State v. Austin Verret, 2019-NMCA-010
Oct 23, 2018OUTCOME: Reversed and Remanded
Mr. Verret had won an exclusion of the arresting officer's testimony in the Magistrate Court due to the State's discovery violation of failing to make the officer available for an interview. The State ... appealed to the district court to avoid the discovery sanction. Mr. Verret sought to have the case dismissed due to the state's attempts to avoid the sanction. The District Court denied Mr. Verret's motion, holding that the case was to be treated de novo, and everything that happened in the lower court was no longer applicable or relevant to the proceedings in the District Court. The Court of Appeals reversed the District Court and remanded the case to be reconsidered based on the fact available at the time of Magistrate Court's decision excluding the officer. The Court of Appeals held that the District Court must consider the basis of the exclusion in the lower court, or else the ruling from the lower court would have no meaning or effective manner to enforce the rules applicable to all parties.
