody at a jail or transported to a health care facility under the Detoxification Act shall not be considered to have been arrested or charged with any crime." Section 46-14-7(B).

{11} This shift continued in 1977, when the Legislature amended the Act creating the Commission on Alcoholism⁷ to add a new section detailing the "policy of the State regarding alcoholism," which read:

It is the policy of this state that alcoholics and intoxicated...