(DOWNLOAD) "State v. Benavidez" by New Mexico Court of Appeals # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: State v. Benavidez
- Author : New Mexico Court of Appeals
- Release Date : January 23, 1998
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 65 KB
Description
Certiorari granted, No. 25,548, April 27, 1999 Filing Date: December 23, 1998 APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF McKINLEY COUNTY Jay G. Harris, District Judge OPINION {1} Defendant appeals his convictions under three counts of perjury and one count of conspiracy to commit perjury, contrary to NMSA 1978, § 30-25-1 (1963), and NMSA 1978, § 30-28-2 (1979). He raises several issues on appeal: (1) the trial court erred by removing the element of materiality in a perjury prosecution from the jury's consideration; (2) the indictment should have been dismissed because the prosecutor failed to instruct the grand jury on the element of materiality on the charge of perjury; (3) Defendant was denied his constitutional right to a speedy trial; (4) the prosecutor wrongfully acquired and used information from another grand jury proceeding relating to Defendant in violation of the grand jury secrecy statute, NMSA 1978, § 31-6-6 (1979); (5) perjury counts one and three were not supported by sufficient evidence; (6) the conspiracy count of the indictment should be dismissed for failure to particularly allege the perjury Defendant allegedly conspired to commit; and (7) the trial court erred in admitting the statement of the deceased witness, James Crain (Mr. Crain), as a statement against penal interest under Rule 11-804(B)(3) NMRA 1998. {2} We hold that the trial court committed reversible error by failing to instruct the jury on the essential element of materiality in light of the United States Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Gaudin, 515 U.S. 506 (1995). We therefore reverse Defendant's convictions on the perjury counts and remand for a new trial on counts one and three. We also remand with instructions to vacate count two because it is duplicative of count three. Additionally, we hold that Defendant waived his claim that the allegations in the conspiracy count of the indictment were fatally deficient and therefore affirm the conviction for conspiracy to commit perjury. Because Defendant would be afforded greater relief on appeal if this Court determined the evidence was insufficient to support Defendant's conviction on count three of perjury, see State v. Santillanes, 109 N.M. 781, 782, 790 P.2d 1062, 1063 (Ct. App. 1990), we address whether there was sufficient evidence to support the conviction under count three and conclude that there was. We also conclude that allegations in count one of the indictment were sufficient to charge Defendant with the offense of perjury as an accomplice. Finally, we hold that the trial court erred in admitting Mr. Crain's statement to the Chief Investigator of the District Attorney's office as a statement against interest. We reject Defendant's remaining contentions.
 "State v. Benavidez" by New Mexico Court of Appeals # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free){kind=link}