Court Opinion

ID: 9533560
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:32:38.15615+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:29:05.267712
License: Public Domain

RANSOM, Justice (dissenting). Although not raised by the parties, the Court of Appeals identified a potential issue of fundamental error governed by State v. Shade, 104 N.M. 710, 726 P.2d 864 (Ct.App.), cert. quashed, 104 N.M. 702, 726 P.2d 856 (1986), and State v. Carr, 95 N.M. 755, 626 P.2d 292 (Ct.App.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 853, 102 S.Ct. 298, 70 L.Ed.2d 145 (1981). As observed by the Court of Appeals, the State had claimed there were two objects of the conspiracy with which Olguin was being charged, a conspiracy to commit solicitation of a bribe and a conspiracy to commit fraud in excess of $2500. While the evidence was sufficient to establish conspiracy to commit solicitation of a bribe, the Court of Appeals questioned whether the evidence was sufficient to support a conspiracy to commit fraud. Thus it addressed at oral argument whether it was necessary that there be sufficient evidence to support both of the claimed objects of conspiracy. Under Shade and Carr, it would constitute fundamental error to submit to the jury an object of conspiracy not supported by evidence. Shade, 104 N.M. at 723, 726 P.2d at 877; Carr, 95 N.M. at 765, 626 P.2d at 302. This would not be error, however, under Griffin v. United States, 502 U.S. 46, 60, 112 S.Ct. 466, 474, 116 L.Ed.2d 371 (1991), which the Court of Appeals adopted when affirming the conspiracy conviction. I respectfully dissent from this Court’s setting aside of Olguin’s conspiracy conviction. Neither Shade nor Carr was cited or relied upon by Olguin or the State in the briefs before the Court of Appeals. Olguin never complained about the absence of substantial evidence to support one of the two objects of the conspiracy with which he was charged. Olguin argued on appeal, as he did in the trial court, that there was no evidence of an agreement to violate the law — there was nothing more than Nunez’s misunderstanding of Olguin’s role. Because Olguin did not rely on Shade and Carr, I disagree that we should afford him the advantage of the Shade fundamental-error doctrine. I would not, therefore, set aside the conviction for conspiracy. I would, however, limit any application of Griffin to a holding that the absence of substantial evidence to support one of the two claimed objects of a conspiracy does not constitute fundamental error. That is, I concur with the overruling of the holding in Shade that fundamental error arises from an instruction on a factual alternative for which there is no substantial evidence. If, using this case as an example, lack of evidence to support conspiracy to commit the alternative object of fraud were to have been raised and erroneously ruled upon, then we would decide whether that error was harmless under the facts. Griffin holds that, without regard to the facts, submission of a false alternative is never error. 502 U.S. at 60, 112 S.Ct. at 474. I would decline to adopt Griffin as a general rule. In Griffin, of course, the defendant did propose that the court instruct the jury that it could consider only the object of the conspiracy for which she conceded there was sufficient evidence, and she proposed special interrogatories asking the jury to identify the object or objects of the conspiracy of which she had knowledge. 502 U.S. at 48,112 S.Ct. at 468. Griffin holds that it was not error to deny both requests. 502 U.S. at 60, 112 S.Ct. at 474. On the other hand, Griffin acknowledges that it would not have constituted error for the trial court to have eliminated from the jury’s consideration the alternative basis of liability that did not have adequate evidentiary support. “Indeed, if the evidence is insufficient to support an alternative legal theory of liability, it would generally be preferable for the court to give an instruction removing that theory from the jury’s consideration.” Griffin, 502 U.S. at 60, 112 S.Ct. at 474. Clearly, the denial of a request to remove an unsupported theory from consideration should constitute error, and we should determine on a case-by-case basis whether such a denial was reversible error. The burden should be on the defendant to show prejudice. Accordingly, I would mandate that the jury be required to complete and return a special-interrogatory form when so requested by a defendant who has raised an objection to the sufficiency of the evidence on one or more of the multiple objects or grounds in support of a charge.