State of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Petitioner v. Jesse Otto, Defendant-Respondent

Summary

The New Mexico Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals, which had overturned Defendant's conviction for criminal sexual penetration of a minor, and held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting (1) evidence of Defendant's uncharged acts in Colorado under Rule 11-404(B) to show intent and absence of mistake or accident, because Defendant's own statement to the detective created an inference of mistake, and (2) the victim's statements to her mother, which were not hearsay because offered to explain why the mother confronted Defendant. The Court also held the uncharged-acts evidence was not more prejudicial than probative under Rule 11-403. Because the Court of Appeals had instructed the trial court to follow State v. Frawley on sentencing, and Frawley was overruled by State v. Lopez, the Court remanded to the Court of Appeals to address whether sufficient evidence supported the one-third sentence enhancement. Chief Justice Chávez concurred in the Rule 11-404(B) and Rule 11-403 holdings but dissented as to the victim's statements, which he would have held inadmissible as irrelevant and unfairly prejudicial credibility buttressing.