Opinion ID: 891659
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: With Dismissal of the Murder Charge Defendant Became an Alleged Youthful Offender

Text: {16} Defendant contends that once the State dropped the first-degree murder charge, he should have been treated as a youthful offender from then on, rather than a serious youthful offender. The distinction is important because, as the above framework suggests, the consequences of being labeled a serious youthful offender arise earlygenerally at the charging stagerather than after notice and a hearing or post-adjudication. {17} This means that juveniles aged 15 and up who are charged with first-degree murder are treated differently from the start than children charged with less serious offenses. See Muniz, 2003-NMSC-021, ¶ 15, 134 N.M. 152, 74 P.3d 86. For example, as explained above, the Rules of Criminal Procedure for the District Courts apply to the proceedings instead of the Children's Court Rules. Also, the State is not required to give notice of its intent to seek adult sanctions. Unlike a child who allegedly commits a delinquent act or a youthful offender offense, a serious youthful offender may be detained in the general adult population of a county jail while awaiting trial. Compare § 32A-2-12(E)(3) (providing that a serious youthful offender may be detained in a county jail) with § 32A-2-12(A) (providing that an alleged delinquent offender may be detained in a foster home, a facility operated by a licensed child welfare services agency, a shelter-care facility or a detention facility for alleged delinquent children, the child's home or place of residence, or any other suitable placeother than a facility for the long-term care and rehabilitation of delinquent children), and § 32A-2-12(B) (providing that an alleged youthful offender may be detained in a facility for alleged delinquent children or in any other suitable placeother than a facility for the long-term care and rehabilitation of delinquent children). And most importantly, for our purposes, a serious youthful offender is not entitled to an amenability hearing because, upon conviction of first-degree murder, the child must receive an adult sentence. {18} The State argues, and the Court of Appeals agreed, that under this Court's holding in Muniz, Defendant remained a serious youthful offender even after the prosecution dropped the first-degree murder charge. 2003-NMSC-021, 134 N.M. 152, 74 P.3d 86. In Muniz, the defendant was a serious youthful offender who, in exchange for the State dropping its first-degree murder charge, pled guilty to tampering with evidence and conspiracy to tamper with evidence. Id. ¶ 1. The trial court sentenced Muniz as an adult, despite his objection that he could only be sentenced as a juvenile, because the two offenses to which he pled guilty were only delinquent acts. Id. ¶ 3. The Court of Appeals agreed with Muniz and reversed. On certiorari, we reinstated the child's adult sentence, holding that the trial court retained the authority to sentence the defendant as an adult. Id. ¶ 18. We reasoned that the Legislature, by creating the serious youthful offender classification, expressed an intent to treat those children charged with first degree murder differently than other children, even if ultimately those children are not found guilty on the first degree murder charge. Id. ¶ 10. {19} We note first that our holding in Muniz was largely abrogated by the Legislature in 2005 when it added two provisions to the Delinquency Act. Section 32A-2-20(G) and (H) explicitly state that a serious youthful offender who is adjudicated for a delinquent act other than first-degree murder must be sentenced as either a youthful offender or a delinquent offender, depending on the nature of the adjudicated act. These amendments effectively rejected the core of our holding in Muniz that the trial court retains the authority to sentence a serious youthful offender as an adult, regardless of the act for which he is adjudicated. {20} However, even if Muniz were still effective, we agree with Defendant that this case is different. In Muniz, the prosecution did not drop the first-degree murder charge until it entered into a plea agreement with the defendant. 2003-NMSC-021, ¶ 2, 134 N.M. 152, 74 P.3d 86. In this case, the Statewith no prompting from Defendant or the trial courtvoluntarily dismissed the first-degree murder charge against Defendant, after recognizing, to its credit, that it lacked the evidence to prove the crime. See Rule 16-308(A) NMRA (The prosecutor in a criminal case shall . . . refrain from prosecuting a charge that the prosecutor knows is not supported by probable cause. . . .). Our reasoning in Muniz, that the Legislature intended to treat those children charged with first degree murder differently, cannot apply to a situation where the State no longer intends to treat the child differently. Where the charge of first-degree murder is brought and then dismissed, it is unfair to subject the erroneously charged child any longer to the potential consequences of serious youthful offender status. {21} The State argues that its decision to drop the first-degree murder charge is no different than a similar conclusion by a judge at the directed verdict stage or by a jury during deliberations. We disagree. By dropping the murder charge of its own volition early in the proceeding, the State was acknowledging that its initial suspicions about murder were not borne out by further investigation. That is not the same conclusion a judge or jury makes after a full airing of argument and fact. Nor is it the same decision that a prosecutor makes when dropping a charge after negotiation and compromise for the purpose of securing a plea. See Muniz, 2003-NMSC-021, 134 N.M. 152, 74 P.3d 86. {22} We, therefore, hold that Defendant was not a serious youthful offender when he entered into his plea agreement, because he was no longer charged with first-degree murder at the time of his plea. Rather, from the moment the State dropped the first-degree murder charge, Defendant was a child charged with a youthful offender offense a potential youthful offenderand as such, he was entitled to the full range of protections afforded by the Delinquency Act, which are discussed more fully below.