State of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Respondent v. Daniel Consaul, Defendant-Petitioner

Summary

The court reversed Daniel Consaul's child-abuse conviction and ordered dismissal with prejudice. It held that the district court should have given separate instructions because the State presented inconsistent theories of negligent/reckless conduct and intentional suffocation, and it further held that the evidence was insufficient to establish causation under the first theory or guilt beyond a reasonable doubt under the second. The court also clarified that the statutory culpability formerly called criminal negligence requires recklessness, not ordinary negligence. No separate opinions were filed.