Opinion ID: 891688
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Request for a Continuance to Secure the Presence of Defense Witnesses

Text: {65} Defendant claims the district court erred by refusing to grant a continuance to secure the attendance of two defense witnesses at trial. Those witnesses are Kami Ramsey, a guard at the Cibola County Detention Center during Michelle Martinez's incarceration at that facility, and Surtina Cohoe, Martinez's former cell mate at the Cibola County facility. The court ultimately read their testimony to the jury in the form of a stipulation which the parties jointly drafted. We review Defendant's claim for an abuse of discretion. See State v. Salazar, 2007-NMSC-004, ¶ 10, 141 N.M. 148, 152 P.3d 135 (The grant or denial of a continuance is within the sound discretion of the trial court, and the burden of establishing abuse of discretion rests with the defendant.). {66} Both parties agree that our opinion in State v. Torres, 1999-NMSC-010, 127 N.M. 20, 976 P.2d 20, controls. In Torres, we promulgated a number of factors for courts to consider when evaluating a motion for a continuance. Id. ¶ 10. These factors include the length of the requested delay, the likelihood that a delay would accomplish the movant's objectives, the existence of previous continuances in the same matter, the degree of inconvenience to the parties and the court, the legitimacy of the motives in requesting the delay, the fault of the movant in causing a need for the delay, and the prejudice to the movant in denying the motion. Id. {67} In applying the Torres, factors to the present case, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Defendant's motion for a continuance. When prompted, defense counsel could not provide the court with an estimate for the amount of time needed to bring either Ramsey or Cohoe to court. Nor did counsel attempt to explain why granting a continuance would likely result in their ultimate appearance. Regarding the degree of inconvenience, by the time defense counsel motioned the court for a continuance on the third day of the three-day trial, the State had already called its final witness, and one of the two alternate jurors had been excused. {68} The district court properly ascribed fault to defense counsel in creating the need for a delay. The district court raised significant questions about whether the witnesses had been properly subpoenaed. While defense counsel insisted that his investigator was prepared to testify as to service of process, the court's offer of a stipulation was accepted without counsel ever providing proof of service. Regarding Cohoe, even assuming she was properly served, defense counsel did not timely notify the court that Cohoe had failed to appear on the appropriate subpoena date. This was a particularly egregious oversight in light of defense counsel's repeated assurances that Cohoe was reliable and trustworthy and would show up to testify as she promised. The court was justified in holding defense counsel accountable for creating the need for a delay to secure Ramsey's attendance. On the first day of trial, defense counsel refused the court's offer to issue a warrant and admitted that Ramsey's testimony was not sufficiently important to justify any kind of delay. {69} As to the final Torres factorprejudiceDefendant argues that Cohoe's live testimony was vital to his defense, as she was prepared to refute Martinez's version of events and undercut her credibility. Despite these contentions, Defendant cannot show how Cohoe's live testimony would have differed from what was presented by stipulation. In addition, as Martinez's cell mate, Cohoe had credibility problems of her own; even her stipulated testimony was subject to character-based impeachment by way of her prior convictions. {70} Finally, Cohoe's testimony was cumulative. The record reveals that defense counsel attacked Martinez's credibility throughout the trial. Specifically, Defendant demonstrated that Martinez had changed her story several times, she had committed numerous crimes of dishonesty, she had accepted a generous plea deal, she had engaged in a litany of related misdeeds, and she had a reputation in jail for lying. In light of the voluminous evidence presented on Martinez's credibility, including the stipulated testimony itself, we cannot conclude that Defendant was prejudiced by his inability to present live testimony from either Ramsey or Cohoe.