State v. Griffin, 21136

• Decision Date: 02 June 1994
• Docket Number: No. 21136,21136
• Citation: 877 P.2d 551,117 N.M. 745,1994 NMSC 61
• Parties: STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. James Theodore GRIFFIN, Defendant-Petitioner.
• Court: New Mexico Supreme Court

Page 551

877 P.2d 551

117 N.M. 745

STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. James Theodore GRIFFIN, Defendant-Petitioner.

No. 21136.

Supreme Court of New Mexico.

June 2, 1994.

[117 N.M. 746] Sammy J. Quintana, Chief Public Defender, Amme M. Hogan, Asst. Appellate Defender, Santa Fe, for petitioner.

Tom Udall, Atty. Gen., Gail MacQuesten, Asst. Atty. Gen., Santa Fe, for respondent.

OPINION

RANSOM, Justice.

We issued our writ of certiorari to review an unpublished memorandum opinion of the Court of Appeals pursuant to NMSA 1978, Section 34-5-14(B) (Repl.Pamp.1991). 115 N.M. 409, 852 P.2d 682. Affirming the ruling of the Court of Appeals that an order granting a new criminal trial based on newly-discovered evidence was immediately appealable by the State, we reaffirm State v. Chavez, 98 N.M. 682, 652 P.2d 232 (1982) [Chavez I ], but we overrule State v. Chavez, 101 N.M. 136, 679 P.2d 804 (1984) [Chavez II ], and we limit an immediate appeal to issues of law.

Facts and procedural history. James Theodore Griffin was convicted of one count of distribution of a controlled substance under NMSA 1978, Section 30-31-22(A)(1) (Repl.Pamp.1989). Alleging that he had obtained newly-discovered evidence, Griffin moved for a new trial under SCRA 1986, 5-614 (Repl.Pamp.1992). The court granted the new trial. The State appealed to the Court of Appeals, claiming legal error in that Griffin failed to meet the requirements for a new trial based on newly-discovered evidence as set forth in State v. Volpato, 102 N.M. 383, 384-85, 696 P.2d 471, 472-73 (1985). The State argued that under Chavez I it could immediately appeal the order and avoid the expense and delay of another full trial. Finding that under Chavez I the State is constitutionally entitled to appeal an order granting a new trial, the Court of Appeals apparently assumed without discussion that Chavez I implied that the order was immediately appealable. The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court, holding that the trial court erred in granting the new trial because Griffin's "newly-discovered evidence" did not meet the six-prong test as required by Volpato. The issue before this Court, therefore, concerns the timing of an appeal of an order granting a new criminal trial: May the State appeal before final judgment in the subsequent trial?

Chavez I. The Court in Chavez I made two holdings. First, it held that even though there is no statutory authority for the State to appeal a motion for a new trial, ¹ the State has a constitutional, absolute right to appeal an order granting a new trial. 98 N.M. at 683, 652 P.2d at 233. The Court's rationale for that holding was that the State has a "strong interest in enforcing a lawful jury verdict." Id. The Court held that when a verdict is set aside after a fair trial that is free from error, the State is aggrieved within the meaning of Article VI, Section 2 of the New Mexico Constitution. ² Id. The second holding of the Chavez I Court was that because the trial court had not complied with the procedural rule requiring the court to fully set forth the grounds on which the order granting a new trial was based, the case had to be remanded. Id. at 684, 652 P.2d at 234. Although implicit in the Court's review was a determination that appeal of the order granting new trial could be taken before retrial, this Court did not specifically address why the interlocutory order was immediately appealable by the State.

Chavez II. On appeal after remand, this Court determined in Chavez II that the trial court manifestly abused its discretion in ordering a new trial. 101 N.M. at 138, 679 P.2d at 806. In following the mandate of Chavez I to set forth fully the grounds upon which the order for new trial was based, the trial court stated that the overwhelming evidence was against a conviction for first-degree murder; that the court's instructions were confusing to the jury, as demonstrated by the fact that the jury answered a question that it was instructed to answer only if it found second-degree murder; and that the depraved-mind murder theory was not supported by the evidence, but the court could not say that the jury did not find Chavez guilty upon that theory. Id. at 137-38, 679 P.2d at 805-06. On appeal, this Court's major objection was to what it considered a reweighing of the evidence and the credibility of witnesses. Id. at 138, 679 P.2d at 806.

The implicit holding of Chavez II is that if no legal error is claimed, the trial court may not overturn the verdict simply because it disagrees with the verdict. While we generally agree with that statement, this Court is now of the opinion that the Chavez II Court reached the wrong result for two reasons. First, although the factfinder is indeed responsible for weighing the evidence and determining credibility, it has long been held at common law that when there is such overwhelming evidence against conviction that it is apparent to the trial court that injustice has been done, the court has the duty to grant a new trial. See, e.g., Territory v. Webb, 2 N.M. (Gild., E.W.S. ed.) 147, 156 (1881) (stating that in a criminal trial "[w]here the evidence is contradictory and the verdict is against the weight of evidence ... a new trial may be granted by the court trying the cause in their discretion"); Ruhe v. Abren, 1 N.M. (Gild., E.W.S. ed.) 247, 254 (1857) (overruling trial court's refusal to grant new trial and stating "it is a sound rule, and recognized by the best authorities, that a new trial will be granted where the weight of evidence is clearly in favor of the applicant, and it appears that justice has not been done").

Without discussion, the majority in Chavez II departed from the common law established in New Mexico, basing its holding that the trial court may not act as a "thirteenth juror" on State v. Williams, 96 Wash.2d 215, 634 P.2d 868 (1981) (en banc). See 101 N.M. at 138, 679 P.2d at 806. A re-examination of Williams, however, shows that the analysis of the Williams court is flawed. The Williams court based its holding upon a civil case in which the trial court erroneously granted a judgment notwithstanding the verdict. See Williams, 634 P.2d at 872-73 (quoting standard from Rettinger v. Bresnahan, 42 Wash.2d 631, 257 P.2d 633, 635 (1953)). Of course, as the Court of Appeals had noted in its Chavez II opinion (adopted by Justice Sosa in dissent), the standard the trial court uses in determining whether to grant a judgment notwithstanding the verdict or directed verdict of acquittal is vastly different from that of new trial.

On a motion for judgment of acquittal, the court is required to approach the evidence from a standpoint most favorable to the government, and to assume the truth of the evidence offered by the prosecution. If on this basis there is substantial evidence justifying an inference of guilt, the motion for acquittal must be denied.

On a motion for new trial, however, the power of the court is much broader. It may weigh the evidence and consider the credibility of witnesses. If the court reaches the conclusion that the verdict is contrary to the weight of the evidence and that a miscarriage of justice may have resulted, the verdict may be set aside and a new trial granted.

Chavez II, 101 N.M. at 141, 679 P.2d at 809 (Sosa, J., dissenting) (quoting 3 Charles A. Wright, Federal Practice and Procedure Sec. 553 (1982) (footnotes omitted)) (emphasis added); see also Tibbs v. Florida, 457 U.S. 31, 37-42, 102 S.Ct. 2211, 2215-18, 72 L.Ed.2d 652 (1982) (distinguishing between the two standards and holding that retrial of a defendant after a ruling that a guilty verdict is against the weight of the evidence is not barred by double jeopardy principles). In departing from a previous case that held that a court may grant a new criminal trial if there is a "substantial conflict in the evidence upon controlling issues," Williams, 634 P.2d at 875 (quoting State v. Brent, 30 Wash.2d 286, 191 P.2d 682, 689 (1948) (en banc)), the Williams court adopted the Rettinger language without noting the crucial distinction between the two cases. Also, the Williams court expressed a concern that the Brent holding was incompatible with Hudson v. Louisiana, 450 U.S. 40, 43-44, 101 S.Ct. 970, 972-73, 67 L.Ed.2d 30 (1981), which held that a finding of legal insufficiency of the evidence barred retrial by reason of double jeopardy. Williams, 634 P.2d at 875-76. In light of the holding of Tibbs, it is clear that the court's concern is not valid. The Chavez II majority cited only one other opinion in support of its conclusion, People v. Gennings, 196 Colo. 208, 583 P.2d 908 (1978) (en banc), which we note is also a case in which the trial court granted a judgment notwithstanding the verdict.

We agree with the Court in Chavez II that a trial court may not "substitute its judgment for that of the jury, simply because it may disagree with the verdict," 101 N.M. at 138, 679 P.2d at 806 (quoting Williams, 634 P.2d at 872), but we do not believe that is what the trial court has done when it rules that the overwhelming weight of the evidence is against conviction. When the trial court reaches this conclusion, it is stating not just that it disagrees, but that the evidence so heavily preponderates against the verdict that there evidently has been a miscarriage of justice. cf. in rE petition foR writ oF prohibition, 312 md. 280, 539 A.2d 664, 685-86 (1988) (citing cases representing the "greater weight of authority" that accept the principle that a judge may grant a new trial when the weight of the evidence is against the verdict, refusing to "embrace the thirteenth juror rule eo nomine " because the name of the rule tends to confuse, and holding that "reviewing weight of the evidence of necessity involves a weighing process, and part of that weighing may implicate consideration of credibility"). The trial court in Chavez II believed that the testimony of the three men involved in the...