State v. Gonzales

• Decision Date: 04 August 2005
• Docket Number: No. 28,645.,28,645.
• Citation: 119 P.3d 151,2005 NMSC 025
• Parties: STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Petitioner, v. Miguel O. GONZALES and Michael Gonzales, Jr., Defendants-Respondents.
• Court: New Mexico Supreme Court

119 P.3d 151

2005 NMSC 025

STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Petitioner, v. Miguel O. GONZALES and Michael Gonzales, Jr., Defendants-Respondents.

No. 28,645.

Supreme Court of New Mexico.

August 4, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Patricia A. Madrid, Attorney General, Joel Jacobsen, Assistant Attorney General, Albuquerque, NM, for Petitioner.

Law Office of Billy R. Blackburn, Billy R. Blackburn, Mark Fine, Albuquerque, NM, Law Office of Jose R. Coronado, Jose R. Coronado, Las Cruces, NM, for Respondents.

OPINION

MINZNER, Justice.

{1} The State appeals from an unpublished decision of the Court of Appeals, State v. Gonzales, Nos. 22,580/22,612 (N.M.Ct.App. Apr. 16, 2004), affirming the district court's order on Defendants' motion disqualifying the Office of District Attorney for the Third Judicial District. The State has argued that the Court of Appeals erred in reviewing the district court's order for an abuse of discretion and that the district court erred in disqualifying the entire office on the basis of an appearance of impropriety. We conclude an immediate appeal was appropriate and clarify the appropriate standard of appellate review. We hold that a prosecutor may be disqualified when there is a factual basis for determining that he or she has a bias that might influence his or her professional judgment. We also hold that disqualification may be imputed to the office when there is an appearance of impropriety in permitting anyone else in the office to proceed. On the facts of this case, the district court did not err in disqualifying the entire office because both requirements were met. We affirm.

I

{2} On November 1, 1999, Defendants, who are father and son, were indicted separately. The indictments subsequently were joined for trial. In December, 2000, Defendant Michael Gonzales, Jr., moved the district court for an order instructing District Attorney Martinez to produce exculpatory evidence. In January, 2001, his father, Defendant Miguel O. Gonzales, moved for a similar order. Before these motions were resolved, at a status conference, the court entered an order changing venue on a motion by Defendants in which the State had concurred. At that time a trial on the merits was scheduled for August 20, 2001 in Albuquerque. The parties anticipated a four-week trial. Subsequently, the court entered orders granting in part and denying in part Defendants' discovery motions. In May, Defendants again moved for an order compelling discovery.

{3} In June, 2001, Defendant Michael Gonzales moved to disqualify the entire Third Judicial District Attorney's Office. The next day his father moved to adopt the motion, and a week later he filed supplemental grounds on behalf of himself and his son. Defendants initially alleged an appearance of impropriety, a conflict of interest, or an appearance of a conflict of interest in the District Attorney's continued prosecution. As supplemental grounds, Defendants alleged the District Attorney failed to produce exculpatory evidence. On July 19 and 20, 2001, the district court held an evidentiary hearing. The testimony at the hearing conflicted on several important points. Other points were undisputed.

{4} It is undisputed that the District Attorney Martinez formerly worked as a prosecutor in the Office of the District Attorney for the Third Judicial District from October, 1986, to August, 1993. During at least part of this time, Defendant Miguel Gonzales worked as an investigator in the office. After a new district attorney was elected, Martinez was fired. Subsequently, in 1996, she successfully ran against the incumbent District Attorney. Defendants supported her opponent in the 1996 election.

{5} The nature of the relationship between Martinez and Defendant Miguel Gonzales from 1986 to 1993 was disputed at the hearing. Martinez testified that she seldom worked with him and, although she was dissatisfied with his work, she did not hate or dislike him. Other witnesses who had worked in the office of the Third Judicial District, however, testified that she spoke very disparagingly of him and that she strongly disliked him.

{6} It is also undisputed that in 1996 Defendant Michael Gonzales worked in the office as an investigator and that he and the District Attorney-Elect Martinez met before she took office in January, 1997. He continued working at the office until August 7, 1998, when he resigned.

{7} The basis for his decision to resign and the role of the District Attorney in that decision was the subject of conflicting testimony. She testified that he repeatedly worked a second job during the hours he was supposed to be working for her, that she attempted to suspend him for misconduct, and that, when it was determined that she had not followed the correct procedure for suspension, he later resigned voluntarily. He testified that she forced him to resign by making his job intolerable. A witness, who had supported her in the 1996 election and had been an assistant district attorney for the Third Judicial District, testified that he heard her say before the election that Defendant Michael Gonzales would be fired or forced out of the office if she won the election. The same witness testified he believed that is what had happened. On cross-examination, Martinez admitted telling supporters that some people would lose their jobs if she won.

{8} The relationship between Defendant Michael Gonzales and Martinez also was the subject of dispute. She testified that she did not like or dislike him and that he was likeable. He testified at one time they were on good terms. The same witness who testified that he believed the defendant had been forced to retire testified that he had heard her speak very disparagingly of him.

{9} It is undisputed that Defendant Michael Gonzales was employed by Martinez when the investigation into the crimes for which he and his father were indicted began. About the time he left the office, she became aware of the investigation. Subsequently, it became clear that Defendants would not be prosecuted by the United States Attorney in federal court. It is unclear from the record when it became clear that prosecution would occur, if at all, in state court. Martinez testified that she participated in the decision to prosecute Defendants and that there was no attempt to screen her from subsequent decisions related to Defendants' prosecutions. It is also undisputed that Defendant Michael Gonzales notified the District Attorney when he resigned in 1998 that he was considering a civil rights action against one or more members of her office. There was evidence that the office initiated civil abatement proceedings against a business owned by Defendants the day after a plea offer in the matter expired and had failed to provide Defendants exculpatory evidence in a timely fashion. There was evidence that the District Attorney had forwarded a number of other investigations and prosecutions to the offices of other district attorneys to avoid a conflict, including a prior prosecution of Defendant Michael Gonzales that was subsequently dismissed and the prosecution of her 1996 and 2000 opponents.

{10} At the close of testimony, the district court ruled from the bench that the evidence justified disqualifying the entire office. In a subsequent written order the judge noted the political significance of the matter, evidence that Defendant Michael Gonzales had been treated in a "bad faith" manner during his employment, that the office had been late in providing discovery, and that members of the office had acted overzealously.

{11} The Court of Appeals concluded that the district court had a factual basis for its conclusion and properly relied upon State v. Pennington, 115 N.M. 372, 851 P.2d 494 (Ct.App.1993). Gonzales, Nos. 22,580/22,612, slip op. at 4. The Court of Appeals reviewed, pursuant to Pennington, for an abuse of discretion and concluded that the district court did not err in disqualifying the entire office. Id. at 7. Judge Bustamante, concurring specially, indicated that the district court's order lacked clarity but the record supported a determination that a "corrosive political atmosphere surround[ed] these prosecutions" and a conclusion, to which an appellate court should defer, that under the circumstances of this case disqualification of the entire office was appropriate "for the good of the community." Id. at 8.

{12} The State petitioned this Court for certiorari, which we granted, and we requested both briefing and oral argument. On certiorari the State has argued that a court should disqualify an entire office only when an equally important constitutional interest is at stake for a defendant. The State reasons that disqualification of an entire office implicates and on these facts violates the New Mexico Constitution by infringing upon the right of Dona Ana County voters to elect a district attorney and by intruding upon the separate and distinct powers of the executive branch. The State asks us to recognize that in light of these important interests we ought to review de novo the order disqualifying the office of the district attorney. In addition, the State argues that the district court's order contains insufficient grounds for disqualifying the entire office. In particular, the State argues that the court erred in referring to the political significance of the underlying case.

{13} We believe that the State's arguments require us to resolve two important issues. The first issue is the appropriate analysis when a defendant moves to disqualify a district attorney office. The second issue is whether the evidence in this case supported the district court's ruling. We address each of these issues in turn. Our discussion necessarily requires us to construe the district court's order, to determine the appropriate standard of appellate review, and to apply that standard to the evidence in the record. We address the State's other arguments in the...