Opinion ID: 2517667
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: defendant can raise the application of section 31-18-16.1 for the first time on appeal because it is a jurisdictional issue

Text: {9} As a threshold matter, we must determine whether Defendant is permitted to challenge the application of Section 31-18-16.1 after failing to raise the issue at trial. The State urges this Court to hold that Defendant failed to preserve the issue as required by Rule 12-216 NMRA, and, therefore, is not entitled to relief. Defendant contends that if Section 31-18-16.1 did not apply to his sentencing, then he received an illegal sentence. Defendant asserts that an illegal sentence is a jurisdictional question which can be raised for the first time on appeal under Rule 12-216. We agree with Defendant. {10} We find guidance in the Court of Appeals case of State v. Shay, 2004-NMCA-077, 136 N.M. 8, 94 P.3d 8. In Shay, two defendants argued that a legislative amendment to NMSA 1978, Section 31-18-17 (2002), prohibited the use of a conviction more than ten years old to enhance their sentences because the amendment became effective before their sentencings. Shay, 2004-NMCA-077, ¶ 1. The Court of Appeals agreed with the defendants and held that the amended version of Section 31-18-17 applied, forbidding a habitual offender enhancement based on a conviction more than ten years old. Shay, 2004-NMCA-077, ¶ 9. While one of the defendants failed to preserve the issue in writing, the Court of Appeals observed that defendants are allowed to challenge the legality of their sentences for the first time on appeal because trial courts have no jurisdiction to impose illegal sentences. Id. ¶ 6 (citing State v. Bachicha, 111 N.M. 601, 605-06, 808 P.2d 51, 55-56 (Ct.App.1991)). {11} In the instant case, Defendant is challenging the application of Section 31-18-16.1, which was repealed before Defendant's trial. If Section 31-18-16.1 did not apply to Defendant, but the trial court still imposed the enhancement, the sentence would be illegal and outside the court's jurisdiction. Because Rule 12-216 does not preclude appellate review of jurisdictional questions, we hold that Defendant did not waive this issue by failing to preserve it at trial and that it can be raised for the first time on appeal.