Herrera v. Sanchez

Summary

The New Mexico Supreme Court granted Amy Herrera’s petition for a writ of mandamus and directed the district court to dismiss her second-degree murder indictment without prejudice. The Court held that the prosecuting attorney improperly prevented the grand jury from pursuing relevant evidence concerning domestic abuse and failed to act fairly and impartially when instructing the grand jury. The decision explains that violations of structural protections governing grand jury proceedings warrant dismissal without requiring the target to demonstrate prejudice.

Holdings

1. The prosecuting attorney lacked authority to preclude Herrera from answering direct, lawful, competent, and relevant questions from the grand jury and erred by interfering with the grand jury's inquiry without first seeking guidance from the presiding grand-jury judge.
2. The prosecutor violated the duty to act fairly and impartially by adding commentary to the Uniform Jury Instructions that characterized Herrera's testimony as an improper appeal for sympathy and instructed the grand jurors not to let her statements influence their decisions.
3. A pretrial violation of the structural protections governing New Mexico grand-jury proceedings requires dismissal of the indictment without the target's showing of actual prejudice.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the prosecutor violated the structural protections of New Mexico's grand-jury statutes by preventing Herrera from answering a grand juror's relevant questions concerning domestic abuse and self-defense.
2. Whether the prosecutor violated the duty to act fairly and impartially by adding argumentative commentary to the grand-jury instructions and suggesting that Herrera's testimony should be disregarded.
3. Whether those structural violations required dismissal of the indictment without a showing of actual prejudice.

Disposition

writ_granted