State v. Maestas

• Decision Date: 28 March 2005
• Docket Number: No. 24507.,24507.
• Citation: 112 P.3d 1134,137 N.M. 477
• Parties: STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Charles MAESTAS, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Court of Appeals of New Mexico

112 P.3d 1134

137 N.M. 477

STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Charles MAESTAS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 24507.

Court of Appeals of New Mexico.

March 28, 2005.

Certiorari Granted May 20, 2005.

Patricia A. Madrid, Attorney General, James O. Bell, Assistant Attorney General, Santa Fe, for Appellee.

David Henderson, Downing & Henderson, P.C., Santa Fe, for Appellant.

Certiorari Granted, No. 29,178, May 20, 2005.

OPINION

FRY, J.

{1} In this appeal we consider whether coercion is an essential element of second degree criminal sexual penetration perpetrated in the commission of another felony (CSP II (felony)), contrary to NMSA 1978, § 30-9-11(D)(5) (2003). Defendant Charles Maestas, who was an Española municipal judge at the time of the charged events, appeals his convictions of five counts of requesting or receiving sexual favors "conditioned upon or given in exchange for promised performance of an official act" (official acts prohibited), NMSA 1978, § 10-16-3(D) (1993), a fourth degree felony, and five counts of CSP II (felony). The underlying felony for each CSP II conviction was official acts prohibited. We conclude coercion is not an essential element of CSP II (felony). We also find no error in the trial court's evidentiary rulings and affirm Defendant's convictions.

BACKGROUND

{2} Defendant's convictions arose from allegations that he accepted sexual favors from Victim in exchange for leniency in the resolution of charges against Victim in municipal court. At trial, Defendant's theory was that Victim plotted to seduce Defendant and then falsely claimed that Defendant coerced her into various sex acts so that she could sue Defendant's employer, the City of Espanola, for violation of her civil rights.

{3} In support of his theory, Defendant presented evidence that Victim heard rumors that Defendant was giving preferential treatment to women in the city jail in exchange for sexual favors. Several months later, when Victim had several traffic charges pending before Defendant, Victim hid a tape recorder under her clothing and recorded two sexual encounters with Defendant. There was also evidence that Victim was gleeful when she learned about Defendant's subsequent arrest and said, "We got him."

{4} The State presented evidence supporting a different theory. Victim testified that she first appeared before Defendant in municipal court on several traffic code violations. Victim pleaded guilty, whereupon Defendant told Victim to come with him to his office. Defendant told Victim that she faced possible jail time of seventy to ninety days and about $700 in fines. Victim began crying. When she got up to leave, Defendant took her hand and said, "[M]aybe you could do something for me to take away your fines and you won't go to jail." Victim understood that Defendant was asking her for sex. She initially declined, but she was afraid Defendant would take her children away "because I knew he has the power to take them away because he's a Judge." Victim told Defendant she would have to think about it, and Defendant told Victim to ask the court clerk to set another court date.

{5} Although it is unclear what happened between this first encounter in Defendant's office and the first sexual encounter, at some point following the initial court date, according to Victim, Defendant picked Victim up at her office and took her to his house, where they had sexual intercourse. Because Victim had complied with Defendant's request for sex, she testified, "I figured he would drop everything [and] my kids wouldn't get taken away[.]"

{6} Sometime later, in response to a mailed notice, Victim went back to court, where Defendant talked to Victim (presumably in Defendant's office) about helping her with her fines. She told Defendant she thought her fines were cleared, and Defendant told her they were not. He then asked Victim to do him a favor, closed the door, and asked her to perform oral sex; Victim complied. Defendant then told Victim to make another court date.

{7} Victim testified about two other incidents when Defendant picked her up. On one occasion he took her to his house, and on another, Defendant took Victim in his vehicle to an area near the community college, where he parked. On both occasions Defendant asked Victim for oral sex, and Victim complied. On another occasion, Defendant came to Victim's office and asked for oral sex, which Victim performed in Defendant's truck. While these encounters were taking place, nothing was happening with Victim's court case. She kept appearing in court, but nothing was dropped.

{8} At about this time, Victim heard from a friend that Defendant had done something similar to another woman, so Victim decided to tape-record Defendant. Victim recorded Defendant once at his office and once at his house.

{9} On the first tape, Defendant and Victim discussed Victim's fines, potential jail time, and suspended driver's license. Defendant told Victim that if she would get her license cleared up, he would assess only $17 in fees on each charge for a total of $68. Defendant then commented on Victim's breasts and lips. He scheduled Victim's next court date and said, "We'll see if we can try and get together before that.... Give me a call when you're ready."

{10} On the second tape, Victim stated that she was at Defendant's house, waiting for him. When Defendant arrived, Victim asked, "Okay what am I going to get out of this? ... Will you lower my fines?" Defendant responded, "Oh yeah." A sex act then ensued, the two said goodbye, and Victim stated on the tape, "I just exchanged ... giving head to the judge to change my[,] to lower my fines."

{11} The audiotapes made by Victim ultimately led to Defendant's arrest. He was charged with six counts each of CSP, extortion, and official acts prohibited, which corresponded with the six sexual encounters Victim reported. Several other women then alleged that they had also performed sexual favors for Defendant in exchange for lenient treatment in court, and these allegations gave rise to additional charges.

{12} At trial, the court instructed the jury on ten counts of sexual misconduct involving three women, nine counts of extortion, eight counts of official acts prohibited, and one count of stalking. The jury acquitted Defendant of all charges pertaining to the women other than Victim. With respect to Victim, the jury convicted Defendant of five counts of official acts prohibited and five counts of CSP II (felony), and it acquitted him of one count of CSP, one count of criminal sexual contact, one count of official acts prohibited, and all counts of extortion. We discuss additional background information in our analysis of the appellate issues.

DISCUSSION

Jury Instructions

{13} Defendant argues the jury instructions on the elements of CSP II (felony) were flawed because they did not tell the jury it could only convict Defendant if it found that Defendant coerced Victim into engaging in the various sex acts alleged. Defendant contends that, even if the jury agreed with his view of the evidence—i.e., that Victim enticed Defendant into having sex and that the sex was therefore consensual—the jury instructions nonetheless compelled the jury to convict Defendant.

{14} The issue of whether a given jury instruction is proper presents a mixed question of law and fact, which we review de novo. State v. Gaitan, 2002-NMSC-007, ¶ 10, 131 N.M. 758, 42 P.3d 1207; State v. Salazar, 1997-NMSC-044, ¶ 49, 123 N.M. 778, 945 P.2d 996. A jury instruction is proper, and nothing more is required, if it fairly and accurately presents the law. State v. Duncan, 113 N.M. 637, 644, 830 P.2d 554, 561 (Ct.App.1990). "We review [the] instructions to determine whether a reasonable juror would have been confused or misdirected by the jury instructions." State v. Montoya, 2003-NMSC-004, ¶ 23, 133 N.M. 84, 61 P.3d 793; State v. Benally, 2001-NMSC-033, ¶ 12, 131 N.M. 258, 34 P.3d 1134. "[J]uror confusion or misdirection may stem not only from instructions that are facially contradictory or ambiguous, but from instructions which, through omission or misstatement, fail to provide the juror with an accurate rendition of the relevant law." Id.

{15} We limit our review to the instructions pertaining to Victim because only those instructions gave rise to convictions. The trial court instructed the jury that, with respect to each count of CSP, there were three alternatives, including CSP II (felony), where the underlying felony was official acts prohibited. The jury did not arrive at a verdict on the other alternatives, so we are concerned only with the instruction on CSP II (felony; official acts prohibited), which reads as follows:

For you to find the Defendant guilty of criminal sexual penetration while committing another felony as charged in the alternative to Count [__], the State must prove to your satisfaction beyond a reasonable doubt each of the following elements of the crime:

1. The Defendant caused [Victim] to engage in [sex act];

2. The Defendant committed the act during the commission of violating official acts prohibited; ...

3. This happened in New Mexico on or about ... [date].

This instruction referred the jury to another instruction that defined official acts prohibited as follows:

1. That the defendant requested or received a thing of value from [Victim];

2. That the thing of value was given in exchange for a promised performance by the Defendant of an official act;

3. This happened in New Mexico on or about ... [date].

{16} Defendant argues, and we agree, that CSP II (felony) is a "compound crime" like felony murder. State v. Tsethlikai, 109 N.M. 371, 373, 785 P.2d 282, 284 (Ct.App.1989) (stating that a compound crime consists of two crimes, a predicate offense that is a prerequisite and the compound offense itself). Thus, he argues that in order to prove CSP II (felony), the State had to prove the elements of third degree CSP (CSP III) plus the...