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State v. Munoz11/17/1998
{1} Manuel Munoz (Defendant) seeks reversal of his convictions for vehicular homicide and great bodily injury by vehicle. He asserts that a jury instruction patterned on UJI 14-252 NMRA 1998 (negligence of the deceased) shifted the burden of proof from the State's shoulders to his own. He also contends that UJI 14-252 fails to explain adequately to juries the law of intervening causation. We reject Defendant's burden-shifting argument, but we hold that juries should ordinarily be instructed on foreseeability when intervening causation is an issue in a criminal case. In this case, however, failure to instruct the jury on foreseeability was not reversible error because Defendant never contested the issue and because no rational jury could find that the fatal, injury-producing accident in this case was not a foreseeable result of Defendant's actions.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL POSTURE
{2} On the night of May 5, 1995, Defendant's north-bound vehicle collided with a west-bound vehicle at the intersection of Solano Avenue and Griggs Street in Las Cruces, New Mexico. At trial, a witness who had been traveling south on Solano that night testified that a short time before the accident Defendant's car veered into his lane at a high rate of speed. Fortunately, the witness was able to avoid a collision by swerving to the side of the road and Defendant also veered back into his own lane. The witness soon saw police and an ambulance pass by, and he followed those vehicles to the accident scene at Solano and Griggs.
{3} There, he found that Defendant's Oldsmobile Toronado had smashed into Jason Jiron's Datsun 210, demolishing it. Evidence at trial indicated that Defendant was driving between 64 and 71 miles per hour in a 35 mile per hour zone, that he had lost control of his vehicle as it entered the intersection, and that he did not attempt to slow down prior to impact. Jason was killed by the tremendous force of the crash, which according to one of the attending emergency medical technicians, rammed the "driver's door . . . in over the transmission" and left Jason "in the lap of the passenger." Jason's passenger, Joe Shelton, III, suffered a broken shoulder, three broken ribs, a broken pelvis, and serious internal injuries, including traumatic brain injury.
{4} Upon their arrival at the scene of the accident, several police officers noticed an odor of alcohol emanating from Defendant. One officer administered a number of standard field sobriety tests, all of which Defendant failed. When Defendant's blood was drawn approximately an hour after the accident, his blood-alcohol concentration was 0.17, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08. See NMSA 1978, § 66-8-102(C) (1953, as amended through 1993).
{5} Defendant argued at trial that Jason had run the stop sign at the intersection and that Defendant therefore bore no criminal responsibility for Jason's death or his passenger's injuries. Conflicting evidence was presented by Defendant and the State as to whether Jason had run the stop sign. The issue of Defendant's guilt was submitted to the jury.
{6} The jury was instructed on the elements of vehicular homicide in the following manner:
For you to find the defendant guilty of causing death by vehicle as charged in Count I[,] the tate must prove to your satisfaction beyond a reasonable doubt each of the following elements of the crime:
1. The defendant operated a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or in a reckless manner;
2. The defendant thereby caused the death of Jason Jiron;
3. This happened in New Mexico, on or about May 5, 1995.
See UJI 14-240 N
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