Opinion ID: 2582454
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: A Post-Conviction Remedy Is Distinct from a Writ of Habeas Corpus

Text: {11} Section 31-11-6, titled Post-conviction remedy, was enacted and became immediately effective on March 1, 1966. 1966 N.M. Laws ch. 29, § 1, at 135-36. The statute, for all practical purposes, mimicked verbatim our then Rule 93 of Civil Procedure, which had become effective two months prior. The rule allowed a prisoner to motion the court that imposed his or her sentence to vacate, set aside or correct the sentence on the grounds that the sentence was imposed in violation of the Constitution of the United States, or of the Constitution or laws of New Mexico, or that the court was without jurisdiction to impose such sentence, or that the sentence was in excess of the maximum authorized by law, or is otherwise subject to collateral attack. NMSA 1953, § 21-1-1(93); § 31-11-6. {12} Notwithstanding the fact that the remedy provided for by former Rule 93 overlapped significantly with that of a writ of habeas corpus, see Smith v. State, 79 N.M. 450, 452, 444 P.2d 961, 963 (1968), it is clear the two were distinct. First, the denial of a prisoner's Rule 93 motion could be appealed directly to this Court, whereas the denial of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus could not. See NMSA 1953, § 21-1-1(93)(e); § 31-11-6(E). Second, Rule 93 itself explicitly stated that a prisoner applying for a writ of habeas corpus first had to exhaust his or her remedies under the Rule before seeking the writ. NMSA 1953, § 21-1-1(93)(f); see § 31-11-6(F). Since Section 31-11-6 mimics former Rule 93, a post-conviction remedy under Section 31-11-6 is as equally distinct from a writ of habeas corpus. This is not a new insight. See Thomas A. Donnelly & William T. MacPherson, Habeas Corpus in New Mexico, 11 N.M. L.Rev. 291, 300 (1981) (stating that neither Section 31-11-6 nor Rule 93 attempt[ed] to replace the writ of habeas corpus). Thus, since a motion pursuant to Section 31-11-6 is distinct from a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, and since Cummings is seeking a writ of habeas corpus, Section 31-11-6 is irrelevant to this case.