State v. Frank

• Decision Date: 24 July 2002
• Docket Number: No. 26,907.,26,907.
• Citation: 2002 NMSC 26,52 P.3d 404,132 N.M. 544
• Parties: STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Petitioner, v. Travis FRANK, Defendant-Respondent.
• Court: New Mexico Supreme Court

52 P.3d 404

132 N.M. 544

2002 NMSC 26

STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Petitioner, v. Travis FRANK, Defendant-Respondent.

No. 26,907.

Supreme Court of New Mexico.

July 24, 2002.

Patricia A. Madrid, Attorney General, Arthur W. Pepin, Assistant Attorney General, Santa Fe, NM, for Petitioner.

Phyllis H. Subin, Chief Public Defender, Laurel A. Knowles, Assistant Appellate Defender, Santa Fe, NM, for Respondent.

Levon B. Henry, Attorney General, Marcelino R. Gomez, Assistant Attorney General, Donovan D. Brown, Sr., Acting Chief Prosecutor, Window Rock, AZ, for Amicus Curiae, Navajo Nation.

OPINION

FRANCHINI, Justice.

{1} Defendant Travis Frank entered a conditional plea of guilty to six counts of vehicular homicide, contrary to NMSA 1978, § 66-8-101(A) (1991), reserving for appeal the issue of the State's jurisdiction to prosecute the case. Defendant, a registered member of the Navajo nation, had unsuccessfully challenged the State's jurisdiction to prosecute him in a motion to dismiss. In his first appeal, State v. Frank, 1997-NMCA-093, ¶ 1, 123 N.M. 734, 945 P.2d 464 (hereinafter Frank I), Defendant challenged the findings of fact and conclusions of law reached by the district court in denying Defendant's motion to dismiss. Defendant argued that "the accident occurred within the boundaries of a dependent Indian community, ... thus depriving the state of jurisdiction to prosecute Defendant of the criminal charges against him." Id. The Court of Appeals in Frank I reversed and remanded the case for the district court to make additional findings, applying the analysis from Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Co. v. Watchman, 52 F.3d 1531 (10th Cir.1995). Frank, 1997-NMCA-093, ¶ 2,123 N.M. 734,945 P.2d 464.

{2} Before the district court could follow the mandate of the Court of Appeals, the United States Supreme Court established a test for determining what constitutes a dependent Indian community. See Alaska v. Native Village of Venetie Tribal Gov't, 522 U.S. 520, 527, 118 S.Ct. 948, 140 L.Ed.2d 30 (1998). The district court, concluding that the Supreme Court decision superseded the previous law articulated in Watchman, applied the two-prong test articulated in Venetie. The district court based its findings of fact and conclusions of law upon the Venetie holding and determined that the State had jurisdiction. Defendant appealed again from the district court ruling. State v. Frank, 2001-NMCA-026, 130 N.M. 306, 24 P.3d 338, cert. granted, No. 26,907, 130 N.M. 254, 23 P.3d 929 (2001) (hereinafter Frank II). In a divided opinion, the Court of Appeals held that the district court had erred because it had not applied the correct criteria in determining jurisdiction and reversed and remanded for additional findings and conclusions. Id. ¶ 2. The State appealed, petitioning this Court to issue a writ of certiorari to the Court of Appeals under NMSA 1978, § 34-5-14(B) (1972), which we granted. We reverse the Court of Appeals and affirm the district court.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURE

{3} On May 21, 1994, Defendant was driving a motor vehicle in which his father-in-law was the only passenger. Frank, 1997-NMCA-093, ¶ 3, 123 N.M. 734, 945 P.2d 464. Defendant caused a serious accident that killed his father-in-law and five passengers in the other car. Id. Defendant was indicted by a grand jury of six counts of vehicular homicide; speeding; failure to carry proof of financial responsibility; and five counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

{4} The accident occurred on New Mexico State Highway 44 at mile post 119.8. Highway 44 is a state road that runs through a checkerboard area, "so-called because of its pattern of land owned or administered by the federal government, the Navajo Nation, Navajo allottees, the state, and private non-Indians." Frank, 2001-NMCA-026, ¶ 4, 130 N.M. 306, 24 P.3d 338. The land on which the accident occurred is owned by the federal government and administered by the Bureau of Land Management. Id. The district court denied Defendant's motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction and concluded that the area where the crash occurred is not Indian country as defined by 18 U.S.C. § 1151 (2000) and Blatchford v. Sullivan, 904 F.2d 542 (10th Cir.1990).

{5} On March 20, 1995, Defendant pleaded guilty to all six counts of vehicular homicide. Defendant specifically reserved in the plea and disposition agreement the right to appeal whether the State had jurisdiction to prosecute. In October of 1995, the district court sentenced Defendant to twenty-four years in prison adding one year to each count for aggravating circumstances. See NMSA 1978, § 31-18-15.1(A) (1993).

A. Frank I

{6} Defendant appealed his conviction to the Court of Appeals arguing that the state court lacked jurisdiction. Frank, 1997-NMCA-093, ¶ 1, 123 N.M. 734, 945 P.2d 464. The sole issue on appeal was whether the accident occurred within the boundaries of a dependent Indian community, and therefore within Indian country. Id. To determine whether the accident occurred in a dependent Indian community, the Court of Appeals examined the multi-factor test established in Watchman. Id. ¶ 5. The Court of Appeals ultimately reversed and remanded the case, mandating that the district court apply the Watchman test. Id. ¶ 15.

{7} After the case was remanded, but before the district court re-analyzed the jurisdiction issue, the Supreme Court decided Venetie. The Venetie decision established a two-prong test requiring courts to determine if the land at issue was federally set-aside for the use of Indians as Indian lands and was also under federal superintendence. Venetie,522 U.S. at 527,118 S.Ct. 948. The district court concluded that the Supreme Court decision superseded any previous law on the matter and therefore applied the Venetie analysis rather than the Watchman analysis. Frank, 2001-NMCA-026, ¶ 6,130 N.M. 306,24 P.3d 338. The district court issued findings of fact and conclusions of law in which the court concluded that the accident did not occur in a dependent Indian community and that the State had jurisdiction over the matter. Id. ¶ 4.

B. Frank II

{8} Defendant appealed his conviction again and raised the following arguments: "(1) the district court did not follow the mandate of [the Court of Appeals] in the first appeal of the case because it did not use the two-step analysis ordered in Frank [I]; (2) the district court's findings of fact are insufficient for it to have analyzed the jurisdiction issue under Venetie as applied in the Tenth Circuit; and (3) the area in question is a `dependent Indian community' as defined by 18 U.S.C. § 1151, as a matter of law." Frank, 2001-NMCA-026, ¶ 3, 130 N.M. 306, 24 P.3d 338. The Court of Appeals determined that the district court erred because the district court did not first examine the community of reference question before applying the Venetie test. Id. ¶ 2.

II. DISCUSSION

{9} The State argues that it was proper for the district court to have used the Venetie test and that the district court correctly determined the site of the accident was not in Indian country. The State reasons that the majority opinion of the Court of Appeals erred when it rejected the district court's findings and conclusions in Frank II and remanded for the district court to find a community of reference. As the Court of Appeals in Frank II correctly observed, the Venetie decision "is a controlling interpretation of federal law." Frank, 2001-NMCA-026, ¶ 6, 130 N.M. 306, 24 P.3d 338. We agree that the Court of Appeals erred when it required the district court to first examine the community of reference as a threshold inquiry before applying the test in Venetie.

{10} "The appropriate standard for review on appeal is whether the law was correctly applied to the facts, viewing them in a manner most favorable to the prevailing party." State v. Boeglin, 100 N.M. 127, 132, 666 P.2d 1274, 1279 (Ct.App.1983). In reviewing a district court's findings of fact, we "defer to the [district] court's determinations of fact if such findings are supported by substantial evidence." State v. Dick, 1999-NMCA-062, ¶ 7, 127 N.M. 382, 981 P.2d 796. "As to matters of law, [a reviewing court] conducts a de novo review." Id. In the present case, we review de novo the district court's application of Venetie to the facts.

{11} The district court had conducted an evidentiary hearing on the motion to dismiss and subsequently issued the findings of fact and conclusions of law that were reviewed by the Court of Appeals in Frank I. Defendant did not dispute the site of the collision and acknowledged that the location was on a state highway on land owned by the Bureau of Land Management. After the remand hearing, the court issued additional findings of fact and conclusions of law in which the court incorporated by reference the findings from the first hearing. The district court found that "[n]o evidence was produced indicating that the area in question was set aside by the Federal Government for the exclusive use of Indians." The court also found that the land in question was administered by the Bureau of Land Management. It then concluded that, under the two-prong analysis required by Venetie, "the area in which the crash occurred is not Indian country as defined by 18 U.S.C. § 1151." After careful review of the matter, we have determined that the findings of fact were supported by substantial evidence and the conclusions of law were correct applications of the law to the facts. The district court properly addressed each element of the Venetie test in arriving at its conclusions.

A. Dependent Indian Country

{12} As a general principle, a state does not have jurisdiction over crimes committed by an Indian in Indian country. Dick, 1999-NMCA-062, ¶ 8,127 N.M. 382,981 P.2d 796. In the present case, because the accident did not occur on an Indian reservation or allotment, whether the accident occurred in Indian country depends on whether the accident occurred...