State v. King

• Decision Date: 27 June 2007
• Docket Number: No. 24,323.,24,323.
• Citation: 168 P.3d 1123,2007 NMCA 130
• Parties: STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jonathan KING, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Court of Appeals of New Mexico

168 P.3d 1123

2007 NMCA 130

STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jonathan KING, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 24,323.

Court of Appeals of New Mexico.

June 27, 2007.

Certiorari Granted, No. 30,624, September 25, 2007.

Gary K. King, Attorney General, Ann M. Harvey, Assistant Attorney General, Santa Fe, NM, for Appellee.

John Bigelow, Chief Public Defender, Karl Erich Martell, Assistant Appellate Defender, Santa Fe, NM, for Appellant.

OPINION

CASTILLO, Judge.

{1} In a previous unpublished memorandum opinion, this Court affirmed the aggravation of Defendant's sentence. Defendant petitioned the New Mexico Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari, which was denied. Subsequently, Defendant filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court, which granted Defendant's petition, vacated the judgment, and remanded the case to this Court for further consideration in light of Cunningham v. California, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 127 S.Ct. 856, 860, 166 L.Ed.2d 856 (2007) (striking down California's determinate sentencing law, which is similar to that of New Mexico, on the ground that the California law violated the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial). We conclude that Defendant's sentence violated Defendant's right to a jury trial. We therefore remand for resentencing in accordance with this opinion and Cunningham.

I. BACKGROUND

{2} Defendant was charged in two complaints with several crimes related to his interaction with three young girls. Ultimately, Defendant pled guilty to two counts of attempt to commit criminal sexual penetration in the first degree, and to one count each of criminal sexual contact of a minor in the third degree and failure to appear. Later, the trial court held a sentencing hearing to take evidence and statements that would assist in determining the appropriate sentence. See NMSA 1978, § 31-18-15.1 (1993). The court viewed videotapes of each victim's investigatory interview at the Children's Safe House of Albuquerque (Safe House), during which the victims vividly recounted the events that formed the basis of the charges against Defendant. The court also viewed another videotape, recorded by the mother of one victim, in which the child discusses her friendship with Defendant's adopted daughter. In addition, the court listened to a letter read aloud from another alleged victim, who is unrelated to the charges in the instant case, and heard testimony from a Safe House employee who worked as an interviewer in unrelated child abuse cases with Defendant, while Defendant was acting in his former job capacity as a law enforcement officer. Finally, the court heard argument from the State based on facts presented at the sentencing hearing.

{3} After considering this evidence, the trial court imposed the basic statutory sentence for each count and, sua sponte, aggravated each sentence by one-third, the maximum permitted. See NMSA 1978, § 31-18-15 (2005) (establishing the basic sentence available); see also § 31-18-15.1 (establishing the procedure for altering a basic sentence). The reasons for aggravating the basic sentence were enumerated in the judgment and sentence:

a.) [D]efendant's use of his position of authority to commit the charged offenses.

b.) [D]efendant's use of his adopted daughter . . . in the facilitation of his offenses.

c.) [D]efendant's use of his knowledge of law enforcement procedures in the facilitation of his offenses.

d.) The manner of how [D]efendant told the victims not to report the offenses.

Defendant filed a motion to reconsider, which was denied.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

{4} Generally, we review a trial court's sentencing determination for abuse of discretion. State v. Bonilla, 2000-NMSC-037, ¶ 6, 130 N.M. 1, 15 P.3d 491. However, we review de novo any question regarding the legality of the sentence. State v. Williams, 2006-NMCA-092, ¶ 4, 140 N.M. 194, 141 P.3d 538.

III. DISCUSSION

{5} This Court previously affirmed Defendant's aggravated sentence in reliance on our Supreme Court's decision in State v. Lopez, 2005-NMSC-036, ¶ 55, 138 N.M. 521, 123 P.3d 754 (concluding that New Mexico's sentencing scheme is consistent with Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004), and United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005), and that Section 31-18-15.1 is constitutional). Subsequently, the United States Supreme Court issued Cunningham, explaining the holdings in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), Blakely, and Booker, and thereafter remanded the instant case for reconsideration. See Cunningham, 127 S.Ct. at 864-68. We now reconsider Defendant's arguments in light of Cunningham. We recognize that Cunningham deals with sentencing after a jury trial. 127 S.Ct. at 860. Accordingly, we must read Cunningham in conjunction with Blakely because Blakely deals with a sentencing after a plea agreement-the circumstances we have in this case. See Blakely, 542 U.S. at 298, 124 S.Ct. 2531.

{6} Defendant's arguments are based on Blakely. He contends that the enhancement of his sentence violated his rights under the Sixth Amendment because the enhancement was based on findings that were not part of the factual basis for the plea and because the plea alone did not authorize the aggravated sentence. See Blakely, 542 U.S. at 303, 124 S.Ct. 2531 (stating that the "maximum sentence" is that which the "judge may impose solely on the basis of the facts reflected in the jury verdict or admitted by the defendant"). In this case, there is no contention that the aggravation was based on facts found by a jury. We understand Defendant to be arguing that his admissions when he entered his plea agreement could not legally form the basis for enhancement of his sentence.

{7} The State counters with two arguments. First, the State argues that under New Mexico law, Blakely does not apply and therefore the trial court was not required to consider specific factors or make factual findings beyond the factual basis entered in the plea in order to impose an aggravated sentence. Second, the State argues that even if Blakely were to apply, the facts admitted by Defendant when he entered his plea provide the basis on which the sentence was properly aggravated. We address each argument in turn.

A. New Mexico Law

{8} The State argues that under New Mexico law, the trial court was not required to consider specific factors or make factual findings beyond the factual basis entered in the plea in order to impose an aggravated sentence. The State asserts that the court was only required to hold a hearing. It appears that the State bases this argument on its contention that State v. Wilson, 2001-NMCA-032, 130 N.M. 319, 24 P.3d 351, is controlling. In Wilson, this Court held that Sections 31-18-15 and 31-18-15.1 created a sentencing range "within which a court may exercise discretion as long as the discretion is supported by the required statement of reasons on the record." Wilson, 2001-NMCA-032, ¶ 13, 130 N.M. 319, 24 P.3d 351; see Lopez, 2005-NMSC-036, ¶ 55, 138 N.M. 521, 123 P.3d 754 (reaffirming the holding in Wilson and concluding that the sentence authorized by Section 31-18-15.1 is the statutory maximum for purposes of the Sixth Amendment).

{9} Our Supreme Court's holding in Lopez relied heavily on its analysis of a California case construing California's sentencing structure, which is similar to that of New Mexico. 2005-NMSC-036, ¶¶ 36, 53-54, 138 N.M. 521, 123 P.3d 754 (discussing and relying on People v. Black, 35 Cal.4th 1238, 29 Cal.Rptr.3d 740, 113 P.3d 534 (2005)). However, the United States Supreme Court held in Cunningham that California's sentencing structure violated the defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial. 127 S.Ct. at 868 (discussing Black, stating that "[i]n accord with Blakely, . . . the middle term prescribed in California's statutes, not the upper term, is the relevant statutory maximum," and therefore concluding that California's sentencing scheme violated the bright-line rule, which requires a jury determination beyond a reasonable doubt of any fact increasing the criminal penalty beyond the statutory maximum). Thus, in light of Cunningham, we cannot conclude that the reasoning of Wilson is controlling under these circumstances.

B. Nature of the Sentencing Process

{10} Moreover, to the extent that the State contends there is no violation of Defendant's Sixth Amendment rights because the trial court in New Mexico is not required to consider specific factors nor make findings beyond the factual basis entered in the plea, we are not persuaded. The State asserts that "it is the mandatory nature of the judicial sentencing process that created the Sixth Amendment problem" in both Blakely and Booker and thus neither case applies to the New Mexico sentencing scheme. See Booker, 543 U.S. at 233, 125 S.Ct. 738 (finding "no distinction of constitutional significance between the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and the Washington procedures at issue [because] the relevant sentencing rules are mandatory and impose binding requirements on all sentencing judges"). The State misconstrues Blakely and Booker.

{11} The violation of the Sixth Amendment is not in the mandatory nature of the scheme but in the judicial fact-finding that mandates the statutory maximum or allows the sentencing judge to go beyond the statutory maximum. Blakely, 542 U.S. at 305 n. 8, 124 S.Ct. 2531 ("Whether the judicially determined facts require a sentence enhancement or merely allow it, the verdict alone does not authorize the sentence."); see Cunningham, 127 S.Ct. at 869 ("[B]road discretion to decide what facts may support an enhanced sentence, or to determine whether an enhanced sentence is warranted in any particular case, does not shield a sentencing system from the force of our decisions."); Booker, 543 U.S. at 232, 125 S.Ct. 738 (stating that a defendant's right to have the jury find...