v.
Leonard TELLES, Defendant-Appellant.
{1} A jury convicted Defendant Leonard Telles of second degree murder, kidnapping, attempted tampering with evidence, and two counts of tampering with evidence. On appeal, Defendant argues that (1) his right to a public trial was violated; (2) his convictions for kidnapping, attempted tampering with evidence, and tampering with evidence are[*1197] not supported by sufficient evidence; and (3) his convictions for kidnapping and attempted tampering with evidence violate double jeopardy. Defendant also seeks reversal of his convictions based upon cumulative error. Unpersuaded, we affirm.
BACKGROUND
{2} Defendant beat Jerome Saiz (Victim) to death with a baseball bat. At trial, Defendant testified that he was at Victim's house, assisting Rebecca Gomez, Victim's ex-girlfriend, with packing so she could move out. At some point after Defendant and Ms. Gomez finished packing, Ms. Gomez's two young daughters alerted them that Victim had arrived. Defendant went into the living room where Victim and Ms. Gomez were arguing. Defendant testified that Victim was holding a baseball bat, seemed "high," and threatened Defendant. Defendant said that Victim "rushed" him, but that he fought Victim off and was able to take the bat away from Victim while Victim was making a phone call. Defendant testified that he warned Victim to stay away, but Victim came at him again, so he used the bat to defend himself.
{3} After the altercation, and seeing Victim lying on the ground unresponsive, Defendant believed Victim to be dead. Defendant told Ms. Gomez that they needed to leave Victim's house. Defendant covered Victim with a blanket and stashed the bat behind the washing machine. He then dragged Victim to a back bedroom, rolled him up in a carpet, and shut the door. Defendant next mopped the blood from the living room floor. He testified that he took these actions, not to prevent the police from finding Victim's body or to conceal evidence, but to prevent Ms. Gomez's two daughters from seeing the body or the blood and getting upset.
{4} Defendant testified that he believed Victim was dead when he dragged him to the back bedroom, but that when he heard police knocking at the door, he "panicked" and began pacing throughout the house. He went to check on Victim, heard Victim making loud snoring noises, and decided to inform the officers that Victim was "knock[ed] ... out." Defendant also told the officers two things that he admitted at trial were false: first, that Victim had broken into the home-which Defendant misrepresented to the officers as belonging to Ms. Gomez-in the middle of the night; and second, that upon entry, Victim had attacked Ms. Gomez.
{5} At trial, the State took the position that Defendant had not acted in self-defense, but instead had killed Victim willfully and deliberately by repeatedly striking him with the baseball bat. It was also the State's theory that Defendant kidnapped Victim by rolling him up in the carpet so that if Victim regained consciousness, he would not be able to move or call for help. The State argued that Defendant's efforts to mop up the blood in the living room and stash the bat behind the washing machine supported two counts of tampering with evidence. The State additionally argued that, by moving Victim to the back bedroom and rolling him up in a carpet, Defendant was trying to hide evidence of his crimes from the police, thereby attempting to tamper with evidence.
{6} The jury convicted Defendant on all counts, [1] and Defendant was sentenced to fifteen years' incarceration for second degree murder with two years of parole; eighteen years' incarceration for kidnapping followed by two years of parole; eighteen months' incarceration for attempted tampering with evidence followed by one year of parole; and three years' incarceration followed by two years of parole for each of the tampering with evidence convictions. The district court ordered Defendant to serve the sentences for murder, kidnapping, attempted tampering, and one of the tampering charges consecutively, but ordered the second tampering with evidence charge to be served concurrent with the sentence for second degree murder. We provide additional facts as needed to address Defendant's claims on appeal.
DISCUSSION
I. Defendant's Right to a Public Trial Was Not Violated
{7} Upon completion of a three-day jury trial, defense counsel learned that the[*1198] courtroom had been closed to several members of the public, including, it appears, three members of Defendant's family, for a ten to fifteen minute period during closing arguments. The closure occurred, unbeknownst to the district court and the parties, when a court security officer barred entry to the would-be spectators in response to a "Do Not Enter" sign that, for reasons unknown had been affixed to the courtroom door. Defendant filed a post-verdict motion for a new trial, arguing that the closure was of constitutional dimension, and the district court held a hearing to determine the causes and circumstances of the temporary courtroom closure. The upshot of the hearing was two-fold: the district court neither ordered nor was aware of the closure, and no one could say with certainty who posted the closure sign or why. The hearing testimony showed that the bailiff, upon learning of the situation as it unfolded, immediately directed that all members of the public be permitted entry. Despite the exclusion of a few, the courtroom was otherwise full of spectators, including members of the media, who had entered before the brief and inadvertent closure. The district court denied Defendant's motion, emphasizing the limited nature-both in time and scope-of the courtroom closure.
{8} Defendant argues that the period of minutes during which the courtroom was closed violated his right to a public trial under the Federal and New Mexico Constitutions. We review de novo whether a defendant's constitutional rights have been violated.
State v. Turrietta
,
{9} The Federal Constitution provides that "[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial[.]" U.S. Const. amend. VI. The New Mexico Constitution similarly provides that an accused shall have "a speedy public trial by an impartial jury of the county or district in which the offense is alleged to have been committed." N.M. Const. art. II, § 14. The values protected by the Sixth Amendment right to a public trial are to ensure a fair trial, remind the prosecutor and judge of their responsibility to the accused and the importance of their functions, encourage witnesses to come forward, and discourage perjury.
See
Waller v. Georgia
,
{10} Defendant contends that because the courtroom closure at issue did not meet the "overriding interest" standard, it was unconstitutional.
See
{11} New Mexico jurisprudence has yet to address this precise situation. The State urges us to follow federal case law, which has consistently declined to find a violation of a defendant's constitutional right to a public trial where, as is the case here, the closure is fairly characterized as "trivial." We agree,[*1199] persuaded as we are by the reasoning of the federal cases cited by the State.
{12} In
Peterson v. Williams
,
{13} Defendant cites no authority to support the position he advances: that any wrongful courtroom closure, no matter how trivial or de minimis, violates a defendant's right to a public trial. Nor are we aware of any such authority. Indeed, as the Washington Supreme Court recently observed in analogous circumstances, "[T]here is no jurisdiction we are aware of that has adopted a rule completely rejecting the doctrine of de minimis closures."
State v. Schierman
, --- Wash.2d ----,
{14} We agree with the uniform line of authority holding that a courtroom closure that is determined to be trivial does not meaningfully infringe upon the values protected by the right to a public trial.
See
Peterson
,
II. Defendant's Challenges to the Sufficiency of the Evidence Supporting His Convictions for Kidnapping, Tampering With Evidence and Attempted Tampering With Evidence Fail
{15} Defendant argues, in perfunctory fashion, that there was insufficient evidence to support his convictions for kidnapping, the two tampering with evidence counts, and attempted tampering with evidence. We begin by cautioning Defendant's appellate counsel that the presentation of these issues is woefully inadequate and undeveloped, spanning less than a single page for each contention and offering scant legal or factual analysis.
See
Rule 12-318(A)(4) NMRA (requiring citations to applicable New Mexico decisions);
State v. Guerra
,
{16} "The test for sufficiency of the evidence is whether substantial evidence of either a direct or circumstantial nature exists to support a verdict of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt with respect to every element essential to a conviction."
State v. Montoya
,
A. Kidnapping
{17} As explained by the State in its response to Defendant's cursory challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction for kidnapping, the State's case at trial rested on alternative theories regarding how Defendant's act of moving Victim's moribund body to the back bedroom and rolling him up in the carpet constituted kidnapping under NMSA 1978, Section 30-4-1 (2003). First, the State argued that Victim was "kidnapped" based on being "held to service," i.e., prevented from trying to assist himself or reporting the crime to police, in violation of Section 30-4-1(A)(3).
See
1. [D]efendant took or restrained or confined or transported [Victim] by force or intimidation;
2. [D]efendant intended to hold [Victim] against [Victim's] will:
[ (a) ] to inflict death or physical injury on [Victim]
OR
3. [ (b) ] for the purpose of making [V]ictim do something[,] or for the purpose of keeping [V]ictim from doing something;
This happened in New Mexico on or about the 20th day of November, 2013.
{18} Thus, Defendant's vague challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his kidnapping conviction appears to boil down to a claim that "[n]o service was performed" and that Defendant "committed the murder and then moved [Victim]" in order "to hide the body from Ms. Gomez's children." Citing only to
Vernon
,
{19} Assuming, arguendo, that the State failed to prove that Victim was "held to service" within the meaning of that term as interpreted in
Vernon
, Defendant's argument fails to appreciate that
Vernon
was superseded by the Legislature's amendment to the kidnapping statute in 1995, which added the taking of a person "with intent to inflict death, physical injury, or a sexual offense" as an alternative means of committing kidnapping.
Compare
NMSA 1978, § 30-4-1(A)(1)-(3) (1994),
with
NMSA 1978, § 30-4-1(A)(1)-(4) (1995) ;
see
Baca
,
{20} Having misunderstood the scope of the current, post-
Vernon
iteration of the kidnapping statute and its separate avenues of liability, Defendant fails to address whether sufficient evidence supported the State's alternative theory of kidnapping based on evidence that Defendant intended to inflict death or physical injury on Victim by moving him to the back room and rolling him up in the carpet. This omission is also fatal to Defendant's challenge to the sufficiency of his kidnapping conviction.
See
State v. Duttle
,
[*1202] and that "[a] contention that a verdict ... or finding of fact is not supported by substantial evidence shall be deemed waived unless the argument identifies with particularity the fact or facts that are not supported by substantial evidence"). Because Defendant has failed to demonstrate any error relating to his kidnapping conviction, we affirm that conviction.
See
State v. Aragon
,
B. Tampering With Evidence
{21} Defendant challenges his convictions for tampering with evidence as being unsupported by substantial evidence. "Tampering with evidence consists of destroying, changing, hiding, placing or fabricating any physical evidence with intent to prevent the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of any person or to throw suspicion of the commission of a crime upon another." NMSA 1978, § 30-22-5(A) (2003). Intent to tamper with evidence can be inferred from circumstantial evidence.
See
State v. Schwartz
,
{22} The two counts for which Defendant was convicted were premised on his actions of (1) mopping up Victim's blood, and (2) hiding the baseball bat behind the washing machine. [2] At trial, Defendant did not dispute that he mopped up the blood or hid the bat but testified that he did so only to prevent Ms. Gomez's children from seeing and becoming upset by the blood.
{23} On appeal, Defendant does nothing more than refer to this testimony to support his argument that the tampering convictions are unsupported by substantial evidence. However, not only was the jury free to reject Defendant's self-serving account of his motives,
see
C. Attempted Tampering With Evidence
{24} Defendant asserts that his conviction for attempted tampering with evidence-premised upon Defendant's act of "wrapping [Victim] in a blanket and carpet and moving [Victim] from the living room to a back bedroom"-was not supported by sufficient[*1203] evidence because, by moving Victim's body, he actually completed the crime of tampering with evidence. Other than the definitional language of NMSA 1978, Section 30-28-1 (1963), defining an "[a]ttempt to commit a felony" as "tending but failing to effect its commission[,]" Defendant cites no authority, identifies no particularized facts, and develops no argument as to why his conduct in moving Victim's body from one room to another should serve to immunize him from attempt liability. Notable for its absence is any attempt by Defendant to refute the State's trial position that Defendant's conduct was directed not solely at moving Victim, but rather toward an unsuccessful effort to prevent police from discovering Victim. Under these circumstances, we deem Defendant's contention on this issue waived.
See
Rule 12-318(A)(4) (providing that "[a] contention that a verdict ... is not supported by substantial evidence shall be deemed waived unless the argument identifies with particularity the fact or facts that are not supported by substantial evidence"). We reiterate that because we are under no obligation to review unclear or undeveloped arguments, and because we will not consider an issue if no authority is cited in support of the issue, we conclude that Defendant has failed to show that his conviction for attempted tampering with evidence is unsupported by substantial evidence.
See
Guerra
,
III. Defendant's Convictions for Attempted Tampering With Evidence and Kidnapping Do Not Violate Double Jeopardy
{25} Defendant next argues that his right to be free from double jeopardy was violated by his convictions for attempted tampering with evidence and kidnapping. We review Defendant's double jeopardy claim de novo.
See
State v. Andazola
,
{26} Defendant raises a double description claim, "in which a single act results in multiple charges under different criminal statutes[.]"
State v. Bernal
,
{27} Where neither statute subsumes the other, we presume that the Legislature intended separate punishments, but this presumption "may be overcome by other indicia of legislative intent."
State v. Silvas
,
[*1204] {28} Here, neither statute subsumes the other. Attempted tampering with evidence requires the accused to take a substantial step toward "destroying, changing, hiding, placing or fabricating any physical evidence with intent to prevent the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of any person or to throw suspicion of the commission of a crime upon another." Section 30-22-5(A). By contrast, kidnapping, as here relevant, requires that one take, restrain, transport or confine a person "by force, intimidation or deception," intending to hold the person to service or with the intent to injure or kill him. Section 30-4-1(A)(3), (4) ;
State v. Montoya
,
{29} The Legislature clearly intended the statutes here at issue to address distinct social harms. Tampering with evidence is designed to punish individuals who attempt to interfere with the administration of justice by hiding or changing evidence that could be used in a criminal prosecution.
See
§ 30-22-5. The pertinent sections of the kidnapping statute, on the other hand, are intended to prevent individuals from harming others or depriving others of their freedom with the intent to force them to do something against their will.
See
§ 30-4-1(A)(3), (4). Nor is there any basis to conclude that these two crimes are typically committed together.
Cf.
State v. Almeida
,
{30} We hold that Defendant's convictions for attempted tampering with evidence and kidnapping do not violate the prohibition against double jeopardy because neither statute is subsumed within the other, the statutes address distinct social harms, and because there is no indication that the Legislature intended only alternative punishment for conduct that violates both statutes.
See
Montoya
,
D. There Was No Cumulative Error
{31} Defendant argues that the violation of his right to a public trial and the violation of his right to be free from double jeopardy, taken together, amount to cumulative error requiring a new trial. Having concluded there was no error, we need not consider this argument.
CONCLUSION
{32} For the reasons set forth above, we affirm Defendant's convictions.
{33} IT IS SO ORDERED.
WE CONCUR:
M. MONICA ZAMORA, Chief Judge
KRISTINA BOGARDUS, Judge
Defendant was charged with first degree murder, but the jury was instructed on second degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, and involuntary manslaughter as well. The jury found Defendant guilty of second degree murder.
Defendant's brief states that the State "failed to present sufficient evidence of three counts of tampering with evidence." We believe this was a clerical error because Defendant was only charged with and convicted of two counts of tampering with evidence.