State v. Hopkins ( 2016 )

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1 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO
2 Filing Date: May 26, 2016
3 STATE OF NEW MEXICO,
4 Plaintiff-Appellee,
5 v. NO. S-1-SC-35052
6 TELYITH KADEEM FONTAYNE
7 HOPKINS,
8 Defendant-Appellant.
9 APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF BERNALILLO COUNTY
10 Brett R. Loveless, District Judge
11 Hector H. Balderas, Attorney General
12 Jane A. Bernstein, Assistant Attorney General
13 Santa Fe, NM
14 for Appellee
15 Robert E. Tangora, L.L.C.
16 Robert E. Tangora
17 Santa Fe, NM
18 for Appellant
1 DECISION
2 MAES, Justice.
3 {1} Telyith Kadeem Fontayne Hopkins (Defendant) pleaded guilty to murdering
4 Ramona Montoya-Leon and Arthur Garcia. At the time Defendant committed these
5 murders he was twenty-one years old. The district court sentenced Defendant to two
6 life sentences, to be served consecutively. Defendant filed a motion to modify his
7 sentence pursuant to Rule 5-801 NMRA (2009) on the ground that the consecutive
8 sentences violate state and federal due process guarantees and prohibitions against
9 cruel and unusual punishment in light of Defendant’s young age and mental health
10 issues. See U.S. Const. amend. VIII; id. amend. XIV, § 1; N.M. Const. art. II, §§ 13,
11 18. The district court denied Defendant’s motion.
12 {2} In his direct appeal to this Court, Defendant raises the following issues: (1)
13 whether sentencing him to two consecutive life sentences is tantamount to a life
14 sentence without parole and is cruel and unusual punishment; (2) whether felony
15 murder is unconstitutional when applied to the severely mentally ill; and (3) whether
16 due process demands heightened protections for the mentally ill. We affirm the
1 district court’s sentence and denial of Defendant’s motion. Because Defendant raises
2 no questions of law that New Mexico precedent does not already sufficiently address,
3 we issue this nonprecedential decision pursuant to Rule 12-405(B)(1) NMRA.
4 I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
5 A. Defendant’s Competency
6 {3} Concerned about Defendant’s need for twenty-four-hour surveillance at the
7 Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), his inability to understand the charges against
8 him, and his incoherent, irrational and possibly delusional behavior, defense counsel
9 filed a motion to determine competency before trial. Dr. Susan Cave, an expert
10 Defendant retained, performed an evaluation and concluded that Defendant was
11 incompetent to stand trial. On July 9, 2012, the district court found Defendant
12 incompetent to stand trial, stayed the proceedings against Defendant, and committed
13 Defendant to the New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute at Las Vegas, NM
14 (NMBHI) for treatment. Defendant was treated and based upon an April 2013, report
15 from NMBHI, the district court found Defendant competent to stand trial.
16 {4} On August 1, 2013, when the district court lifted the order staying the
17 proceedings, Defendant expressed a desire to enter a guilty plea. Soon after that,
18 however, Dr. J. Hamilton, Defendant’s treating physician, informed defense counsel
2
1 that he believed Defendant could not enter a voluntary plea in light of his ongoing
2 psychosis and reported delusional status. Subsequently, Dr. Cave, Defendant’s
3 original psychiatrist, consulted with Dr. Hamilton. Defense counsel and Dr. Cave also
4 met extensively with Defendant, and discussed the proposed plea agreement at great
5 length. In a November 6, 2013, letter to the district court, Dr. Cave indicated her
6 opinion that Defendant was in fact competent to enter a plea, based in part on her
7 consultation with Dr. Hamilton. The district court accepted that evidence and
8 permitted Defendant to plead guilty. Thereafter, Defendant entered into a plea and
9 disposition agreement.
10 B. Defendant’s Plea Agreement and Sentence
11 {5} In the plea agreement, Defendant agreed to plead guilty to the first-degree
12 felony murder of Romana Montoya-Leon and the first-degree willful and deliberate
13 murder of Arthur Garcia. The State agreed to dismiss the remaining counts of the
14 indictment. The plea and disposition agreement contained “no agreements as to
15 sentencing” and stated the maximum penalty for each count of murder in the first
16 degree to be life imprisonment. Pursuant to the plea agreement, Defendant expressly
17 waived “all motions, defenses, objections, or requests” with respect to the district
18 court’s entry of a judgment and the right to appeal imposition of a sentence consistent
3
1 with the plea agreement. The plea agreement also provided that “Defendant
2 withdraws any challenge to his competency to stand trial, and Defendant is competent
3 to enter this plea. Defendant . . . acknowledge[s] that he is giving up any rights
4 asserted in those [previously filed] motions, . . . and acknowledges his waiver of any
5 and all defenses.”
6 {6} At the plea hearing, the district court advised Defendant of the consequences
7 of his plea, confirmed Defendant’s understanding that there was no agreement as to
8 sentencing and that Defendant was giving up his constitutional rights and waiving
9 defenses, including the pending motion to suppress. Defense counsel stated his belief
10 that the plea was in Defendant’s best interest. The district court found Defendant
11 competent to enter the plea based on the reports from NMBHI and Dr. Cave, that
12 Defendant’s guilty plea was knowing, intelligent and voluntary and accepted his guilty
13 plea, and adjudged him guilty.
14 {7} At the sentencing hearing, the district court again reviewed the evidence and
15 took account of Defendant’s age and his mental illness. The district court concluded
16 that when Defendant committed these murders he was aware that his actions were
17 wrong because he took efforts to conceal his crimes, he lied to the police, he hid
18 evidence, and he destroyed his clothing in an attempt to prevent apprehension. The
4
1 district court further found that Defendant posed a danger to society, based on the
2 “extremely brutal” nature of the crimes. The district court sentenced Defendant to two
3 consecutive life sentences, so that Defendant would serve a “total of Sixty (60) years
4 in prison before” becoming eligible for parole.
5 C. Defendant’s Motion to Modify the Sentence
6 {8} After sentencing, Defendant filed a motion to modify sentence pursuant to Rule
7 5-801 NMRA (2009), claiming that the consecutive sentences imposed violated state
8 and federal due process guarantees and prohibitions against cruel and unusual
9 punishment in light of Defendant’s mental illness and young age at the time of the
10 crime. See U.S. Const. amend. VIII; id. amend. XIV, § 1; N.M. Const. art. II, §§ 13,
11 18. At a subsequent hearing, Defendant argued that modification of his sentence was
12 appropriate because at the time he committed these crimes he may not “have had the
13 capacity to form the specific intent to commit first-degree murder.” Dr. Cave, who
14 had one year earlier assured the district court that Defendant was competent to plead
15 guilty, suggested that Defendant may not have been able to control himself when he
16 committed the two murders and did not fully appreciate the meaning of consecutive
17 life sentences. Nonetheless, Dr. Cave explained, it was “fairly certain” Defendant
18 would have additional psychotic episodes in the future and would require medication.
5
1 Defendant also argued that he effectively received a life sentence without the
2 possibility of parole, since he will be eighty-one years old before becoming eligible
3 for parole. The consecutive sentences, Defendant argued, were cruel and unusual
4 punishment because, he claimed, he had been unable to fully appreciate what he had
5 done, almost as if he was a child or a mentally retarded person. Defendant further
6 argued that the felony murder statutes, as applied to the mentally ill, were
7 unconstitutional and that due process required heightened protections for mentally ill
8 persons like himself.
9 {9} In response, the State argued that Defendant had waived any challenge to
10 specific intent based on age or mental health in the plea agreement and that leniency
11 was not otherwise warranted since Defendant was an adult and was found to be
12 competent. The State also argued that Defendant would have a high risk of
13 reoffending upon release if his sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
14 {10} The district court held that the Eighth Amendment cases were not applicable
15 because Defendant was not a juvenile, was competent, and had waived any claim of
16 insanity. The district court concluded that the consecutive life sentences were
17 appropriate and denied Defendant’s motion.
18 {11} Defendant appeals his sentence and the district court’s denial of his motion to
6
1 modify his sentence to this Court on direct appeal. This Court exercises appellate
2 jurisdiction where life imprisonment has been imposed. See N.M. Const. art. VI, § 2;
3 see also Rule 12-102(A)(1) NMRA (providing a right to direct appeal when a sentence
4 of life imprisonment has been imposed).
5 {12} Defendant raises the following issues: (1) whether sentencing Defendant to two
6 consecutive life sentences is tantamount to a life sentence without parole and is
7 therefore cruel and unusual punishment; (2) whether felony murder is unconstitutional
8 when applied to the severely mentally ill; and (3) whether due process demands
9 heightened protections for the mentally ill. The State responds that Defendant’s
10 sentence is proportional to the crimes committed, and does not violate the prohibition
11 against cruel and unusual punishment.
12 II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
13 {13} Constitutional questions, such as cruel and unusual punishment, are reviewed
14 de novo. See State v. DeGraff, 2006-NMSC-011, ¶ 6, 139 N.M. 211, 131 P.3d 61
15 (citation omitted). Sentencing is “reviewed for abuse of discretion.” State v. Bonilla,
16 2000-NMSC-037, ¶ 6, 130 N.M. 1, 15 P.3d 491 (citations omitted).
17 III. DISCUSSION
18 {14} Before we reach the merits of Defendant’s arguments we first address the
7
1 State’s argument that Defendant waived his right to an appeal. We have held that a
2 defendant’s plea agreement “does not waive an appeal on the grounds that the district
3 court was without authority to impose an illegal sentence.” State v. Tafoya, 2010-
4 NMSC-019, ¶ 7, 148 N.M. 391, 237 P.3d 693. For this reason we proceed to consider
5 Defendant’s appeal.
6 A. Defendant Fails to Establish a Claim of Cruel and Unusual Punishment
7 {15} Defendant argues that his two consecutive life sentences are excessive because
8 they are tantamount to a sentence of life imprisonment without parole or a death
9 sentence since he will not be eligible for parole until he turns eighty-one years old.
10 Defendant’s position is that like juveniles and the mentally retarded, he lacked the
11 mens rea to commit the crimes and thus sentencing him to life imprisonment violates
12 state and federal prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment.
13 1. Defendant was Properly Sentenced Notwithstanding His Mental Illness
14 and Age
15 {16} Defendant has not challenged the final competency determination. See State
16 v. Herrera, 2001-NMCA-073, ¶ 31, 131 N.M. 22, 33 P.3d 22 (“The standard to
17 determine competency to enter a guilty plea is the same as the standard to determine
18 competency to stand trial.” (citation omitted)). Defendant also has not challenged the
19 validity of the guilty plea. Nor has Defendant claimed that the district court did not
8
1 otherwise comply with the rules of criminal procedure in accepting Defendant’s guilty
2 plea. Nevertheless, Defendant argues that two cases from the United States Supreme
3 Court compel us to conclude that the sentence to which he agreed is cruel and unusual:
4 Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002) and Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005).
5 {17} First, Defendant argues that we should extend Atkins, 536 U.S. at 321, in which
6 the Supreme Court held that execution of a person who is mentally retarded is cruel
7 and unusual punishment, to include people who are mentally ill, though not mentally
8 retarded, and have been sentenced to life imprisonment and not death. In New
9 Mexico, mental retardation is defined as “significantly subaverage general intellectual
10 functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior.” NMSA 1978,
11 § 31-9-1.6(E) (1999). A mental disorder is defined as the “substantial disorder of a
12 person’s emotional processes, thought or cognition that grossly impairs judgment,
13 behavior or capacity to recognize reality, but does not mean developmental
14 disabilit[ies]”. NMSA 1978, § 43-1-3(O) (2013). In State v. Trujillo,
15 2009-NMSC-012, ¶¶ 35-39, 146 N.M. 14, 206 P.3d 125, we discussed the difference
16 between mental retardation and mental illness. We observed that “[m]ental retardation
17 is not a mental illness.” Id. ¶ 35 (citation omitted). “While [m]entally ill people
9
1 encounter disturbances in their thought processes and emotions[,] mentally retarded
2 people have limited abilities to learn.” Id. (alterations in original) (internal quotation
3 marks and citation omitted). “Another distinction is that mental retardation is largely
4 immutable while mental illness is often episodic.” Id. (citation omitted). “The
5 practical significance of the permanence of mental retardation is that defendants
6 incompetent due to mental retardation are less likely to be treated to competency than
7 those incompetent due to mental illness, though there are cases where those with mild
8 mental retardation may be treated to competency.” Id.
9 {18} What psychiatrists may consider a mental illness for the purpose of a clinical
10 diagnosis or treatment is not the same as mental retardation for determining criminal
11 responsibility. We reject Defendant’s attempt to conflate the two. See, e.g., State v.
12 Neely I, 1991-NMSC-087, ¶¶ 24-26, 112 N.M. 702, 819 P.2d 249 (holding that
13 despite a mental illness, it is not cruel and unusual to impose a life sentence for first-
14 degree murder on a criminally responsible defendant under either state or federal
15 constitutional analysis); State v. Escamilla, 1988-NMSC-066, ¶ 12, 107 N.M. 510,
16 760 P.2d 1276 (holding that mandatory life sentence upon a conviction of first- degree
17 murder was not disproportionate or cruel and unusual punishment).
18 {19} Similarly, an inmate’s need for extraordinary medical treatment does not, by
10
1 itself, mean that incarceration constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. See, e.g.,
2 State v. Mabry, 1981-NMSC-067, ¶¶ 21-22, 96 N.M. 317, 630 P.2d 269 (holding that
3 mandatory life sentence for a conviction of first-degree murder was not cruel and
4 unusual punishment merely because the defendant was seriously mentally ill); State
5 v. Vasquez, 2010-NMCA-041, ¶¶ 40-41,148 N.M. 202, 232 P.3d 438 (holding that the
6 defendant’s sentence was not “unjust and unwarranted” despite her need for specific
7 treatment for battered spouse syndrome); State v. Augustus, 1981-NMCA-118, ¶¶ 8-
8 11, 97 N.M. 100, 637 P.2d 50 (holding that sentence was not cruel and unusual
9 punishment despite the defendant’s need for specialized medical treatment).
10 {20} In this case, Defendant has never claimed that he is mentally retarded; nor could
11 he on this record. Defendant’s prior incompetence and current mental illness are not
12 the equivalent of mental retardation and therefore do not entitle him to a modification
13 of his sentence. Compare § 31-9-1.6(B), (D) (“If the court finds . . . that the defendant
14 has mental retardation and that there is not a substantial probability that the defendant
15 will become competent to proceed . . . [t]he criminal charges shall be dismissed
16 without prejudice.”), with NMSA 1978, § 31-9-1.2(B) (1999) (“[T]he district court
17 may commit the [incompetent and dangerous] defendant . . . for treatment to attain
18 competency to proceed in a criminal case.”). Even if Defendant’s mental illness might
11
1 require ongoing treatment, this does not, by itself, mean that incarcerating him for two
2 consecutive life sentences constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
3 {21} Defendant’s second position is that like juveniles, he lacked the mens rea to
4 commit the crimes and thus sentencing him to life imprisonment is in violation of
5 prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment. He argues that we should extend
6 Roper, 543 U.S. at 568, in which the Supreme Court held that it is cruel and unusual
7 punishment to execute criminal defendants who were under eighteen years old when
8 they committed the crime, to include young adults sentenced to life imprisonment.
9 The holding in Roper explicitly applied to juveniles under eighteen. See Roper, 543
10 U.S. at 568 (“A majority of States have rejected the imposition of the death penalty
11 on juvenile offenders under 18, and we now hold this is required by the Eighth
12 Amendment.”). In the same way Defendant asks us to compare him to a juvenile
13 offender, the Supreme Court compared juvenile offenders between sixteen and
14 eighteen years of age, who at the time were eligible for the death penalty. See id. at
15 570. The Supreme Court extended the Eighth Amendment prohibitions to offenders
16 between the ages of sixteen and eighteen because of common characteristics between
17 the two groups evidencing “diminished culpability.” Id. at 570-1. For example, the
18 Court stated “[i]n recognition of the comparative immaturity and irresponsibility of
12
1 juveniles, almost every State prohibits those under 18 years of age from voting,
2 serving on juries, or marrying without parental consent.” Id. at 569 (citations
3 omitted).
4 {22} We see no reason to extend Roper to Defendant’s case. Defendant was twenty-
5 one years old at the time he committed these murders and certainly not within the
6 parameters established by Roper. Because Defendant was a legal adult, we cannot
7 categorically treat him as a juvenile offender under Roper. Nor can we agree that his
8 consecutive life sentence should be equated with a death sentence and therefore afford
9 Defendant the same protections afforded to the narrow category of death row
10 defendants. See Roper, 543 U.S. at 568 (“Because the death penalty is the most severe
11 punishment, the Eighth Amendment applies to it with special force.” (citation
12 omitted)). Accordingly, we decline to grant relief on this basis.
13 {23} While acknowledging that he neither meets the standards for mental retardation
14 nor is of an age young enough to receive heightened protection in New Mexico,
15 Defendant seems to ask us to find that he is close enough, and should receive some,
16 if not all, of the protections afforded to these vulnerable groups. Because mental
17 retardation and mental illness are distinct, Defendant’s sentence is not cruel and
18 unusual punishment prohibited by the Eighth Amendment as stated in Atkins on the
13
1 basis of Defendant’s mental illness.
2 2. Defendant’s Sentence Is Proportional to His Crimes
3 {24} The State argues that Defendant’s sentence is proportional to the crimes he
4 committed. See generally Solem v. Helm, 463 U.S. 277, 284 (1983) (stating that the
5 Eighth Amendment prohibits “sentences that are disproportionate to the crime
6 committed”). Ordinarily, the “length of the sentence actually imposed is purely a
7 matter of legislative prerogative,” unless the statutory sentence is “grossly
8 disproportionate to the crime.” State v. Archibeque, 1981-NMSC-010, ¶ 4, 95 N.M.
9 411, 622 P.2d 1031 (citation omitted); see also State v. Bernal, 2006-NMSC-050, ¶
10 29, 140 N.M. 644, 146 P.3d 289 (“[W]e generally defer to the judgment of the
11 legislature regarding the appropriate length of sentences.” (citation omitted)).
12 {25} “[I]t is within the province of the judiciary to review whether a sentence
13 constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.” State v. Trujillo, 2002-NMSC-005, ¶ 65,
14 131 N.M. 709, 42 P.3d 814 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). And “[i]t
15 is rare that a term of incarceration, which has been authorized by the Legislature, will
16 be found to be excessively long or inherently cruel.” Id. ¶ 66 (internal quotation
17 marks and citation omitted); see also State v. Rueda, 1999-NMCA-033, ¶ 14, 126
18 N.M. 738, 975 P.2d 351 (“Federal and state jurisprudence recognize that successful
14
1 challenges to the proportionality of particular sentences are, nonetheless, exceedingly
2 rare.” (internal quotation marks and citations omitted)).
3 {26} In fact, this Court has specifically declined to find a life sentence cruel and
4 unusual for first-degree murder. See, e.g., Trujillo, 2002-NMSC-005, ¶¶ 65-66
5 (concluding that thirty-year life sentence statutorily authorized and imposed on a
6 serious youthful offender for the crime of first-degree murder was not cruel and
7 unusual); Escamilla, 1988-NMSC-066, ¶ 12 (“We find no disproportionality.
8 Intentional murder warrants the harshest of penalties, and thirty years is mandated
9 uniformly in first-degree murder cases where death is not imposed. . . . It is
10 uncontested that this mandatory sentence is not disproportionately harsh when
11 compared to those in other states.” (citation omitted)); State v. Padilla,
12 1973-NMSC-049, ¶¶ 12-17, 85 N.M. 140, 509 P.2d 1335 (holding that two
13 consecutive life sentences for murder and for act of carnal knowledge of child, plus
14 imprisonment for up to twenty years for kidnapping, were not excessively long or
15 inherently cruel and therefore did not violate the state or federal constitutions).
16 {27} Defendant has offered no compelling reason for why this Court should depart
17 from a long-standing policy of judicial deference to legislative pronouncements of
18 punishment. See Archibeque, 1981-NMSC-010, ¶ 5 (“Absent a compelling
15
1 reason . . . the judiciary should not impose its own views concerning the appropriate
2 punishment for crimes.” (citations omitted)). Nor do we have any evidence
3 suggesting Defendant’s case is of the exceedingly rare kind that requires a departure
4 from precedent. Therefore, we agree with the State that Defendant’s punishment is
5 proportionate.
6 {28} We will not treat the life sentences in this case as categorically the same as a life
7 sentence without the possibility of release or parole, a sentence which the district court
8 had the ability to impose but did not. Nor will we categorically treat Defendant as
9 someone who is mentally retarded or a juvenile, or was sentenced to death.
10 Defendant’s sentence is not otherwise excessive or disproportionate simply because
11 it may or may not extend beyond his natural life expectancy. Accordingly,
12 Defendant’s sentence does not violate prohibitions against cruel and unusual
13 punishment.
14 B. Defendant Fails to Establish that New Mexico’s Felony Murder Statute is
15 Unconstitutional When Applied to the Severely Mentally Ill
16 {29} Defendant first argues generally that the felony murder statute in New Mexico,
17 NMSA 1978, § 30-2-l(A)(2) (1994), at least as it pertains to the severely mentally ill,
18 is unconstitutional. Defendant offers no authority to support his theory that the
19 severely mentally ill are entitled to additional protections “because they cannot
16
1 understand or appreciate the magnitude, nature and consequences of risks.” We
2 therefore assume there is none. See, e.g., State v. Torrez, 2013-NMSC-034, ¶ 34, 305
3 P.3d 944 (declining to consider defendant’s argument that the same jury instructions
4 in the first trial must be given in a retrial because defendant did not cite to any case
5 law supporting his argument); Elane Photography, LLC v. Willock, 2013-NMSC-040,
6 ¶ 70, 309 P.3d 53 (“It is of no benefit either to the parties or to future litigants for this
7 Court to promulgate case law based on our own speculation rather than the parties’
8 carefully considered arguments.”).
9 {30} Defendant further argues that the felony murder doctrine is an “unsupportable
10 legal fiction” and “a form of strict liability”, and therefore unconstitutional, relying
11 on State v. Harrison, 1977-NMSC-038, ¶ 12, 90 N.M. 439, 564 P.2d 1321.
12 Defendant’s argument fails to consider that since Harrison, “[i]n concert with the
13 general trend in America of limiting its reach, New Mexico has placed five limitations
14 on felony murder.” Campos v. Bravo, 2007-NMSC-021, ¶ 9, 141 N.M. 801, 161 P.3d
15 846 (citation omitted). One limitation is a mens rea requirement that the defendant
16 must possess at least the intent required for second degree murder. See State v.
17 Ortega, 1991-NMSC-084, ¶ 25, 112 N.M. 554, 817 P.2d 1196 (“Second degree
18 murder, in other words, may be elevated to first-degree murder when it occurs in
17
1 circumstances that the legislature has determined are so serious as to merit increased
2 punishment; but both types of killing—felony (first degree) murder and second degree
3 murder—necessitate a culpable state of mind, ordinarily described in legal parlance
4 as a mens rea.”).
5 {31} New Mexico’s felony murder doctrine is based on the idea that a “killing in the
6 commission or attempted commission of a felony is deserving of more serious
7 punishment than other killings in which the killer’s mental state might be similar but
8 the circumstances of the killing are not as grave.” Ortega, 1991-NMSC-084, ¶ 33; see
9 also State v. Daugherty, No. 32,829, dec. ¶ 11 (N.M. Sup. Ct. Aug. 1, 2013) (non-
10 precedential) (citing Ortega, 1991-NMSC-084, ¶ 33). Specifically, in Ortega we
11 stated that “felony murder does have a mens rea element, which cannot be presumed
12 simply from the commission or attempted commission of a felony.” 1991-NMSC-
13 084, ¶ 21 (emphasis in original). And “felony murder is not such a strict-liability
14 crime.” Id. ¶ 34. We interpreted the requisite intent to kill to include conduct that is
15 “greatly dangerous to the lives of others or with knowledge that the act creates a
16 strong probability of death or great bodily harm.” Id. ¶ 35. As we stated, the “felony-
17 murder statute . . . is a valid exercise of the legislature’s authority to prescribe serious
18 punishment for killings committed with the requisite criminal intent” during the
18
1 commission of a first-degree or inherently dangerous felony. Id.
2 {32} In this case, Defendant pleaded guilty to one count of felony murder, for
3 murdering a victim that he also raped. Defendant does not challenge the validity of
4 the guilty plea or evidence of his intent to kill. Nor does the record before us support
5 such a claim. See Herrera, 2001-NMCA-073, ¶ 31 (“The standard to determine
6 competency to enter a guilty plea is the same as the standard to determine competency
7 to stand trial.” (citation omitted)). Accordingly, the imposition of two consecutive life
8 sentences for two convictions of first -degree murder in this case is constitutional. C.
9 Defendant Received the Heightened Due Process Protections to Which He
10 Was Due
11 {33} Defendant asserts generally that federal and state due process guarantees
12 provide greater protections to the mentally ill, but fails to develop any argument or to
13 cite any specific examples of the additional protections he required. Defendant is
14 correct that New Mexico law provides additional protections for incompetent and
15 mentally retarded defendants. See § 31-9-1.2 (allowing the trial court to treat mentally
16 ill defendants differently); § 31-9-1.6 (allowing the trial court to impose a civil rather
17 than criminal sentence for a person meeting the definition of mentally retarded). And
18 Defendant in fact benefited from New Mexico’s heightened protections: the
19 proceedings in his case were stayed for him to be treated to competency. And while
19
1 he had “adjusted to th[e] environment” of the general population at the prison in Santa
2 Rosa, the inpatient psychiatric unit at the prison in Los Lunas is capable of caring for
3 him should the need arise. To argue for even further protections, Defendant had to
4 “assert at trial that the state constitution should be interpreted more broadly and
5 provide reasons for the requested departure.” State v. Cardenas-Alvarez,
6 2001-NMSC-017, ¶ 11, 130 N.M. 386, 25 P.3d 225 (citation omitted). Because he did
7 not do so and because he does not argue on appeal how the New Mexico Constitution
8 is different from the United States Constitution, we will not consider his argument.
9 See State v. Ortega, 2014-NMSC-017, ¶ 59, 327 P.3d 1076 (citing In re Adoption of
10 Doe, 1984-NMSC-024, ¶ 2, 100 N.M. 764, 676 P.2d 1329 (“Issues raised in appellate
11 briefs which are unsupported by cited authority will not be reviewed by us on appeal.”
12 (citation omitted))); Elane Photography, LLC, 2013-NMSC-040, ¶ 70.
13 IV. CONCLUSION
14 {34} The district court’s imposition of two consecutive life sentences did not violate
15 the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The felony murder statute is
16 constitutional when applied to the mentally ill. Accordingly, we affirm the district
17 court’s judgment and sentence, as well as its order denying modification of sentence.
18 {35} IT IS SO ORDERED.
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1 ______________________________
2 PETRA JIMENEZ MAES, Justice
3 WE CONCUR:
4 ___________________________________
5 CHARLES W. DANIELS, Chief Justice
6 ___________________________________
7 EDWARD L. CHAVEZ, Justice
8 ___________________________________
9 BARBARA J. VIGIL, Justice
10 ___________________________________
11 JUDITH K. NAKAMURA, Justice
21