Opinion ID: 2584137
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: New Mexico's Criminal Sentencing Act and Amendments

Text: {7} With the passage of the Criminal Sentencing Act (CSA), New Mexico adopted such a discretionary sentencing scheme in 1977. [2] 1977 N.M. Laws, ch. 216, §§ 1-19. For noncapital felonies, the CSA established ranges of imprisonment and required the judge to impose a basic sentence of a definite term within that range. Id. § 4(A). In exercising this discretion, a judge could consider any facts he or she deemed relevant-including those not presented to the jury. See State v. Montoya, 91 N.M. 425, 427, 575 P.2d 609, 611 (Ct.App.1978) ([A] sentencing judge has wide discretion in the sources and types of information used in determining the punishment to be imposed.). For example, although the CSA required a judge to impose a basic sentence for a third-degree felony, the judge was free to fully exercise his or her discretion in setting the basic sentence at anywhere between two and ten years. CSA § 4(A)(3). As enacted, the CSA posed no Sixth Amendment problem since the judge's discretion to establish the basic sentence was authorized solely by a jury verdict or plea. {8} In 1979, the Legislature amended portions of the CSA. 1979 N.M. Laws, ch. 152, at §§ 1-4. The amendments, with a few others made later not pertinent to the case at hand, remain effective. Most significantly, the amendments changed the way in which the basic sentence is determined. Instead of the judge exercising discretion to choose a basic sentence from a given range, the basic sentence for each degree of felony is now set at an exact amount. Section 31-18-15(A). As it applies to this case, instead of being allowed to choose a basic sentence anywhere from two to ten years imprisonment for a third-degree felony, a judge is now required to impose a basic sentence of three years imprisonment-no more, no less. Section 31-18-15(A)(5), (B). At the same time the amendments mandated the imposition of set terms of imprisonment, another provision added in 1979 allowed the sentencing judge to alter the basic sentence upward or downward by one-third upon a finding by the judge of any mitigating or aggravating circumstances surrounding the offense or concerning the offender. Section 31-18-15.1(A).