State of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee v. Jose Pedro Garcia, Defendant-Appellant

Summary

The court affirmed the convictions for felony murder, felon in possession of a firearm, and tampering with evidence, concluding that sufficient evidence supported the verdicts, the mid-trial request for self-representation was properly denied, the failure to sever the firearm charge caused no actual prejudice, the police statement was governed by a statute not yet in effect, and counsel was not ineffective. It vacated the armed robbery conviction because recording and sentencing the verdict as merged did not eliminate the separate conviction required to protect against double jeopardy. The court also required trial courts to sever or bifurcate a felon-in-possession charge when prior-felony evidence is not cross-admissible.