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State v. Fernandez4/14/1994
nt with well established New Mexico law. See, e.g., . Moreover, Defendant has failed to assert any prejudice he may have suffered by the court's exercise of its supervision over voir dire. In the absence of prejudice, there is no reversible error. .
B. The District Court's Conduct Regarding the Scope of the State's Investigation
At trial, the State called six witnesses, none of whom were involved in the Attorney General's investigation of the case. The defense was permitted to call Art Garcia, an investigator with the Attorney General's Office who was assigned to Defendant's case. On direct examination, Garcia testified regarding his involvement in the investigation, but the defense never questioned Garcia concerning the thoroughness of the investigation.
Our review of the record suggests the court inquired into the relevance and probative value of the proffered evidence, then ruled it was admissible on cross-examination under limited circumstances. Defendant's only specific complaint is that in response to a specific question by defense counsel as to whether the Attorney General's Office had requested that Romo utilize an electronic listening device in Defendant's presence, the district court sustained an objection on the grounds of relevance and speculation At trial, Defendant argued several theories in support of his defense that the charges were politically motivated. One of these theories involved an attempt by defense counsel to
show that the prosecution's investigation was less thorough than the investigation it performed in a separate, unrelated case. Specifically, the court questioned defense counsel as to the nature of the defense which would justify calling the Attorney General and members of his staff to appear as witnesses at trial. The court stated that it did not understand "completeness of an investigation" as a legitimate defense. Judicial bias must be personal and cannot be based on adverse rulings. .
C. The District Court's Conduct Regarding Defense Counsel's Opening Statement
Defendant next argues that the district court made derogatory comments regarding the length of Defendant's opening statement. These comments appear to have been made outside the presence of the jury and Defendant alleges no prejudice. In the absence of prejudice, there is no reversible error. ; see also ) (trial court's comments outside presence of the jury did not deprive defendant of a fair trial), cert. denied, 83 N.M. 473, 493 P.2d 958 (1972).
D. The District Court's Response to Defense Objections
Defendant raises numerous instances of alleged bias by the district court which all relate to the manner in which the court responded to defense objections, It appears that the court repeatedly attempted to have the parties follow a procedure whereby objections would be stated concisely and any further argument would be elicited by the court only if necessary. See SCRA 1986, 11-611(A) (a Judge has authority to exercise reasonable control over trial proceedings so as to ensure ascertainment of the truth and avoid needless time consumption). Where counsel attempted to circumvent this procedure and argue the merits of the objection in front of the jury, Judge Eastburn admonished them. Judicial bias must be personal and cannot be predicated upon enforcement of the rules of criminal procedure,
Similar claims were considered in In re Bokum Resources. Addressing the argument that the bankruptcy Judge showed bias by his harsh tone, Judge Burciaga said:
Suffice it to say that the transcripts show Judge Keller's statements to
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