State v. Jackson

• Decision Date: 01 March 2004
• Docket Number: No. 22,043.,22,043.
• Citation: 135 N.M. 689,92 P.3d 1263
• Parties: STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Ronald JACKSON, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: Court of Appeals of New Mexico

92 P.3d 1263

135 N.M. 689

STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Ronald JACKSON, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 22,043.

Court of Appeals of New Mexico.

March 1, 2004.

Certiorari Granted May 17, 2004.

Patricia A. Madrid, Attorney General, Arthur W. Pepin, Assistant Attorney General, Santa Fe, NM, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

G. Greg Valdez, Las Cruces, NM, for Defendant-Appellee.

Certiorari Granted, No. 28,596, May 17, 2004.

OPINION

ROBINSON, Judge.

{1} The State appeals the trial court's pretrial dismissal, with prejudice, of the criminal charge against Defendant Ronald Jackson, arguing that the court committed an abuse of discretion when it sanctioned the Third Judicial District Attorney (the prosecution) for discovery delays committed by Doña Ana County (the County), the Doña Ana County Detention Center (DACDC), and the private civil attorney representing them in related civil litigation. The State argues that the trial court erred in dismissing the prosecution's case because (1) the trial court in essence punished the prosecution for the delaying tactics of the County and its agents and (2) there was no showing that Defendant suffered any prejudice. Because the record does not show that the dismissal was warranted, we reverse and remand the case for trial.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

{2} Defendant was indicted by a grand jury in August 1999 for criminal sexual penetration, in violation of NMSA 1978, § 30-9-11(A), (D) (2001). The charge stemmed from the alleged rape of a female inmate at DACDC while Defendant was employed there as a detention officer. The prosecution timely filed a disclosure statement and list of witnesses. The prosecution also attempted unsuccessfully to obtain documents requested as discovery by Defendant that were in the possession of the County or DACDC. Discovery requests to these entities were being handled by a private law firm representing the County in separate civil liability cases arising from sexual assaults by DACDC detention officers. The same law firm also represented the New Mexico Association of Counties, which is the risk management insurer for Doña Ana County, and the Doña Ana County Board of County Commissioners.

{3} Defendant informed the trial court in January 2000 of problems with the County's compliance with discovery. During discovery, Defendant had requested that the prosecution provide him with copies of standard operating procedure manuals from the jail, the medical records of the victim, and a copy of an investigative report prepared by a private investigator under contract with the County's civil lawyer. At a hearing held on January 11, 2000, the prosecution told the trial court that although it had produced all pertinent documents in its possession, some of the requested documents and information were in the possession of the County, the County's attorneys, or DACDC which were outside the prosecution's control. The prosecution also commented that it had advised Defendant to seek the trial court's guidance in getting the documents because the prosecution had been unable to obtain the requested documents from the County or DACDC.

{4} At a hearing on discovery matters held on February 15, 2000, the prosecution informed the trial court that the County was not providing the prosecution with copies of records the County had given the Defendant. The trial court then stated that both sides would get whatever discovery DACDC or any other County agency disclosed to Defendant. After another hearing on discovery with the parties and the private civil attorney representing the County on February 21, 2000, the trial court entered orders compelling disclosure by the County. These orders required disclosure by the County of the names of any private investigators or other individuals who were inquiring into the allegations of sexual assaults. The orders also compelled disclosure by DACDC and its employees of all information collected in the course of the internal investigation, the victim's jail file, and the personnel file of Defendant.

{5} In May 2000, Defendant issued subpoenas duces tecum to six witnesses, including the County's private attorney and DACDC's custodians of architectural, medical, housing, inmate, and payroll records. In response, the County's private attorney moved to quash the subpoenas and requested a sequestered hearing, contending, among other objections, that the investigative report was not subject to disclosure because it was confidential attorney work product prepared for the Association of Counties in anticipation of litigating their potential civil liability for the assaults at DACDC. Additionally, on May 12, 2000, the County's private attorney filed a motion for a protective order from the discovery demands for county employees. The trial court, by order from another discovery hearing on May 18, 2000, determined that the investigative report was privileged as confidential but should be provided to the parties with the proviso that they not disclose it to anyone else. In response to the court's action, the Association of Counties moved to stay the criminal proceedings pending the filing of an emergency petition for writ of error with the Court of Appeals regarding attorney-client privilege and release of the investigator's report. We denied this writ on June 28, 2000, advised the Association that a petition for a writ of superintending control with the New Mexico Supreme Court would be the proper remedy, and transferred the matter to that Court. The Supreme Court denied the petition on July 5, 2000.

{6} On July 6, 2000, Defendant moved for dismissal for failure to produce relevant exculpatory evidence, "which is in the possession of the State or its political subdivisions or agencies." A hearing was held on Defendant's motion on July 14. After argument of counsel, the trial court determined that there was an insufficient record to support a ruling from the court and set an evidentiary hearing on the motion to dismiss. The trial court ordered that subpoenas duces tecum be issued to those entities that Defendant alleged had not provided discovery to Defendant or the prosecution, ordering them to appear before the court. On the day of the hearing, the County's private civil attorney filed a motion for recusal to bar the trial court from presiding over the hearing and filed another protective order for the County employees who had been served subpoenas for the hearing. The trial court rejected the motions as being untimely, and the hearing proceeded. Testimony was taken from the physician who treated the victim where she was an imate, an investigator for the Doña Ana County sheriff's office, a deputy district attorney, and the private civil attorney representing Doña Ana County, DACDC, and the Association of Counties. The civil attorney brought to the hearing several boxes of materials which he testified contained all the requested discovery. The trial court also ordered that the relevant mental health records of the victim be produced as confidential documents to the prosecution and Defendant by July 24, 2000. At the close of the hearing, the trial court, in response to argument by Defendant, refused to make a finding that the prosecution had been responsible for the delay in producing discovery. The trial court further observed that the failure of the government to timely disclose information germane to the case had prejudiced both the prosecution and Defendant in preparation of their cases. The court explained that when it referred to the government, it did not mean the prosecution which he described as having acted diligently. Rather, the court stated, it meant the County administration and DACDC which the court concluded had been "less than diligent" and "less than candid" in disclosing materials and information.

{7} Defendant amended his motion to dismiss on July 26, 2000, and again requested dismissal for lack of disclosure of evidence. He attached a supplemental exhibit acknowledging the 759 new pages of discovery released by the County. The prosecution, in response to the motion, noted that the County had turned over 700 pages of documents that had been produced by the County's private attorney to Defendant on July 21, 2000, and that the County's private contractor for mental health services at DACDC had released its records for the victim on July 24, 2000.

{8} In the meantime, on July 24, 2000, the prosecution obtained from the Supreme Court an extension of time for the trial through November 29, 2000, and sought a continuance from the trial court. The trial court continued the trial to a later date, subsequently setting trial date for December 6, 2000, which was outside the extension date. Some two months after the discovery had been disclosed, in September, the trial court sent a letter to the prosecution and Defendant announcing its intention to dismiss the case in mid-October when he returned from leave. When an order had not issued by November, the prosecution moved for reassignment of the judge because the continued absence of the original judge would apparently prevent him from conducting either a motions hearing or a trial before the expiration of the extension on November 29, 2000.

{9} With a different judge presiding at a hearing on Defendant's motion to dismiss, the trial court issued an order of dismissal based on the letter written by the original trial judge. The prosecution moved for reconsideration "to determine whether prejudice as required by law can be established and whether any lesser sanction would achieve the desired results." The motion was heard in January 2001 before the original judge. At that hearing, the prosecution argued against attributing the discovery delay caused by the County to the prosecution, contending that the County's actions had been at cross-purposes with the prosecution's goal of prosecuting Defendant and that dismissal of the charges would serve to reward the County's...