State of New Mexico v. Keith Hirschfeld

Albuquerque, NM - Criminal defense attorney represented KEITH HIRSCHFELD with appealing his conviction of burglary of a vehicle..

Defendant appeals his conviction of burglary of a vehicle. [MIO 1] In his

20 docketing statement, Defendant challenged the sufficiency of the evidence to

21 support his conviction, asserting as a mistake of fact that he believed he had

22 permission from the owner to break into the vehicle to retrieve property. [DS PDF

Court of Appeals of New Mexico

Filed 1/11/2021 9:03 AM2

1 3-4] This Court issued a notice of proposed summary disposition, proposing to

2 affirm. [CN 3] Defendant has filed a memorandum in opposition to that proposed

3 disposition.

4 {2} In that memorandum, Defendant continues to assert that the trial evidence was

5 insufficient because he has "consistently maintained that he had made a 'mistake of

6 fact' and believed that the vehicle belonged to his grandmother and that he had

7 permission to enter it.” [MIO 1] Having duly considered Defendant's memorandum,

8 we are unpersuaded. See State v. Mondragon, 1988-NMCA-027, ¶ 10, 107 N.M.

9 421, 759 P.2d 1003 (explaining that the repetition of earlier arguments does not meet

10 a party's burden to come forward and specifically point out errors of law or fact in a

11 notice of proposed summary disposition).

12 {3} In arguing that the trial evidence was insufficient, Defendant continues to rely

13 upon his own assertion that he believed that he had permission to be in the vehicle.

14 [MIO 1] In doing so, Defendant is continuing to ask this Court to reweigh the

15 evidence presented at trial and substitute our judgment for that of the jury. That is

16 not the role of this Court. See State v. Griffin, 1993-NMSC-071, ¶ 17, 116 N.M. 689,

17 866 P.2d 1156 (explaining that an appellate court does not "substitute its judgment

18 for that of the fact[-]finder” (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)).

Accordingly, for the reasons stated here and in our notice of proposed

summary disposition, we affirm the judgment of the district court.