Opinion ID: 1268268
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: (B) Vindictive Prosecution

Text: Defendant contends that the filing of the amended information following his successful motion for a mistrial amounted to vindictive prosecution since the amended information adds two counts not contained in the original information. This action by the district attorney, Coates argues, impermissibly encroaches upon his free exercise of a procedural right in contravention of the Due Process Clauses of the United States and New Mexico State Constitutions. In this regard, we find persuasive the reasoning of the California Court of Appeals in People v. Flowers, 14 Cal. App.3d 1017, 92 Cal. Rptr. 647 (1971). There the court considered the propriety of allowing an amended information which added a new count after a mistrial. The court found that under Cal. Penal Code Section 1009 (West 1970), an amended information following a mistrial is subject to certain limitations: (1) the information cannot be amended so as to add an offense not shown by the evidence taken at the preliminary hearing; (2) if the amendment would otherwise prejudice the substantial rights of the defendant, a reasonable postponement of any pending proceeding may be allowed; and (3) the amendment may not be accomplished without leave of the court. In sustaining the trial court's allowance of the amended information, the court of appeals observed that the defendant's substantial right to a trial on a charge of which he had due notice is preserved by Section 1009 itself, in that it forbids any additional charge to be brought which was not borne out by evidence adduced at the preliminary hearing. Further, in response to defendant's assertion that the right of the district attorney to add counts after a mistrial gives rise to an opportunity to harrass or vex the defendant with successive amendments, the court pointed out that the discretion of the trial court to disallow such amendments protects the defendant against such unfair proferred amendments; a failure to protect against such harrassing amendments would be an abuse of discretion. Id. at 1021, 92 Cal. Rptr. at 650. Turning to the case before us, NMSA 1978, Crim.P.Rule 7(c) (Repl.Pamp. 1980) provides that the trial court may at any time allow the    information to be amended in respect to any variance to conform to the evidence. If the court finds that the defendant has been prejudiced by an amendment, the court may postpone the trial or grant such other relief as may be proper under the circumstances. In accord with this rule is the statement of our court of appeals that [u]nless prejudice to the defendant results a reviewing court will not disturb the trial court's discretion in permitting an amended information. State v. Benally, 99 N.M. 415, 417, 658 P.2d 1142, 1144 (Ct.App. 1983) (citations omitted). After reviewing the record to determine whether the trial court abused its discretion in allowing the amended information we note, first, that the defendant and the district attorney both should have made efforts immediately to determine why the written bind-over order did not square with the magistrate's announcement at the end of the preliminary hearing. This would have eliminated the present confusion. Defendant did move for a statement of facts under NMSA 1978, Crim.P.Rule 9 (Repl. Pamp. 1980); however, he did not do so until the day of the second trial, and we agree with the trial judge that this motion was not timely filed. Second, we observe that it would have been more appropriate for the district attorney to have included all three counts in the original information, if as the State contends, the district attorney intended to charge Coates with these crimes all along and Coates knew at all times of the charges against which he would have to defend. In ruling on the motion to quash the amended information, the trial court concluded that there was no prosecutorial misconduct. This determination by the court below afforded defendant protection against an unfair and vexatious amended information filed subsequent to the mistrial. People v. Flowers . We cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion in finding no vindictiveness on the part of the district attorney, since there is nothing in the record to indicate that he, in fact, acted in bad faith. Furthermore, there is nothing in the record which would even give rise to a presumption of vindictiveness. [2] Rather, it appears that the prosecutor added the armed robbery and unlawful taking of a motor vehicle counts simply because they were improvidently omitted from the original information. Defendant was not prejudiced by the filing of the amended information and, therefore, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in allowing it. We now address defendant's remaining points of error which he alleges occurred during the second trial.