Opinion ID: 3158132
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Coercion/Issue Preclusion

Text: In general, the doctrine of issue preclusion promotes judicial economy by precluding parties from relitigating an issue that they have already litigated unsuccessfully. But the particular rules governing the applicability of issue preclusion may vary somewhat from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Under the full-faith-and-credit statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1738, federal courts give a state-court ruling the preclusive effect it has in the state where it was rendered. See Nichols v. Bd. of Cnty. Comm’rs, 506 F.3d 962, 967 (10th Cir. 2007). The district court held that under New Mexico issue-preclusion law Rowley’s coerced-confession claim was barred by the state criminal court’s denial of his motion to suppress his confession. It particularly relied on a New Mexico Court of Appeals decision, Albuquerque Police Department v. Martinez (In re Forfeiture of Fourteen 4 Thousand Six Hundred Thirty Nine Dollars ($14,639) in U.S. Currency in Various Denominations & Two (2) Digital Pagers), 902 P.2d 563 (N.M. Ct. App. 1995), which addressed a very similar issue. In Forfeiture, police taking inventory of a crashed vehicle opened a closed duffle bag within the car and found cash and narcotics. See id. at 564– 65. In the ensuing criminal proceeding against the driver, the trial court ruled the search unconstitutional, suppressed the evidence, and entered an order releasing all noncontraband evidence to the defendant. See id. at 565. Meanwhile, the police department had filed a petition for forfeiture of the money. The court dismissed the petition, concluding that it was precluded by the criminal case. See id. The court of appeals affirmed, writing that “we have no hesitation in giving collateral estoppel effect in a forfeiture proceeding to a prior decision on a motion to suppress in a criminal proceeding.” Id. at 569–70. Forfeiture is not binding on us because it is not a decision of New Mexico’s highest court. See Am. Cas. Co. of Reading Pa. v. Health Care Indem., Inc., 520 F.3d 1131, 1138 (10th Cir. 2008). But “we always have viewed intermediate state court opinions as indicia of the leanings of the state’s highest court and have followed suit unless other authority convinces us that the state supreme court would decide otherwise.” Daigle v. Shell Oil Co., 972 F.2d 1527, 1543 (10th Cir. 1992) (brackets and internal quotation marks omitted). Absent any precedent or compelling argument to the contrary, we therefore infer that Forfeiture reflects what the New Mexico Supreme Court would have decided. 5 Rowley’s opening brief on appeal presents no such precedent or argument. First, he argues that the issue in the criminal proceeding was not the same as the issue here. But he is wrong. Just as in this case, the question at the suppression hearing was whether the government could show by a preponderance of the evidence that his confession was voluntary. See State v. Setser, 932 P.2d 484, 486 (N.M. 1997). Next, he argues that the state-court ruling on his motion to suppress is not binding here because it was not a final judgment. But he cites no New Mexico case law in support of the asserted final-judgment requirement. He also makes no attempt to distinguish Forfeiture, which similarly gave preclusive effect to a ruling on a motion to suppress.1 In his reply brief Rowley argues that Forfeiture is distinguishable because in that case the government could have appealed as of right whereas Rowley would have had to obtain a certification from the state trial court in order to appeal. Perhaps this is a meaningful distinction (and perhaps, although not argued by Rowley, it also matters that had Rowley appealed the suppression ruling that appeal would not have been decided before the nolle prosequi issued the next month). But an argument made for the first time in a reply brief comes too late. See Wheeler v. Comm’r, 521 F.3d 1289, 1291 (10th Cir. 2008). If Rowley wished to challenge the district court’s reasoning, he had to do so in his opening brief; but he does not even mention, much less distinguish, Forfeiture there. 1 Rowley also argues that he is not precluded here because he did not have a full and fair opportunity to litigate the matter in state court, but he expressly limits this argument to his Miranda claim. 6 Rather, the only possible suggestion in his opening brief of an appealability requirement is a one-sentence parenthetical to an out-of-circuit citation in a footnote. See Aplt. Br. at 25 n.51. That will not do. See United States v. Hardman, 297 F.3d 1116, 1131 (10th Cir. 2002) (“Arguments raised in a perfunctory manner, such as in a footnote, are waived.”). Further, the footnote does not deal with the district court’s statements that no New Mexico case has held that a ruling must be appealable to have preclusive effect and that Rowley could have sought permission for an interlocutory appeal of the suppression ruling. In short, Rowley’s opening brief is inadequate to preserve any challenge to the application of Forfeiture to his case. See Adler v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 144 F.3d 664, 679 (10th Cir. 1998); United States v. Callwood, 66 F.3d 1110, 1115 n.6 (10th Cir. 1995) (“A litigant who mentions a point in passing but fails to press it by supporting it with pertinent authority forfeits the point.” (ellipsis and internal quotation marks omitted)).