Court Opinion

ID: 9945829
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Date Created: 2024-02-28 17:08:06.310412+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:22:13.869242
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This decision of the New Mexico Court of Appeals was not selected for publication in
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          IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO

No. A-1-CA-40208

STATE OF NEW MEXICO,

      Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

MATHEW VARGAS,

      Defendant-Appellant.

APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF McKINLEY COUNTY
Robert A. Aragon, District Court Judge

Raúl Torrez, Attorney General
Santa Fe, NM
Van Snow, Assistant Attorney General
Albuquerque, NM

for Appellee

Bennett J. Baur, Chief Public Defender
Caitlin C.M. Smith, Assistant Appellate Defender
Santa Fe, NM

for Appellant

                              MEMORANDUM OPINION

BOGARDUS, Judge.

{1}    Defendant Mathew Vargas appeals his conviction for vehicular homicide (driving
under the influence), contrary to NMSA 1978, Section 66-8-101(C) (2016). Defendant
argues that fundamental error occurred because the causation instruction tendered to
the jury affirmatively misstated the law. We agree and reverse Defendant’s conviction.1

BACKGROUND

{2}    After attending a friend’s wedding in Red Rock State Park outside of Gallup, New
Mexico, Defendant began driving back home westbound toward Gallup on Route 66, a
two-lane highway and was involved in a head-on collision, which resulted in the death of
the other driver. A number of drivers witnessed the car accident. Marlin and Jennifer
Simplicio, also driving westbound on Route 66, testified that they saw Defendant’s
vehicle steer into the eastbound lane to pass the car in front of him, and when he did,
Defendant hit the victim’s truck, which was traveling eastbound. Shakiva and Orlando
John, who were driving in the eastbound lane, stated that they also saw Defendant’s
vehicle swerve into the eastbound lane and hit the victim’s truck.

{3}     As a result of the accident, the victim died at the scene and Defendant was
seriously injured—the emergency brake from Defendant’s vehicle was embedded in his
leg, trapping him inside. The emergency medical technician (EMT) that tended to
Defendant, testified that Defendant did not seem “altered in any way” and that he could
answer basic questions about who he was and how he came to be at the scene of the
accident. The EMT further noted that Defendant did not slur his speech, did not smell
like alcohol, and did not seem intoxicated. However, according to the EMT, Defendant
seemed “lethargic.”

{4}    At the scene, the EMT also found a baggie containing one and a half Xanax pills
in Defendant’s pocket. Defendant told the EMT that the Xanax pills were his and that he
took them as needed for anxiety. When interviewed by police after the accident,
Defendant denied taking Xanax on the day of the accident. He admitted that he did not
have a current prescription for Xanax, although he claimed a doctor had prescribed it for
him in the past. According to Defendant, he got the Xanax pills from a friend who gave
them to him after he suffered from an anxiety attack. Defendant testified he had last
taken a Xanax pill two days before the accident.

{5}     Defendant was transported to the hospital, where hospital staff drew his blood—
approximately seven to eight hours after the accident. Defendant had a concentration of
0.04 milligram per liter of alprazolam, the generic name for Xanax, in his system.
Several days after the accident, Defendant was interviewed by detectives. During the
interview, Defendant stated that he remembered the victim swerving into his lane.
Defendant claimed he saw the victim briefly come into his lane and when he looked
down to adjust the air conditioning in his vehicle and looked back up, the victim’s truck
was about to hit him. At trial, the State presented evidence from three experts in
accident reconstruction who all testified that the accident occurred in the victim’s lane—
the eastbound lane of the highway. Defendant conceded that the evidence showed that

1Defendant also argues that he was erroneously sentenced for a second-degree felony resulting in death,
which carries a heavier sentence, rather than just a second-degree felony. Because we reverse on
fundamental error grounds, we do not reach the sentencing issue.
the impact probably happened in the victim’s lane. The jury convicted Defendant of
vehicular homicide by driving under the influence.

DISCUSSION

{6}     Defendant argues that fundamental error occurred because the jury received an
instruction on the definition of causation that essentially “told the jury it could convict if it
found that [his] driving was the proximate cause of [the victim’s] death,” instead of
making clear that the jury had to find that Defendant’s unlawful conduct, driving under
the influence, was the proximate cause of death. Specifically, Defendant contends that
the dispute at trial was “whether [Defendant] was criminally responsible for [the victim’s]
death,” not whether Defendant’s driving killed the victim. Because the causation
instruction misstated the proximate cause requirement, Defendant asserts that the jury
“could have convicted him without finding beyond a reasonable doubt that an unlawful
act was the proximate cause of [the victim’s] death.” The State responds that even if the
causation instruction was erroneous, any error was not fundamental.

I.     Standard of Review

{7}   We review Defendant’s argument for fundamental error because he failed to
preserve this issue at trial. See State v. Cunningham, 2000-NMSC-009, ¶ 10, 128 N.M.
711, 998 P.2d 176 (stating “[t]he doctrine of fundamental error, embodied in Rule 12-
216(B)(2) [NMRA], is an exception to the general rule requiring preservation of error”).
We are mindful that “the fundamental error doctrine requires an appellate court to
perform a difficult and often high-stakes inquiry.” State v. Sivils, 2023-NMCA-080, ¶ 9,
538 P.3d 126.

{8}     Fundamental error exists, in a particular case, if it would “shock the conscience”
to affirm the conviction. See State v. Barber, 2004-NMSC-019, ¶ 14, 135 N.M. 621, 92
P.3d 633. An error can “shock the conscience” in one of two ways, either: (1) because
of “the obvious innocence of the defendant,” id. ¶ 16, or (2) because “a mistake in the
process makes a conviction fundamentally unfair notwithstanding the apparent guilt of
the accused.” Id. ¶ 17. Here, we are concerned with the latter—the procedural strand of
the fundamental error doctrine. The procedural strand “focuses less on guilt and
innocence and more on the process and the underlying integrity of our judicial system.”
Id. ¶ 16. “[N]ot all questions of fundamental error turn solely on guilt or innocence . . .
[o]ur inquiry must probe deeper.” Id. ¶ 14.

II.    The Causation Instruction Was Erroneous

{9}    First, we must determine whether an error occurred and in so doing we ask
“whether a reasonable juror would have been confused or misdirected by the jury
instruction” at issue. Id. ¶ 19. A jury instruction may cause confusion or misdirection
when, “through omission or misstatement,” it does not provide “an accurate rendition” of
the relevant law. State v. Benally, 2001-NMSC-033, ¶ 12, 131 N.M. 258, 34 P.3d 1134.
Because the causation instruction “fail[ed] to provide the juror[s] with an accurate
rendition of the relevant law,” See State v. Cabezuela, 2011-NMSC-041, ¶ 22, 150 N.M.
654, 265 P.3d 705 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted), we conclude that it
was erroneous. In reaching this conclusion we interpret the causation element of our
vehicular homicide statute. “Our primary goal when interpreting a statute is to determine
and give effect to the Legislature’s intent.” State v. Suazo, 2017-NMSC-011, ¶ 15, 390
P.3d 674 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

{10} We begin with the plain language of the statute, which is “[t]he primary indicator
of legislative intent.” State v. Johnson, 2009-NMSC-049, ¶ 10, 147 N.M. 177, 218 P.3d
863. Pursuant to Section 66-8-101(C), “[a] person who commits homicide by vehicle
while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or while under the influence of any drug is
guilty of a second[-]degree felony.” Our Supreme Court has adopted a Uniform Jury
Instruction (UJI)—UJI 14-240B NMRA regarding the violation. An instruction conforming
with UJI 14-240B was provided to the jury. The instruction required the jury to find,
beyond a reasonable doubt:

       1.     [D]efendant operated a motor vehicle while under the influence of
              alprazolam also referred to as [X]anax, a drug;

       2.     [D]efendant’s driving while under the influence of drugs caused the
              death of [the victim]; [and]

       3.     This happened in New Mexico on or about the 14th day of October,
              2017.

Based on both the plain language of Section 66-8-101 and the elements instruction, the
jury was required to find both that Defendant engaged in an unlawful activity (driving
under the influence of Xanax) and that such unlawful activity (driving under the influence
of Xanax) caused the death of the victim. See § 66-8-101(C).

{11} The definition of “causation” was of central importance to Defendant’s right to a
fair trial, see Barber, 2004-NMSC-019, ¶ 25, because Defendant’s theory of the case
directly controverted the State’s theory that his act of driving under the influence was
the cause of the victim’s death. Because Defendant raised a question as to whether
impairment, i.e., his use of Xanax, was actually the cause of the victim’s Death,
causation was clearly in issue. Significantly, throughout trial and on appeal, Defendant
contested the State’s theory that he acted unlawfully, and that the alleged unlawful
activity caused the victim’s death. According to Defendant, he “drifted out of his lane
accidentally when he looked down to change the air settings in [his vehicle].”
Specifically, Defendant claims that he reached down to adjust the air, looked up, and
crashed. Defendant testified that when he left the wedding reception he felt “perfectly
fine” and was not under the influence of anything. In other words, he contended that a
moment of inattention was the cause of the accident, and not intoxication. Defendant
also contended that driver negligence is not a crime and would not support a conviction
for homicide by vehicle.
{12} When causation is in issue, as it was here, the use note to UJI 14-240B requires
that the definition of causation be provided to the jury. See UJI 14-240B use note 6
(stating that “[i]f causation is in issue UJI 14-251 NMRA, the definition of causation,
must be given”); see also UJI 14-240C NMRA use note 4 (stating that “[i]f causation is
in issue, UJI 14-251 . . . , the definition of causation, must be given”). The jury was
given a causation instruction modeled after UJI 14-251, and it is this instruction that
forms the basis of Defendant’s claim of error. The causation instruction asked the jury to
find beyond a reasonable doubt that

       1.     [t]he death was a foreseeable result of [D]efendant’s driving; [and]

       2.     [t]he act of [D]efendant was a significant cause of the death of [the
              victim].

Use note 3 for UJI-14-251 directs the court to “[d]escribe the act alleged to be the cause
of death,” however, the causation instruction listed the cause of death as “[D]efendant’s
driving” rather than as the charged unlawful activity—Defendant’s alleged act of driving
under the influence.

{13} Due to the misstatement of the instruction defining causation as an element of
66-8-101(C), the jury was instructed that it could find Defendant guilty of homicide by
vehicle if it found that Defendant’s driving caused the victim’s death. The purpose of the
vehicular homicide statute is not to punish all driving that results in death—rather its
purpose is “to punish reckless driving or impaired driving when such conduct results in
death or great bodily injury.” State v. Munoz, 1998-NMSC-041, ¶ 20, 126 N.M. 371, 970
P.2d 143. “When causation is contested in a vehicular homicide case, the state must
prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant’s unlawful actions caused the
death in a natural and continuous chain of events.” State v. Ruffin, 2019-NMCA-009, ¶
15, 458 P.3d 445 (alteration, internal quotation marks, and citation omitted).
Accordingly, the causation instruction is erroneous because it “fail[ed] to provide the
juror[s] with an accurate rendition of [proximate causation].” See Cabezuela, 2011-
NMSC-041, ¶ 21 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Because the causation
instruction “directs the jury to find guilt based upon a misstatement of the law, a finding
of juror misdirection is unavoidable.” State v. Dowling, 2011-NMSC-016, ¶ 17, 150 N.M.
110, 257 P.3d 930.

III.   The Error in the Causation Instruction Was Fundamental

{14} We now determine whether the error is fundamental. See State v. Ocon, 2021-
NMCA-032, ¶ 8, 493 P.3d 448. As is evident by the parties’ briefing, there is no bright-
line rule that is determinative as to when an erroneous definitional instruction amounts
to fundamental error. See State v. Mascareñas, 2000-NMSC-017, ¶ 20, 129 N.M. 230, 4
P.3d 1221 (concluding that the trial court’s failure to provide a definition “was a critical
determination akin to a missing elements instruction” because causation was in issue);
see also Barber, 2004-NMSC-019, ¶¶ 26-32 (concluding that the trial court’s failure to
provide a definition did not implicate a critical determination akin to a missing elements
instruction because “the third element of the jury instruction . . . subsume[d] a finding
on” the missing element). However, it is clear that “[w]hile most definitional instructions
merely amplify an element instruction, a few . . . can be of central importance to a fair
trial.” Barber, 2004-NMSC-019, ¶ 25. Accordingly, we must place the erroneous jury
instruction “in the context of the individual facts and circumstances of the case, to
determine whether . . . Defendant’s conviction was the result of a plain miscarriage of
justice.” See id. ¶ 19 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). “If such a
miscarriage exists, we deem it fundamental error.” State v. Anderson, 2016-NMCA-007,
¶ 9, 364 P.3d 306.

{15} The State argues that any error in the causation instruction is not fundamental
because the jury instructions, read as a whole “leave no room” for Defendant’s
argument that the jury could have convicted Defendant on the basis of noncriminal
conduct. Specifically, the State calls our attention to Instruction No. 17, defining driving
“under the influence.” The instruction states that “[a] person is under the influence of a
drug when as a result of using a drug the person is incapable of safely driving a
vehicle.” Relying on this instruction, the State asserts that because “the jury found
beyond a reasonable doubt that [Defendant] was incapable of operating his vehicle due
to intoxication” it must have also found that “Defendant operated his [vehicle] while
incapable of safely driving it due to the influence of Xanax and, by driving in that state,
caused [the victim’s] death.” We disagree.

{16} Reviewing the jury instructions as a whole, we find no other instructions that
corrected the error in the causation instruction. The instruction that the State points to
defining driving “under the influence” provides no guidance whatsoever about the
specific meaning of the proximate causation element of vehicular homicide. But see
Cunningham, 2000-NMSC-009, ¶¶ 14-22 (declining to reverse the defendant’s
conviction under fundamental error because although the jury instruction on deliberate-
intent first-degree murder improperly omitted the element of unlawfulness, this omission
was corrected by a proper self-defense instruction that pertained to the deliberate-intent
first-degree murder charge). Vehicular homicide while driving under the influence (DUI)
involves two elements: (1) driving under the influence; and (2) the act of driving under
the influence must have caused the victim’s death. Whether or not Defendant was
“driving under the influence” may relate circumstantially to the causation element for
vehicular homicide, but it is not conclusive, beyond a reasonable doubt, as to whether
Defendant’s act of driving under the influence actually caused the victim’s death.

{17} The effect of the erroneous instruction was exacerbated by Defendant’s
admission at trial that he accidentally veered into the victim’s lane—causing the victim’s
death. Defendant’s admission viewed in the light of the erroneous causation definition,
creates a distinct possibility that the jury convicted Defendant because it found that his
driving caused the victim’s death—rather than basing its conviction on the correct
applicable legal standard—i.e., that the unlawful activity must have been the legal cause
of the victim’s death. See Mascareñas, 2000-NMSC-017, ¶ 21 (stating “[t]here is simply
no way to determine whether the jury delivered its verdict on a legally adequate basis”).
{18} Lastly, we look to the evidence presented at trial concerning the connection
between Defendant’s act of driving under the influence and the resulting death of the
victim. This is not a case where the evidence was so unchallenged that we can
conclude that the jury must have found, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Defendant’s
driving under the influence caused the victim’s death—rather the overwhelming majority
of the evidence presented at trial concerned solely Defendant’s impairment rather than
his driving. Compare Barber, 2004-NMSC-019, ¶ 26 (concluding an erroneous
instruction did not amount to fundamental error because “no distinct possibility exists
from the evidence that the jury convicted [the d]efendant without finding all of the
elements beyond a reasonable doubt”), with Mascareñas, 2000-NMSC-017, ¶ 15
(stating that because an erroneous definition given to the jury was also a disputed issue
at trial, the court could not conclude that the defendant’s actions satisfied the proper
criminal negligence standard). Although the jury heard testimony that before the
accident, Defendant’s vehicle occasionally left its lane as if it was trying to pass the
vehicle in front of it, one witness testified that Defendant’s vehicle never attempted to
pass any vehicle—it stayed consistently in its lane from the time Defendant left the
wedding.

{19} There was significant testimony presented at trial that Defendant did not seem
altered or impaired in any way on the day of the accident. John Lucero, a nurse who
was on the helicopter that transported Defendant to the hospital, testified that he “would
not describe [Defendant] as intoxicated.” Tiana Montaño, Defendant’s former fiancée,
who testified that she had been with Defendant for the entire wedding reception prior to
the accident, stated that she did not notice anything unusual about Defendant’s balance
or speech, describing him as “just normal.” Additionally, the EMT that responded to the
accident testified that Defendant “was not altered in any way.” She further stated that
Defendant “knew who he was, he knew where he was, he knew what happened” and
that he did not seem intoxicated.

{20} Moreover, “[t]he State’s experts disagreed on whether they could determine
impairment from [Defendant’s] blood sample.” Dr. Pike, a medical toxicologist, testified
that a person with the 0.04 milligrams of Xanax per liter of blood “would be impaired
they would not be able to operate [a vehicle] safely.” He further testified that at the time
of the accident, Defendant’s blood concentration was likely between 60 to 70
nanograms per milliliter (0.06 to 0.07 milligrams per liter), leading him to conclude that
Defendant would have been impaired at the time of the accident. However, Dr.
Kleinman, the State’s other expert, testified that after his review of the facts of the case,
he could not opine on Defendant’s impairment based solely on the lab results taken
eight hours after the accident.

{21} Having “review[ed] the entire record and “plac[ed] the jury instructions in the
context of the individual facts and circumstances of the case, see Barber, 2004-NMSC-
019, ¶ 19 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted), “[t]here is simply no way to
determine that the jury delivered its verdict on a legally adequate basis.” See
Mascareñas, 2000-NMSC-017, ¶ 21. Thus, “[t]o allow [Defendant’s] conviction to stand
when there is a distinct possibility that he was convicted” for conduct that was not
unlawful within the meaning of Section 66-8-101(C) “would result in a miscarriage of
justice and therefore we find that fundamental error occurred.” See id. Under the
specific facts and circumstances of this case, the erroneous instruction compromised
Defendant’s “fundamental right . . . to have the jury determine whether each element of
the charged offense has been proven by the [S]tate beyond a reasonable doubt.” See
Cabezuela, 2011-NMSC-041, ¶ 39 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); see
also State v. Herrera, 2014-NMCA-007, ¶ 8, 315 P.3d 343 (explaining that the Sixth and
Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution “entitle a criminal defendant
to a jury determination that he is guilty of every element of the crime with which he is
charged, beyond a reasonable doubt” (internal quotations marks and citation omitted)).
Thus, we conclude the error in the causation instruction was fundamental.

CONCLUSION

{22}   We reverse Defendant’s conviction and remand for a new trial.

{23}   IT IS SO ORDERED.

KRISTINA BOGARDUS, Judge

WE CONCUR:

MEGAN P. DUFFY, Judge

JANE B. YOHALEM, Judge