Opinion ID: 2625574
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: {6} The State cites State v. Conn, 115 N.M. 99, 100, 847 P.2d 744, 745 (1993) for the proposition that our review on certiorari in this case is inappropriate, and specifically that our jurisdiction in certiorari cases does not encompass weighing or reviewing the resolution of factual issues by the Court of Appeals. In Conn, the State asked us to review a Court of Appeals decision holding that a district court had abused its discretion in admitting evidence of an assault conviction in a criminal sexual contact with a minor case. The defendant had pled guilty to the assault nine years and eight months before the trial. Id. at 101, 847 P.2d 746. There, because we were being asked to examine a question of fact regarding a district court's exercise of discretion on an evidentiary issue, we held that it is not within the purview of our jurisdiction on certiorari to resolve mere factual conflicts between the district court of this State and the Court of Appeals. Id. In this case, however, we are being asked to review a district court's decision to grant a new trial on the basis of newly-discovered evidence. While the facts of the case constituted a part of the district court's consideration in granting a new trial, the district court's decision remained a legal one. State v. Ashley, 1997-NMSC-049, ¶ 9, 124 N.M. 1, 946 P.2d 205. Conn does not preclude our review of whether the Court of Appeals erred in concluding that the district court abused its discretion in evaluating the effect of the newly-discovered evidence.