State v. Guajardo, 35,522

Defendant Rudy Guajardo was convicted by a jury of five counts of criminal sexual contact of three minor girls under NMSA 1978 § 30-9-13.
On appeal, Defendant challenged (1) sufficiency of the evidence, (2) ineffective assistance of trial counsel for failing to move to sever the victims, and (3) that his sentence was improperly influenced by the presence of a motorcycle gang in the courtroom.
The Court of Appeals issued a notice of proposed disposition proposing summary affirmance; Defendant filed a memorandum in opposition but raised no materially new record-based facts or law.
The court reviewed the record de novo as to legal sufficiency but deferred to the jury on credibility and factual conflicts, and treated ineffective-assistance claims based on facts outside the record as more appropriate for habeas.
The court concluded the evidence (including circumstantial) was sufficient, found no prima facie ineffective-assistance claim on the record, and held the sentencing court did not abuse its discretion despite the motorcycle gang’s presence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence	State: record and testimony support convictions; jury entitled to accept complainants’ testimony and circumstantial evidence	Guajardo: testimony (A.B.) did not show touching of all listed body parts on two separate occasions; challenges factual sufficiency	Affirmed — viewing evidence in State’s favor and deferring to jury credibility, evidence was sufficient
Ineffective assistance of counsel (failure to move to sever victims)	State: no record evidence establishing counsel’s performance was deficient; strategic choices not second-guessed on direct appeal	Guajardo: counsel should have moved to sever the three victims; alleges facts outside record about counsel’s conduct	Affirmed — defendant failed to establish prima facie ineffective assistance on the record; habeas is appropriate for facts outside record
Sentencing influence by motorcycle gang presence	State: district court did not abuse discretion in sentencing despite spectators	Guajardo: sentence unfairly influenced by presence of "Guardian Angels" motorcycle gang in courtroom	Affirmed — no abuse of discretion shown

State v. Rojo, 126 N.M. 438, 971 P.2d 829 (appellate courts defer to jury credibility determinations)
State v. Slade, 2014-NMCA-088, 331 P.3d 930 (review of sufficiency is highly deferential; conflicts resolved for verdict)
State v. Flores, 147 N.M. 542, 226 P.3d 641 (circumstantial evidence can constitute substantial evidence)
State v. Roybal, 132 N.M. 657, 54 P.3d 61 (ineffective-assistance claims first raised on direct appeal limited to record; habeas preferred for outside-record facts)
State v. Grogan, 142 N.M. 107, 163 P.3d 494 (habeas proceedings preferred to develop evidence on counsel effectiveness)
State v. Bernard, 355 P.3d 831 (courts will not second-guess trial strategy; need plausible trial tactic to avoid ineffective-assistance finding)
State v. Calanche, 91 N.M. 390, 574 P.2d 1018 (factual recitations in docketing statements accepted as true unless record shows otherwise)
Hennessy v. Duryea, 124 N.M. 754, 955 P.2d 683 (burden in summary calendar cases on opposing party to point out errors of fact or law)