Opinion ID: 891826
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Sufficient Evidence Supports Arrendondo's Conviction for Assault with Intent to Commit a Violent Felony Against Nicole as Instructed; However, the Jury Instruction was Erroneous.

Text: {¶ 11} The State presented eyewitness testimony that Arrendondo fired shots into a house occupied by Nicole and others. However, Arrendondo contends that the State failed to present evidence that he knew that Nicole was in the house, let alone had any sort of disagreement with her so to desire to maim or kill her or that Nicole subjectively feared being hit by a bullet. Therefore, Arrendondo argues that the conviction is not supported by sufficient evidence. To support a conviction for assault with intent to commit a felony against Nicole, the State had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that (1) Arrendondo shot a firearm into the house in which Nicole resided; (2) Arrendondo's conduct caused Nicole to believe that he was about to intrude on her bodily integrity or personal safety by touching or applying force to her in a rude, insolent or angry manner; (3) a reasonable person in the same circumstances as Nicole would have had the same belief; (4) Arrendondo's act was unlawful [because it was not justified by self-defense]; (5) Arrendondo intended to kill Nicole or commit murder on Nicole; and (6) this happened in New Mexico on or about November 22, 2003. See UJI 14-312 NMRA; NMSA 1978, § 30-3-3 (1963). {¶ 12} Police Chief Jerry Stevens, Sergeant Shane Arthur, and Katerina Babcock, a forensic scientist, testified that all of the bullets from the crime scene, including those that landed in the house, came from Arrendondo's 9 mm handgun. Gloria testified that Nicole was in the house during the shooting. This testimony supports a jury finding that Arrendondo shot into the house in which Nicole resided. In addition, Sergeant Arthur testified that the trajectory of the bullets that landed in the house indicates that the shooter was aiming directly at the house. This testimony supports the fourth element: that Arrendondo acted unlawfully, rather than in self-defense. There is no dispute regarding the date of these events. {¶ 13} The next question is whether there is sufficient evidence to support a finding that Nicole subjectively believed she would be assaulted and whether that belief was objectively reasonable. The jury was instructed, in pertinent part, that the State had to prove both that [t]he defendant's conduct caused [the victim] to believe the defendant was about to intrude on [the victim's] bodily integrity or personal safety by touching or applying force to [the victim] in a rude, insolent or angry manner, and that [a] reasonable person in the same circumstances as [the victim] would have had the same belief. UJI 14-312(2) & (3). {¶ 14} The requirement that the victim must actually believe, and that a reasonable person in the victim's circumstances also would believe, that he or she was about to be assaulted indicates a dual subjective and objective test. We have previously contrasted a subjective standard with the objective reasonable person standard based on a person's actual perceptions. See State v. Rudolfo, 2008-NMSC-036, ¶ 17, 144 N.M. 305, 187 P.3d 170 (interpreting a focus on the person's actual perception as subjective and deeming an acted reasonably requirement as objective). Therefore, the State's evidence must satisfy both a subjective and an objective standard. {¶ 15} Our law of assault generally requires evidence that the victim actually, subjectively comprehended that he or she was going to receive unwelcome physical contact. See Baca v. Velez, 114 N.M. 13, 15, 833 P.2d 1194, 1196 (Ct.App.1992). In prosecuting an assault charge, the State must present some evidence of the victim's actual belie[f that] he was in danger of receiving an immediate battery. State v. Mata, 86 N.M. 548, 550-51, 525 P.2d 908, 910-11 (Ct.App.1974). {¶ 16} Arrendondo argues that because Nicole did not testify during his trial, there is no way to know, without speculating, if she believed that [Arrendondo] was about to injure her. However, Gloria testified that Nicole was in the house with her when Arrendondo started shooting. Gloria could hear the gunshots. A reasonable jury could infer from this testimony that the shooting was audible to people in Aragon's house, including Nicole. {¶ 17} Gloria also testified, without objection, that Nicole said that a bullet passed in front of her and Jasmine, her baby. Gloria told Nicole to hide. It is unclear which of these events happened first. After Gloria told Nicole to hide, Nicole fled to a closet in Gloria's son's bedroom. From this evidence, a reasonable jury could find that a reasonable person in Nicole's shoes, having heard the gunshots and witnessed a bullet pass next to her and her baby, would have feared for her life. Therefore, the State presented enough evidence to satisfy both the subjective and the objective prongs of this test. {¶ 18} However, the controlling question is whether Arrendondo intended to commit murder or mayhem against Nicole. See State v. Highfield, 113 N.M. 606, 609, 830 P.2d 158, 161 (Ct.App.1992) (providing that an essential element of the crime of assault with the intent to commit a violent felony is the intent to commit the violent felony against such person). We note that the jury was instructed that for it to find Arrendondo guilty of assault with intent to commit a violent felony, in addition to the other elements, it had to find that he intended to kill Nicole or any other person or commit murder or mayhem on Nicole or any other person. The State correctly argues that the [j]ury instructions become the law of the case against which the sufficiency of the evidence is to be measured. State v. Smith, 104 N.M. 729, 730, 726 P.2d 883, 884 (Ct.App. 1986). {¶ 19} There was sufficient evidence to find Arrendondo guilty under the instruction as given because there was sufficient evidence that he intended to commit murder against Aragon. Although the State asserts that there was evidence at the trial that Arrendondo knew that Nicole was in the house, our review of the record does not support this assertion. The testimony relied upon by the State established only that Arrendondo had been at the Aragon residence before the shooting, although he never entered their residence. The testimony also established that the Aragons, including Nicole, had been to Arrendondo's residence, although Nicole never entered his residence. We fail to understand how this evidence supports an inference that, at the time in question, Arrendondo knew that Nicole was in the Aragons' house. {¶ 20} However, the instruction, to which Arrendondo did not object either at trial or on appeal, misstated the law regarding assault with intent to commit a violent felony. As a preface to discussing why the instruction is erroneous, it is important to note that a majority of the Court, excluding the author, have opted to raise the issue of the erroneous instruction sua sponte. The majority does so because of this Court's inherent authority to raise an issue sua sponte when it is necessary to protect a party's fundamental rights. State v. Jade G., 2007-NMSC-010, ¶ 24, 141 N.M. 284, 154 P.3d 659. [1] Although as a general rule propositions of law not raised in the trial court should not be raised sua sponte by the appellate court, there are exceptions. One exception is when doing so is necessary to protect a party's fundamental rights. Id. We also have the responsibility to question sua sponte a conviction for a nonexistent crime, because otherwise fundamental error would not be corrected. State v. Johnson, 103 N.M. 364, 371, 707 P.2d 1174, 1181 (Ct.App.1985). The question is whether the jury may have convicted Arrendondo of a crime that does not exist because of the way they were instructed. The majority answers this question affirmatively. {¶ 21} When reviewing a jury instruction for fundamental error, we seek to determine whether a reasonable juror would have been confused or misdirected by the jury instruction. State v. Benally, 2001-NMSC-033, ¶ 12, 131 N.M. 258, 34 P.3d 1134 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). An instruction that, through omission or misstatement, gives the juror an inaccurate rendition of the relevant law, may confuse or misdirect a juror. See id. In this case, the jury instruction as it was submitted to the jury misdirected or confused the jury, because it may have allowed the jury to conclude that whether Arrendondo intended to murder Nicole was irrelevant because he shot into the house intending to murder Aragon. Therefore, under the erroneous jury instruction, the jury may have found Arrendondo guilty of assault with intent to commit a violent felony against Nicole without finding that Arrendondo intended to murder Nicole. If the jury found Arrendondo guilty of assaulting Nicole because he had the intent to commit a violent felony against Aragon, but not Nicole, the jury would have found Arrendondo guilty of a crime that does not exist. The majority agrees with the Court of Appeals' holding in Highfield that an essential element of the crime of assault with the intent to commit a violent felony is the intent to commit the violent felony against such person. The jury should have been instructed to consider only whether the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Arrendondo assaulted Nicole with the intent to commit a violent felony against her. Having failed to do so, the jury may have convicted Arrendondo of a crime that does not exist, and we cannot let such fundamental error go uncorrected. See State v. Maestas, 2007-NMSC-001, ¶ 26, 140 N.M. 836, 149 P.3d 933 (a conviction for a nonexistent crime constitutes fundamental error). {¶ 22} Although this conviction is reversed, the State is not barred from retrying Arrendondo under this count because his sufficiency of the evidence argument fails under the instruction as given. State v. Mascareñas, 2000-NMSC-017, ¶ 31, 129 N.M. 230, 4 P.3d 1221 (providing that retrial following an appeal is not barred if the evidence below was sufficient to support a conviction under the erroneous jury instruction).