State v. Lucero

• Decision Date: 22 December 2016
• Docket Number: NO. S-1-SC-34094,S-1-SC-34094
• Citation: 389 P.3d 1039
• Parties: STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jadrian LUCERO, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: New Mexico Supreme Court

389 P.3d 1039

STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.Jadrian LUCERO, Defendant-Appellant.

NO. S-1-SC-34094

Supreme Court of New Mexico.

Filing Date: December 22, 2016

Bennett J. Baur, Chief Public Defender, William A. O'Connell, Assistant Appellate Defender, Santa Fe, NM for Appellant.

Hector H. Balderas, Attorney General, Sri Mullis, Assistant Attorney General, Santa Fe, NM for Appellee.

OPINION

VIGIL, Justice.

{1} Laticia May Lucero (Baby) died on June 9th, 2010, just 47 days after she was born to Mother and Jadrian "Jay" Lucero¹ (Defendant). Baby's autopsy revealed that she died as a result of "devastating brain injuries," the type of injuries one might expect after being ejected from a vehicle in a high-speed collision or falling from a third-story window and landing on one's head. During the investigation into Baby's death, Defendant told law enforcement that Baby was under his care on the afternoon of June 9th, and that he had found her "not breathing" when he went to check on her in her crib. Defendant was indicted on a single count of intentional child abuse resulting in Baby's death, and a jury convicted him of intentional child abuse resulting in the death of a child less than twelve years of age under NMSA 1978, Section 30–6–1(D), (H) (2009). The district court sentenced him to life in prison.

{2} Defendant raises two issues in this direct appeal. First, he contends that the jury instructions improperly defined the intent element for the crime of intentional child abuse by endangerment and, therefore, resulted in fundamental error. Second, Defendant contends that the district court abused its discretion when it refused to hold an evidentiary hearing on Defendant's motion for a new trial. We exercise jurisdiction under Article VI, Section 2 of the New Mexico Constitution and Rule 12–102(A)(1) NMRA. We affirm Defendant's conviction.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual History

{3} A few days after giving birth to Baby, Mother, who was fifteen years old at the time, took the newborn home from the hospital to live with Baby's Grandmother. Defendant also moved into Grandmother's house to help Mother. In the weeks that followed, the young parents lived together and shared the responsibility of caring for Baby. Defendant would help feed and bathe Baby, though Mother was the primary caregiver.

{4} After about two weeks, Grandmother asked Defendant to move out because Mother had "adjusted to taking care of the baby" and because Grandmother would be there if Mother needed anything. Defendant complied and moved back to his house, also in Grants, where he had been living before Baby was born. Mother believed that it was important for Baby to have a relationship with Defendant, so she and Defendant agreed that Baby would alternate where she slept every three nights, between Grandmother's and Defendant's houses. When Baby was staying overnight at Defendant's house, he would care for her alone because Mother was under a curfew and was not allowed to spend the night away from home.

{5} During the first month of Baby's life, Mother took her to the doctor's office for several check ups, and everything appeared normal. On June 3, 2010, just six days before Baby's death, Mother took Baby to an appointment to get certified for public assistance. At the appointment, Mother undressed Baby so that the nutritionist could weigh and measure her. The nutritionist later testified at Defendant's trial that Baby's height and weight were normal that day and that she did not observe "any bruising ... [or] any abnormalities whatsoever."

{6} Around the same time as the June 3rd appointment, Mother and Defendant agreed to let Baby spend the night with Defendant's mother, step-father, and younger brother and sister, who were visiting from Rio Rancho and staying at a Holiday Inn. The next day Mother noticed that Baby had a swollen lip and a bruised eyelid. Mother asked Defendant what had happened, and Defendant responded that "nothing was wrong with her, she looked fine." Mother testified that Baby was fussy and did not eat as much as usual while her lip was swollen.

{7} Baby slept at Grandmother's house from June 6th through June 8th, and she woke up there on June 9th at about 7:00 a.m. Mother noticed that morning that Baby was fussy and was eating less, sleeping more, and requiring diaper changes less frequently than usual. Believing Baby may have been constipated, Mother added corn syrup to her formula and asked Grandmother to feed her so that Mother could get ready for a court appointment. Grandmother testified that Baby did not drink very much but that "[s]he was good that morning" and that "[s]he got her to smile" and to "cuddle."

{8} A short time later, Mother dropped off Baby at Defendant's house on her way to her court appointment, which was scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. When Mother left Defendant's house, Defendant was holding Baby and watching television, and Defendant's friend, George King, was asleep on the couch. Mother finished with her appointment at approximately 9:00 a.m. She returned to Defendant's house, checked on Baby, who was asleep in her crib, and sat down to watch television.

{9} According to Mother, Baby woke up crying sometime in the early afternoon, and Mother picked her up and made a bottle. Baby ate less than normal and was looking at Mother without moving much. Mother then changed Baby's diaper and laid her back in her crib. Baby was still hungry and awake but Mother thought that everything was okay and went back to the living room to watch television. At around 3:35 or 3:40 p.m., Mother again left Defendant's house to go to a counseling appointment that was scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. Before leaving, Mother checked on Baby and found her sleeping. She gave Baby a kiss, heard her breathing, and thought that everything appeared to be okay. Mother arrived early for her appointment and was waiting outside when she received a call from Defendant who told her that Baby was not breathing. Once Mother confirmed that Defendant was serious, she began running back to his house. Around the same time, King called 911.

{10} At 3:50 p.m., Lieutenant Maxine Spidle of the Grants Police Department responded to a report of a child not breathing at Defendant's address. She arrived at Defendant's house about two minutes later and got out of her car, ran past King who was standing outside, and found Defendant inside the house holding Baby limp in his arms. Lieutenant Spidle grabbed Baby and ran outside to give her to Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel who had just arrived. Lieutenant Spidle noticed that Baby's lips were discolored and handed her off to an EMS responder who began Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). The Emergency Medical Technician truck then left with Baby to take her to the hospital. Mother and Defendant arrived at the hospital as medical personnel were trying to resuscitate Baby. The young parents eventually learned that Baby was going to be flown to the University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH) because "they couldn't keep her stable." Defendant, Mother, Grandmother, and Grandmother's husband started on their way to Albuquerque to meet the helicopter at UNMH, but about 20 minutes later they were called back to the hospital in Grants and notified that Baby had died. When Mother left the hospital with Defendant she was under the impression that Baby had died from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

{11} About a week later, however, Mother learned that SIDS had not caused Baby's death. Baby's autopsy revealed that her death was the result of "devastating brain injuries" caused by blunt force trauma. The State's two medical experts testified that Baby had a "complex radiating fracture" on the left side of her head with multiple fractures that crossed suture lines and extended to other bones in her skull. Both experts explained that a typical skull fracture for an infant who has been dropped or who has fallen off of a counter is linear and consists of a single crack that does not travel across a suture line to another bone. A complex radiating fracture, by contrast, usually results from "major trauma situations that ... have a lot of force generated," such as being ejected from a vehicle in a high-speed collision or falling from a third-story window and landing on one's head.

{12} The autopsy revealed extensive injuries to Baby's brain that also were consistent with major trauma, including pooled blood within her brain's protective coverings and tearing of the brain tissue itself. The State's experts testified that these injuries could not have been caused by normal, or even rough, handling of a child, such as dropping her to the floor or allowing her to hit her head on "the edge of something." The State's experts further testified that after receiving her injuries Baby "immediately" would have been "visibly not well": she would not have made eye contact; she would not have been interactive; she might have been unconscious; her breathing might have been impaired; and "her whole body would not have ... looked normal."

{13} In addition, Baby's autopsy revealed a number of other non-fatal injuries that were in various stages of healing. The infant had several broken bones, including a broken clavicle (collar bone) that showed no signs of healing and two fractured ribs that showed from "a few" to fourteen days of healing. She also had a torn upper frenulum, the small piece of tissue that connects the upper lip to the gum above the teeth, that showed signs of at least one day to possibly a few weeks of healing. The medical investigator testified that a baby with a torn frenulum "could have cried excessively and even refused the bottle" because of the pain caused by puckering the injured area.

{14} Defendant did not testify at trial, but Lieutenant Spidle and Detective Kevin Dobbs of the Grants Police Department recounted their interview of Defendant that had taken place two days after Baby's death. At Mother's request, Defendant...