State v. Quick

• Decision Date: 02 April 2009
• Docket Number: No. 30,916.,30,916.
• Citation: 206 P.3d 985,2009 NMSC 015
• Parties: STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Charlotte QUICK, Defendant-Petitioner.
• Court: New Mexico Supreme Court

206 P.3d 985

2009 NMSC 015

STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Charlotte QUICK, Defendant-Petitioner.

No. 30,916.

Supreme Court of New Mexico.

April 2, 2009.

Hugh W. Dangler, Chief Public Defender, Joseph P. Walsh, Assistant Appellate Defender, Carlos Ruiz de la Torre, Assistant Appellate Defender, Santa Fe, for Petitioner.

Gary K. King, Attorney General, Andrew S. Montgomery, Assistant Attorney General, Santa Fe, for Respondent.

OPINION

CHÁVEZ, Chief Justice.

{1} Charlotte Quick (Defendant) was convicted of possession of methamphetamine, contrary to NMSA 1978, Section 30-31-23 (1990, prior to 2005 amendments) and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, contrary to NMSA 1978, Section 30-31-22(A) (1990, prior to 2005 amendments). She claims her convictions subjected her to multiple punishments in violation of her right to be free from double jeopardy because they were based on "acts which constitute one continuous offense." For this reason, she requests that we vacate her conviction for simple possession. The State argues that there was no double jeopardy violation because the evidence of both use and sale of methamphetamine presented at trial allowed the jury to find independent factual bases for both of Defendant's convictions. The Court of Appeals upheld Defendant's convictions in a divided unpublished opinion. State v. Quick, No. 27,013, slip op. at 15 (N.M.Ct. App. Jan. 24, 2008).

{2} We conclude that the separate crimes of possession and possession with intent to distribute were intended by the New Mexico Legislature to apply in the alternative when based on a single act of possession. Because the methamphetamine at issue was found in Defendant's control during a single occurrence, Defendant committed only one act of possession. We therefore hold that Defendant was subjected to double jeopardy and remand to the district court to vacate her conviction for possession of methamphetamine.

I. BACKGROUND

{3} There appears to be no dispute between the parties regarding the relevant facts of this case. After receiving information that led him to believe that Defendant was using drugs, Defendant's probation officer made a visit to her house on April 18, 2005. During the visit, he asked Defendant if she was using drugs and she looked toward her bedroom closet, where he found a kit containing drugs and paraphernalia. The probation officer called a police officer and they searched the room together, finding, among other things, (1) a container with 7.03 grams of methamphetamine, a quantity which the probation officer and police officer suggested was indicative of distribution; (2) a container with 2.71 grams of methamphetamine; (3) a container with 0.61 grams of methamphetamine; (4) a pipe with white residue, which the probation officer testified was probably used to smoke methamphetamine; (5) syringes; (6) a funnel, which the probation officer testified was probably used to put drugs in bags; (7) baggies, which the probation officer testified were probably used to sell drugs; (8) straws; and (9) a scale, which the probation officer testified was probably used to distribute drugs. In addition, the officers at the house noticed a large number of telephone calls and observed "people that probably should not have been there."

{4} Defendant appealed her convictions of possession of methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, claiming inter alia that her conviction of both of these crimes violated her right to be free from double jeopardy. Quick, No. 27,013, slip op. at 10. The Court of Appeals held in a 2-1 memorandum opinion that Defendant was not subjected to double jeopardy. The majority concluded that Defendant's conduct was not unitary under the analysis first laid out in Swafford v. State, 112 N.M. 3, 810 P.2d 1223 (1991). Quick, No. 27,013, slip op. at 10-12. The Court concluded that the "evidence [from trial] permitted the jury to reasonably conclude that Defendant possessed some of the methamphetamine with an intent to distribute it, and that she separately and distinctly possessed other methamphetamine for personal use." Id. at 13. It arrived at this conclusion because "Defendant and associated accoutrements of drug activity were sufficiently separate in space and apparent purpose to allow conviction for distinct crimes[.]" Id. at 15. The dissent would have held that "there was nothing to distinguish which methamphetamine pertained to which charge because all of the methamphetamine was discovered in Defendant's home and because it all formed the basis for both charges." Id. at 19 (Castillo, J., dissenting). To the dissenting judge, it was not enough that the drugs could have been used for either possession or sale. Id. at 20.

{5} We granted Defendant's petition for writ of certiorari on the issue of whether she was "subjected to double jeopardy when she was charged with and convicted of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of methamphetamine when all of the contraband was found in the same place at the same time[.]" State v. Quick, 2008-NMCERT-002, 143 N.M. 667, 180 P.3d 674. We reverse the Court of Appeals and remand to the district court to vacate Defendant's conviction for possession of methamphetamine.

II. DISCUSSION

{6} Defendant claims that her convictions subjected her to multiple punishments in violation of her right to be free from double jeopardy, because her single act of possessing methamphetamine was used to convict her of both possession and possession with intent to distribute. We review such claims de novo. State v. Alvarez-Lopez, 2004-NMSC-030, ¶ 38, 136 N.M. 309, 98 P.3d 699.

{7} In the context of multiple punishments within a single proceeding, double jeopardy "does no more than prevent the sentencing court from prescribing greater punishment than the legislature intended." Missouri v. Hunter, 459 U.S. 359, 366, 103 S.Ct. 673, 74 L.Ed.2d 535 (1983). "[W]here the legislature has explicitly authorized multiple punishment the judicial inquiry is at an end, [and] multiple punishment is authorized and proper[.]" Swafford, 112 N.M. at 9, 810 P.2d at 1229. In other words, the Legislature is not restrained by double jeopardy from atomizing a defendant's conduct into multiple punishments if they are imposed in a single proceeding. The courts, however, are restrained from doing so without legislative authorization, and therefore legislative intent must be the touchstone of our inquiry.

{8} The problem of multiple punishments arises in either of two situations: when a defendant claims to have been convicted (1) of several different crimes or (2) of multiple counts of the same crime, despite legislative intent to impose fewer punishments under the circumstances. Id. at 8, 810 P.2d at 1228. The former situation, which Defendant raises here, is known as a double description case. Id. In a double description case such as Defendant's, we must ultimately decide "whether the facts presented at trial establish that the jury reasonably could have inferred independent factual bases for the charged offenses." State v. Franco, 2005-NMSC-013, ¶ 7, 137 N.M. 447, 112 P.3d 1104 (emphasis added) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). If, given the evidence presented at trial and the statutory definitions of the crimes the jury must have unreasonably parsed the evidence to have found Defendant guilty of the charged offenses, then Defendant was subjected to double jeopardy.

{9} Defendant's situation resembles several cases recently decided by the New Mexico Court of Appeals. In State v. Contreras, the Court of Appeals considered the case of a defendant convicted of both trafficking and possession of cocaine. 2007-NMCA-045, ¶ 22, 141 N.M. 434, 156 P.3d 725, cert. quashed, 2007-NMCERT-011, 143 N.M. 157, 173 P.3d 764. In Contreras, the defendant had taken undercover agents who wished to purchase drugs with him to a residence to complete the transaction. Id. ¶ 2. He showed one of the agents a bag of cocaine, measured a quantity for the agent, and kept the rest. Id. ¶ 3. After his conviction, the defendant claimed a violation of his right to be free from double jeopardy, and the Court of Appeals rejected the argument. Id. ¶ 23. The Court reasoned that different conduct was the basis of each charge, since

(1) Defendant had possession of the cocaine when he got it from his supplier, (2) Defendant then brought the cocaine into the bathroom and put it on the counter so that he could separate a portion to sell to [the agent], and (3) once he completed the sale with [the agent], Defendant kept a portion of the cocaine. The State thus provided the jury with sufficient factual bases for finding that Defendant possessed the cocaine both before and after he sold some of it to [the agent].

Id. ¶ 22.

{10} Defendant argues that in this case, unlike Contreras, the State is unable to distinguish between the categories of methamphetamine for personal use and for distribution. The State responds that in this case, the distinction between the factual bases underlying the convictions is even clearer since there is actual evidence of personal use.

{11} Another recently-decided case is State v. Lopez, 2008-NMCA-002, 143 N.M. 274, 175 P.3d 942 (filed 2007), cert. denied, 2007-NMCERT-012, 143 N.M. 213, 175 P.3d 307. In Lopez, the defendant had been convicted, like Defendant, of possession of methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Id. ¶ 1. This conviction resulted from the discovery of methamphetamine when police entered the defendant's house after receiving information leading them to believe that drugs were being sold there. Id. ¶ 3. In the defendant's bedroom, the police found a small amount of methamphetamine, a scale, two spoons, baggies, plastic wrap, aluminum foil, and "other trafficking-related drug paraphernalia." Id. ¶ 5. A larger amount of methamphetamine was found in the...