Office of the
New Mexico
Director Compilation
Commission
2024.05.06
'00'06- 13:07:41
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO
Opinion Number: 2024-NMCA-038
Filing Date: February 27, 2024
No. A-1-CA-40312
STATE OF NEW MEXICO,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
BOBBY DIRICKSON,
Defendant-Appellant.
APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF OTERO COUNTY
Angie K. Schneider, District Court Judge
Raúl Torrez, Attorney General
Maris Veidemanis, Assistant Attorney General
Santa Fe, NM
for Appellee
Bennett J. Baur, Chief Public Defender
Kimberly Chavez Cook, Assistant Appellate Defender
Santa Fe, NM
for Appellant
OPINION
YOHALEM, Judge.
{1} Defendant Bobby Dirickson challenges the district court’s refusal to hear and
decide his motion to dismiss on speedy trial grounds on the basis that it was untimely
filed. We conclude that the district court erred as a matter of law in summarily denying
Defendant’s motion as a sanction for late-filing when its scheduling order did not set a
deadline applicable to a speedy trial motion. Absent an intentional violation of a
deadline set by court scheduling order, the district court may not summarily deny a
constitutionally-based pretrial motion. The court must consider culpability, prejudice,
and the availability of lesser sanctions before imposing such a severe sanction. See
State v. Le Mier, 2017-NMSC-017, ¶ 20,
394 P.3d 959. We conclude that the district
court’s refusal to consider and decide Defendant’s speedy trial motion was based on a
misapprehension of the law and was, therefore, an abuse of the district court’s
discretion. We reverse and remand to the district court for hearing and decision on
Defendant’s motion to dismiss on speedy trial grounds.
BACKGROUND
{2} During a traffic stop on November 2, 2017, Defendant was found to be in
possession of methamphetamine and a methamphetamine pipe. Defendant waived a
preliminary hearing in magistrate court on December 20, 2017. On August 20, 2018,
Defendant was charged by criminal information in district court with possession of a
controlled substance, contrary to NMSA 1978, Section 30-31-23 (2011), and possession
of drug paraphernalia, contrary to NMSA 1978, Section 30-31-25.1 (2001). Defendant
waived arraignment, entering a plea of not guilty.
{3} A scheduling order entered on March 26, 2019, required discovery to be provided
“within twenty (20) days” after arraignment and pretrial motions to be filed “within ninety
(90) days after arraignment per Rule 5-601[(E) NMRA].” The scheduling order provided
for plea agreements to be heard on or before April 26, 2019, a little more than a month
before the May 30, 2019, trial date.
{4} Although the case was not tried on the May 30, 2019 docket, the scheduling
order remained in the record without modification. The next document in the record is
the State’s July 5, 2019, motion to join this case with a related felony charge against
Defendant assigned to a different judge. Joinder was granted on January 6, 2020, by
the judge presiding over the felony charge and was followed by mandatory severance a
few weeks later. This case proceeded separately before the originally assigned judge,
under its original case number.
{5} Trial was set and reset numerous times between 2019 and 2021. The district
court lists the following trial dates: May 30, 2019, November 25, 2019, February 28,
2020, November 30, 2020, February 26, 2021, April 19, 2021, July 2, 2021, and
September 16, 2021.
{6} Defendant was also being prosecuted for other charges unrelated to the
November 2, 2017 incident. This case and district court case number D-1215-CR-2018-
00367 (Case 00367) proceeded on similar tracks, with joint pretrial conferences and
status hearings. Defendant was represented by the same counsel in both cases. On
February 24, 2021, with trials in both this case and Case 00367 scheduled a few days
later, defense counsel filed a motion to dismiss Case 00367 on speedy trial grounds.
This case had been pending without trial at that point for eighteen months. The
February 26, 2021, trial setting for both cases was continued.
{7} Defendant’s speedy trial motion in Case 00367 was heard on April 14, 2021. At a
status conference on both cases following this hearing, defense counsel told the district
court that he intended to file a similar speedy trial motion in this case. No filing date was
discussed at that conference and no deadline for filing was set by the court. The next
pretrial conference was held on June 23, 2021. Both this case and Case 00367 were
again discussed. Defense counsel was brought in by telephone after both the district
court and the prosecutor had incorrectly concluded that a speedy trial motion had been
filed in this case as well as in Case 00367. No discussion of a speedy trial motion took
place with defense counsel on the phone.
{8} On August 3, 2021, the district court issued a notice setting a trial date for
September 16, 2021, slightly more than three years after the filing of the criminal
information. The notice scheduled a pretrial conference on August 18, 2021,
approximately a month before trial, and a docket call on September 14, 2021, two days
prior to trial. The notice was accompanied by an order setting jury trial deadlines. That
order required a “[m]eet and [p]lea [c]onference” before the pretrial conference where
counsel would “discuss discovery issues, dispositive motions, motions in limine, and
plea offers.” The record does not address whether this conference took place and
neither party relies in their briefs on a failure by defense counsel to attend this
conference. The jury trial order set a deadline of forty-eight hours before trial for the
filing of motions in limine. No other kind of pretrial motion was included in that deadline.
{9} Defense counsel filed a request for a continuance of the pretrial conference,
informing the court that counsel would be in trial in another district court. No
continuance was granted, and the pretrial conference proceeded in defense counsel’s
absence. At that conference, the district court announced its decision granting
Defendant’s motion to dismiss Case 00367 on speedy trial grounds. It was apparently
only then that the district court realized that no speedy trial motion had yet been filed in
this case. The district court again did not set a deadline for the filing of Defendant’s
speedy trial motion.
{10} At the docket call on September 14, 2021, two days before the scheduled trial
date, the district court stated its intent to leave this case on its upcoming trial docket as
long as the State was ready and unless defense counsel stated otherwise. The State
announced that it was ready for trial. Defense counsel, joining by telephone, again
reported his intent to file “a dispositive motion” on speedy trial grounds. Defense
counsel explained his description of the motion as “dispositive,” informing the State and
the district court that what he meant was that, regardless of how the motion was
decided, it would result in a judgment without the need for a trial. If it was granted, the
charges would be dismissed, and if it was denied, Defendant would enter a conditional
plea of no contest, preserving only the denial of the speedy trial motion for appeal.
Counsel also argued that the merits of Defendant’s speedy trial motion in this case were
nearly identical to the merits of the motion the district court had granted in Case 00367,
claiming that this made it easier for the court to quickly reach a decision. The State
argued that the motion was “utterly untimely,” and contended that there were
differences in the course of events that would not allow the district court to simply adopt
its decision granting Defendant’s speedy trial motion in Case 00367. Defense counsel
moved to continue the trial setting. The State opposed Defendant’s motion to continue.
{11} The district court first stated that it would need to separately consider the facts
and the argument to decide Defendant’s speedy trial motion, and could not simply adopt
its decision in Case 00367. The court then told defense counsel that it was willing to
consider whether it has an obligation to hear and decide a speedy trial motion filed on
the eve of trial, but that no continuance of the trial would be granted. Defense counsel
then stated that he would file his speedy trial motion that night or the next morning and
would argue that the court has an obligation to decide the motion. The court agreed to
rule on the question of whether it was required to hear and decide the motion or could
simply deny it, noting that “the eve of trial is obviously not timely for a dispositive
motion.”
{12} Defense counsel filed a motion to dismiss for violation of Defendant’s right to a
speedy trial at 1:10 p.m. on September 15, 2021, the afternoon before the scheduled
trial date. In addition to arguing the merits of Defendant’s speedy trial claim, defense
counsel reiterated that Defendant would plead no contest to both charges the next
morning, and that trial was not necessary. The motion to dismiss stated,
Defendant wishes to treat this as a “dispositive” motion, disposing the
need for a jury trial. Should the [c]ourt grant . . . Defendant’s motion
herein, then the dismissal would dispose of the case. If the [c]ourt denies
. . . Defendant’s motion herein, then . . . Defendant has agreed to enter a
conditional plea of no contest to each count, preserving his right to appeal
the denial of the motion.
{13} Later that same afternoon, at a docket call occasioned by a concern about
whether Defendant had been exposed in prison to COVID-19, defense counsel again
told the court that Defendant would enter a conditional plea on both counts charged,
emphasizing to the court that no jury was needed for the next day. The court stated that
it would review the motion that night, and reconvene at 8:00 a.m. the next morning. The
court acknowledged Defendant’s intent to enter a plea if the motion was denied.
{14} On the morning scheduled for trial, the district court stated, “I have in front of me
[defense counsel’s] dispositive motion to dismiss for violating this Defendant’s right to
speedy trial filed [September 15, 2021,] at 1:10 p.m., one day before trial. . . . I am going
to make a finding that this is untimely and I am not going to hear it.” Defense counsel
argued that his research showed that there were many New Mexico cases where a
district court heard and resolved a speedy trial motion filed on the eve of trial or on the
morning of trial, claiming that “this is a fundamental right, it can be brought up at
anytime” before the commencement of trial.
{15} The State argued that the district court was entitled to enforce its August 2018
scheduling order, requiring filing of pretrial motions ninety days after arraignment. The
State relied on New Mexico precedent holding a defendant can waive their right to file a
motion to dismiss on speedy trial grounds by late filing in violation of a rule or order,
pointing to precedent allowing a district court to refuse to consider and to summarily
deny motions asserting constitutional rights that are filed in violation of a deadline set by
court rule or scheduling order. The State also argued that the delay was a tactic by
defense counsel “to file this motion extremely late so that I would squander my trial
preparation time responding to a late motion.”
{16} The district court reiterated its decision, stating that it was not required to hear
the motion, and that it would not hear it. The court again gave as its reason simply that
the motion was untimely. The court pointed out that defense counsel had entered his
appearance in September 2018, three years previously, leaving plenty of time to have
filed a speedy trial motion after accrual of the right, and referred favorably to the State’s
argument that the filing violated a deadline set by scheduling order. The district court
then took Defendant’s plea of no contest to the charges. Defendant reserved his right to
appeal the district court’s refusal to hear and decide his speedy trial motion. 1
DISCUSSION
{17} Defendant first argues that the district court erred in concluding that this Court’s
decision in State v. Candelaria authorized the court to summarily deny Defendant’s
speedy trial motion. 2019-NMCA-032, ¶ 23,
446 P.3d 1205 (holding that “the district
court had the authority, both inherent and under [local rule] to deny Defendants’ speedy
trial motions as untimely under the pretrial scheduling order”). Alternatively, Defendant
asks us to reverse Candelaria and hold that district courts are not authorized to set a
deadline earlier than the commencement of trial for the filing of a speedy trial motion.
Finally, Defendant argues that the denial of his speedy trial motion as a sanction must
be evaluated under the law governing the exercise of the district court’s discretion in
imposing severe dispositive sanctions in a criminal case, and that when those legal
standards are applied, the district court abused its discretion.
I. The District Court Lacked the Authority to Summarily Refuse to Consider
Defendant’s Speedy Trial Motion
{18} The State acknowledges that, there was no court scheduling order, which set a
deadline applicable to the filing of a speedy trial motion, as there was in Candelaria. The
State concedes that the district court’s scheduling order imposing a deadline of ninety
days after arraignment for the filing of pretrial motions was not applicable to Defendant’s
speedy trial motion because that deadline was well before Defendant’s speedy trial right
accrued. We agree with the State’s concession that the deadline of ninety days after
arraignment for the filing of pretrial motions found in Rule 5-601(E) NMRA, and adopted
by the district court in its scheduling order, was not applicable to Defendant’s speedy
trial motion. We explain.
{19} Rule 5-601(E)(1) provides, “Unless otherwise provided by these rules or ordered
by the court, a pretrial motion shall be made at the arraignment or within ninety (90)
1The written plea was not properly executed following the plea colloquy due to the district court’s
oversight. This Court remanded in April 2022, to allow the plea to be formalized, signed, and filed. The
supplemental record proper now includes the written plea. Both parties agree that Defendant
appropriately preserved his right to appeal. We agree and do not address this question further.
days thereafter, unless upon good cause shown the court waives the time requirement.”
The district court’s scheduling order cited Rule 5-601 and ordered that pretrial motions
to be filed “within ninety (90) days after arraignment per Rule 5-601[(E)].” This Court
held in State v. Aragon, 1982-NMCA-173, ¶ 10,
99 N.M. 190,
656 P.2d 240, that a
deadline for the filing of pretrial motions shortly after arraignment, whether set by court
rule or by court order, does not apply to a motion to dismiss on speedy trial grounds.
Aragon recognizes that the right to dismiss for violation of a defendant’s right to a
speedy trial would not have accrued by ninety days after arraignment, even in a simple
case, and that a defendant cannot be required to file a motion speculating that such a
deadline would be violated in the future.
Id.
{20} Candelaria clarifies that a general deadline for pretrial motions included in a court
scheduling order applies to motions for a speedy trial only if that deadline is set for a
time after a defendant’s speedy trial right would have accrued. Id. ¶ 26. In Candelaria,
the district court’s scheduling order set the deadline for pretrial motions three months
before the scheduled trial date. Id. ¶ 20. There was no dispute that the defendant’s
speedy trial right had accrued before that date, and “could have been asserted, before
the pretrial motion deadline expired.” Id. ¶ 26. Candelaria held that, under those
circumstances, the district court could summarily deny a speedy trial motion filed after
that court-ordered deadline. Id.
{21} Although conceding that the district court erred in finding that Defendant violated
a scheduling order in this case, the State nonetheless contends that the district court
had discretion to summarily deny the motion as a sanction for filing it on the day before
trial was scheduled. We do not agree that summary denial of the motion was consistent
with the law.
{22} Candelaria and Aragon are the relevant authorities governing the authority of a
district court to summarily refuse to decide a defendant’s motion for a speedy trial based
on untimeliness alone. Because, as explained above, there was no scheduling order
setting a deadline for the filing of pretrial motions that applied to Defendant’s speedy
trial motion, and therefore, no violation of a court order, the district court was not
authorized by Candelaria or any other relevant New Mexico law to summarily deny
Defendant’s speedy trial motion.
{23} The district court could impose such a severe sanction only after considering and
weighing the factors set forth in our Supreme Court’s decisions in State v. Harper, 2011-
NMSC-044, 150 N.M. 745,
266 P.3d 25, and Le Mier. In Harper, our Supreme Court
held that when deciding whether to impose a severe sanction for the conduct of counsel
or a litigant, the district court must consider three factors: (1) the culpability of the
offending party; (2) the prejudice to the adversely affected party; and (3) the availability
and appropriateness of lesser sanctions.
2011-NMSC-044, ¶ 19. In Le Mier, our
Supreme Court clarified that the primary focus is on the culpability of the offending party
in willfully violating a court order. Our Supreme Court also held in Le Mier that the
prejudice factor adopted by Harper can be satisfied by prejudice to the integrity and
schedule of the court, even though the opposing party “may not be prejudiced.” 2017-
NMSC-017, ¶ 20.
{24} The district court failed to consider these factors. The court incorrectly relied on
the holding in Candelaria, basing its decision to summarily deny Defendant’s motion on
a misapprehension of the relevant law. See State v. Oppenheimer & Co., Inc., 2019-
NMCA-045, ¶ 6, 447 P.3d 1159) (“A district court abuses its discretion when it applies
an incorrect standard, incorrect substantive law, or its discretionary decision is premised
on a misapprehension of the law.” (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)). The
district court’s decision, therefore, was an abuse of its discretion. 2
{25} We therefore reverse and remand for a hearing and a decision on the merits of
Defendant’s speedy trial motion.
II. Defendant Fails to Support His Claim That Candelaria Was Wrongly
Decided
{26} We next briefly address Defendant’s request that we overrule Candelaria.
Defendant argues Candelaria’s holding that our district courts are authorized to set a
deadline by court order for the filing of a motion to dismiss on speedy trial grounds, and
to enforce that deadline, was wrongly decided. According to Defendant, the only legally
acceptable deadline is the commencement of trial.
{27} “Based on the importance of stare decisis, we require a compelling reason to
overrule one of our prior cases.” See State ex rel. Martinez v. City of Las Vegas, 2004-
NMSC-009, ¶ 24, 135 N.M. 375,
89 P.3d 47 (internal quotation marks and citation
omitted) (explaining the importance of stare decisis and that “[v]ery weighty
considerations underlie the principle that courts should not lightly overrule past
decisions” (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)). Defendant fails to present a
developed argument that persuades us that Candelaria was wrongly decided, that it
states an unworkable rule, or that any of the other exceptional circumstances supporting
the overruling of a previous opinion of this Court exist. See State v. Riley, 2010-NMSC-
005, ¶ 34,
147 N.M. 557,
226 P.3d 656 (listing factors that must be considered before
overturning precedent), overruled on other grounds by State v. Montoya, 2013-NMSC-
020,
306 P.3d 426. We therefore do not consider this argument further.
III. The Remaining Arguments
{28} The State, anticipating our decision that the district court’s decision was based
on a misapprehension of the legal principles adopted in Candelaria, next argues that we
should affirm based on its claim that the district court was correct in sanctioning
Defendant, even if it did so for the wrong reasons. We decline the State’s invitation to
2We encourage the Rules of Criminal Procedure Committee to consider whether revision of Rule 5-
601(E) to add a deadline for the filing of a speedy trial motion might avoid the confusion evident in this
case about the deadline for filing such a motion and encourage our district courts to include a clear
deadline in their standard scheduling orders.
apply the Harper/Le Mier factors, which were not considered by the district court, for the
first time on appeal. The State’s argument would have this Court make findings of fact
and exercise discretion in weighing the facts plainly reserved to the district court. See
State ex rel. King v. Advantageous Cmty. Servs., LLC, 2014-NMCA-076, ¶ 19,
329 P.3d
738 (noting that in deciding a request for sanctions, the district court sits as the finder of
fact); see also State v. Guerra,
2012-NMSC-014, ¶ 33,
278 P.3d 1031 (“The decision to
[impose as severe sanction] calls on judicial discretion to weigh all the circumstances.”).
{29} We have concluded that the district court applied an incorrect principle of law in
summarily denying Defendant’s speedy trial motion based on its mistaken belief that
Defendant had violated a court order. “[A] trial court abuses its discretion when it applies
an incorrect standard, incorrect substantive law, or its discretionary decision is premised
on a misapprehension of the law.” Lasen, Inc. v. Tadjikov, 2020-NMCA-006, ¶ 21,
456
P.3d 1090 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). The district court did not
consider or make findings on any of the factors, including the culpability of Defendant,
the prejudice to the State and the court, and the availability of lesser sanctions, all of
which must be carefully weighed before such a harsh sanction can be imposed. We will
not find facts or substitute our discretion for that of the district court.
{30} We decline, as well, Defendant’s invitation to review the merits of his speedy trial
motion. Because there were no district court proceedings to fully develop the facts, and
the district court had no opportunity to make findings, the record is not adequate to
allow appellate review. See State v. Valdez, 1990-NMCA-018, ¶ 15,
109 N.M. 759,
790
P.2d 1040 (stating that a speedy trial issue not preserved for review where the record is
inadequate).
CONCLUSION
{31} For the foregoing reasons, we reverse and remand this case to the district court
with instructions to hear and rule on Defendant’s speedy trial motion.
{32} IT IS SO ORDERED.
JANE B. YOHALEM, Judge
WE CONCUR:
KRISTINA BOGARDUS, Judge
SHAMMARA H. HENDERSON, Judge
