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State v. Laney10/14/2003
On April 14, 2000, Defendant was involved in a fatal car accident. Defendant fled the scene on foot, but was apprehended and arrested eleven days later. An indictment was issued on May 9, 2000, charging Defendant with homicide by vehicle (reckless), great bodily injury by vehicle (reckless), leaving the scene of an accident (great bodily harm or death), receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle (possession), and reckless driving. After three continuances, two rule extensions, and several motions, the case was eventually tried before a jury on March 28, 2001, some eleven months after Defendant's arrest.
Most of the facts elicited at trial are undisputed. Defendant was in a small Mazda sports car traveling eastbound on Academy Road in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Mazda turned northbound onto Marcheta in front of an oncoming half-ton, Chevy pickup. The pickup, which was traveling westbound on Academy, "T-boned" the Mazda, instantly killing the right front passenger, Sean Roseberry. The passenger in the pickup was seriously injured. The driver of the pickup and Defendant sustained only minor injuries. Defendant stipulated that the Mazda's sudden turn in front of the pickup was one of the primary causes of the accident. The only disputed issue was the identity of the Mazda's driver.
The defense maintained there were three men in the Mazda, while the State argued there were two, Defendant and Roseberry. Eyewitnesses, including the driver of the pickup, and two persons who stopped to render aid, observed one person fleeing the scene, although their descriptions varied somewhat. Only one witness, however, could identify Defendant as the man he saw leaving the scene. The defense argued that the pickup driver saw the driver of the Mazda crawl out of the car, whereas the man who was seen leaving the scene by the other witnesses was Defendant, who had been in the right rear seat.
Both sides provided expert testimony to support their theory. A forensic pathologist and OMI supervisor, Dr. Gerri McLemore, testified for the State about Roseberry's extensive injuries. The State's expert in accident reconstruction and occupant kinetics, Parker Bell, opined that given the dynamics of the accident, a person seated in the right rear seat would most likely have sustained injuries similar to those sustained by Roseberry. Defendant's expert, Dr. Karen Greist, in contrast, testified that Defendant's injuries, consisting of a long rectangular bruise and abrasion running diagonally from his upper right shoulder to his lower left rib cage, were consistent with a seat belt injury. Two defense witnesses testified Defendant was coughing up blood and had bruising to his right arm and chest area after the accident.
Jury deliberation began on a Friday, the third day of trial. After four hours of deliberation, the jury advised the district court it was "deadlocked" on two counts. Although ten jurors polled stated they were hopelessly deadlocked and did not believe further deliberations would be helpful, both counsel rejected the district court's offer to receive the verdicts on three counts and declare a mistrial on the other two. Instead, the parties agreed to send the jury home for the weekend. The jury eventually acquitted Defendant on the stolen vehicle charge, but convicted him on the remaining four counts.
I. Speedy Trial
The initial prosecution of Defendant was quick-he was indicted on May 10, 2000, only fifteen days after his arrest on April 25. Discovery problems, on the other hand, abounded over the next seven months. Counsel for the defense filed his Entry of Appearance and Demand for Speedy Trial on May 17, 2000. A Motion to Dismiss for failure to provide discovery was fi
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