State v. Lujan

• Decision Date: 28 May 2003
• Docket Number: No. 22,233.,22,233.
• Citation: 134 N.M. 24,2003 NMCA 87,71 P.3d 1286
• Parties: STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Richard LUJAN, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Court of Appeals of New Mexico

71 P.3d 1286

134 N.M. 24

2003 NMCA 87

STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Richard LUJAN, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 22,233.

Court of Appeals of New Mexico.

May 28, 2003.

Patricia A. Madrid, Attorney General, Katherine Zinn, Assistant Attorney General, Santa Fe, NM, for Appellee.

John B. Bigelow, Chief Public Defender, Nancy M. Hewitt, Assistant Appellate Defender, Santa Fe, NM, for Appellant.

OPINION

FRY, Judge.

{1} Defendant appeals his convictions for four counts of trafficking in a controlled substance. We consider the effect of Defendant's failure to utilize procedures under the Interstate Agreement on Detainers (IAD) on the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial. We hold that, under the circumstances of this case, Defendant's delay in exercising his rights under the IAD does not weigh against him for purposes of his speedy trial claim. We further hold that the State violated Defendant's right to a speedy trial, and we therefore reverse his convictions and remand for the district court to enter an order dismissing the charges against Defendant. Consequently, we need not reach Defendant's numerous other arguments.

BACKGROUND

{2} The district court convicted Defendant based on evidence that he sold drugs to an undercover narcotics agent in June 1995. Specifically, Agent Dennis Cordova testified that on June 8, 1995, he went to Defendant's residence and purchased an "eight ball" of cocaine and a half-gram of heroin from Defendant. Agent Cordova further testified that, a few days later, he returned to Defendant's residence and purchased an additional two grams of heroin and an ounce of cocaine.

{3} A grand jury indicted Defendant on August 27, 1997, on four counts of trafficking in a controlled substance. Due to the course of events explained below, Defendant was not convicted of the charges until July 21, 2000. Defendant appeals.

DISCUSSION

{4} Defendant contends the State denied his right to a speedy trial as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. In analyzing Defendant's claim, we weigh the four factors delineated in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 530, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972):(1) length of the delay, (2) reasons for the delay, (3) the defendant's assertion of the right to a speedy trial, and (4) prejudice to the defendant. State v. LeFebre, 2001-NMCA-009, ¶ 9, 130 N.M. 130, 19 P.3d 825. On appeal, although we give deference to the district court's factual findings, we independently evaluate the four factors "to ensure that no violation has occurred." State v. Plouse, 2003-NMCA-048, ¶ 34, 133 N.M. 495, 64 P.3d 522. We must first determine whether the length of the delay was presumptively prejudicial. Salandre v. State, 111 N.M. 422, 427, 806 P.2d 562, 567 (1991). If the delay triggers the presumption of prejudice, then it becomes the State's burden to demonstrate that it did not violate Defendant's speedy trial rights. Id. at 428, 806 P.2d at 568.

Length of the Delay

{5} The State acknowledges that the nearly three-year delay in this simple case is presumptively prejudicial. See, e.g., Salandre, 111 N.M. at 428,

806 P.2d at 568 (stating that nine months is presumptively prejudicial in a simple case). Consequently, the State had the burden to show that Defendant's speedy trial rights were not compromised. Id. at 427, 806 P.2d at 567.

{6} The existence of the presumption of prejudice triggered by the delay is distinct from the issue of the weight of the delay relative to the other three factors of the balancing test. Id. To assess the weight of this factor, we consider that the delay the law can tolerate in the prosecution of a simple crime is considerably less than can be tolerated for a serious, complex crime. Barker, 407 U.S. at 531,92 S.Ct. 2182. In a simple shoplifting case, for example, our Supreme Court has weighed a seventeen-month delay somewhat heavily against the State. Zurla v. State, 109 N.M. 640, 642, 789 P.2d 588, 590 (1990). Therefore we hold, and the State concedes, that the long delay in the present case weighs heavily against the State.

Reasons for the Delay

{7} The State and Defendant characterize the reasons for the delay quite differently, particularly with respect to whether Defendant's failure to utilize procedures under the IAD affects his Sixth Amendment claim. Although we do not agree with every detail of Defendant's month-by-month analysis, overall this prong weighs against the State because at least sixteen months of the delay weigh squarely against the State, and only a few months of the delay weigh against Defendant.

{8} An individual's right to a speedy trial attaches when he first becomes "accused." Indictment or the actual restraints of arrest and holding for charges, implicate the speedy trial guarantee. Salandre, 111 N.M. at 426, 806 P.2d at 566. Here Defendant's speedy trial rights attached on August 27, 1997, when the State indicted him on four counts of trafficking controlled substances. Approximately two months later, on October 23, 1997, the State served Defendant with a notice of detainer at the California penal institution in which he was serving a sentence on other charges.

{9} The State contends that from the time of the indictment until the day before it served Defendant with the notice of detainer, it did not know Defendant's location. Therefore, it argues, this two-month delay should not weigh against the State. Defendant's analysis of the reason for the delay does not specifically address this two-month period. We will not weigh this portion of the delay against either party.

{10} The next delay was the time between Defendant's October 1997 receipt of the notice of detainer and February 1999, when Defendant requested final disposition of the charges under the IAD, § 31-5-12. Defendant appeals on Sixth Amendment grounds and is not asserting a violation of his rights under the IAD. The State argues, however, that Defendant shoulders some blame for this portion of the delay because he failed to utilize the IAD when he had the opportunity to do so.

{11} Whether and how a defendant's failure to adequately invoke the IAD affects his constitutional right to a speedy trial presents a matter of first impression in New Mexico. This inquiry requires a brief summary regarding what Defendant could have done procedurally under the IAD.

{12} Upon receipt of the notice of detainer, Defendant could have requested that the California prison authorities provide him with IAD paperwork to facilitate his return to New Mexico for trial on the charges, and New Mexico would have been required to bring Defendant to trial within 180 days of his request, absent a showing of good cause for delay. § 31-5-12, art. 3(A). Specifically, Defendant could have activated the IAD immediately by one of three methods: (1) giving his written notice and request for disposition of charges to the appropriate prison officials in California; (2) substantially complying with the IAD by filing the appropriate documents, including a certificate of status, with the proper authorities in New Mexico; or (3) giving actual notice to the proper New Mexico authorities. Palmer v. Williams, 120 N.M. 63, 66-67, 897 P.2d 1111, 1114-15 (1995).

{13} On November 5, 1997, approximately two weeks after his receipt of the notice of detainer, Defendant wrote a letter to the district court clerk in New Mexico requesting information about how to proceed on the detainer. Then, on January 23, 1998, Defendant filed a motion for speedy trial in the district court. On August 12, 1998, Defendant filed a motion to dismiss for failure to comply with his earlier speedy trial request. In 1999 Defendant was transferred to a different California facility, where he filled out IAD paperwork on February 18, 1999. The time between Defendant's receipt of the notice of detainer and his filing of IAD paperwork totals approximately sixteen months.

{14} In its order denying Defendant's motion to dismiss, the district court held that Defendant did not substantially comply with the terms of the IAD, apparently finding that Defendant's attempts to communicate directly with the State did not constitute actual notice to proper New Mexico authorities. See id.; see also State v. Tarango, 105 N.M. 592, 595-96, 734 P.2d 1275, 1278-79 (Ct.App. 1987)

(stating that where the defendant communicates directly with receiving state, and fails to follow statutory procedure or provide actual notice to the state, the defendant has not met the burden of following requirements of IAD), overruled on other grounds by Zurla, 109 N.M. at 645,

789 P.2d at 593. On appeal, Defendant does not challenge the determination that he failed to comply with the IAD. Thus, we accept the district court's findings on this point. See State v. Weber, 76 N.M. 636, 644, 417 P.2d 444, 449 (1966) (noting that there is a presumption of correctness in the rulings or decisions of the district court, and the party claiming error bears the burden of showing such error).

{15} Notwithstanding the IAD, however, the Sixth Amendment requires the State to bring a defendant to trial in a timely manner. State v. Montoya, 119 N.M. 95, 97, 888 P.2d 977, 979 (Ct.App.1994). Moreover, where a mechanism exists to bring a defendant to trial, the State has a duty to use it. Zurla, 109 N.M. at 643-44, 789 P.2d at 588-89. For these reasons a sixteen-month delay would normally weigh heavily against the State.

{16} The State argues that in this case the long delay should not weigh so heavily upon it because Defendant had the ability to end the delay at any time by using IAD procedures to force the State to act. Once Defendant properly exercised his IAD rights, the State promptly acted by accepting custody of Defendant for trial on the pending charges. Thus, argues the State, although both Defendant and the State failed to use the IAD mechanism that was readily available to them, we should weigh this factor only slightly against the State. We ...