{1} Defendant Raymond Hernandez appeals his convictions for robbery, disposing of stolen property, and tampering with evidence. The convictions resulted from an incident in which Defendant robbed a bank and then gave some of the money away. He challenges the sufficiency of the evidence for the robbery conviction, contending there was no evidence from which the jury could have inferred a threat of force or violence. With respect to the conviction for disposing of property, Defendant argues that the relevant statute does not apply to his actions of giving away and spending money because money is not property within the meaning of the statute. In addition, he contends that even if the statute applies to money, his actions did not constitute “disposing.” Finally, Defendant argues that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on an intoxication defense with respect to his specific-intent crimes. We affirm.
BACKGROUND
{2} Defendant’s convictions arise from a theft of cash from a bank in Tularosa, New Mexico. On the day of the robbery, Defendant had driven to Tularosa with his girlfriend, Sheila Michel, and her seventeen-year-old daughter, Leslie. Prior to the theft, the two adults consumed beer at a friend’s home. Then Defendant drove them all to the bank so that he could obtain money. Defendant entered the bank alone and attempted to cash a check from a Ruidoso bank. The teller, Jeremy Nowell, refused to cash the check because Defendant did not have an account at that bank. Defendant left the bank.
{3} Nowell testified that a short time later Defendant returned to the bank, approached the counter, and told Nowell that he “wanted everything out of [the] top drawer.” According
{4} Another teller, Valerie Delgado, came out of the restroom just as Defendant took the sack from Nowell and departed the bank. Delgado watched as Defendant ran across the parking lot, the dye pack exploded, and Defendant dropped some of the money. A relief teller, Elizabeth Chavez, observed these events from a different angle as she pulled into the parking lot. Chavez saw Defendant jump when red smoke emerged from the sack that he was carrying, and she then saw him run behind a nearby post office. Chavez followed and observed Defendant get into his pickup and drive away. She wrote down the license plate number and provided it to the police.
{5} Defendant then drove himself and his passengers to a nearby café to purchase hamburgers. On the way there, he gave $400 to Michel and $7 to Leslie, saying that he wanted to help them out. At the restaurant, Defendant paid for their meals. The group then left the café with their food, and as they began driving away, the police stopped them. The police confiscated money from both Michel and Leslie, and also found money tucked into the front seatbelt area of the vehicle. In total, the police recovered $1,407, including the money found in the bank parking lot; $1,310 was never recovered.
DISCUSSION
Sufficiency of Evidence for Robbery Conviction
{6} “Robbery consists of the theft of anything of value from the person of another or from the immediate control of another, by use or threatened use of force or violence.” NMSA 1978, § 30-16-2 (1973). Defendant challenges his robbery conviction claiming there is no evidence that he used or threatened to use force or violence in the process of taking the money. Reviewing a sufficiency of the evidence challenge on appeal, “[w]e view the evidence in the light most favorable to supporting the verdict and resolve all conflicts and indulge all permissible inferences in favor of upholding the verdict.” State v. Apodaca,
{7} Defendant approached Nowell, who had previously refused to cash his check, and stated that he “wanted everything” from No-well’s money drawer. During this confrontation, Defendant’s left hand contained a note that he pointed at the drawer. Defendant’s right hand remained out of Nowell’s view. Defendant told Nowell not to set off an alarm. Viewing this evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict permits the inference that Defendant was threatening force if Nowell did not comply with his demands.
{8} Defendant contends that although there was evidence that Nowell was scared, there was no evidence that Defendant threatened force. According to Defendant, No-well’s fear was based solely on “things he didn’t see or hear, things he feared existed.” We disagree.
{9} A robbery conviction requires that the “force or threatened use of force must be the lever that serves to separate the property from the victim.” State v. Hamilton,
{10} We are equally unpersuaded by Defendant’s argument that even if his actions constituted an implied threat, the statute does not extend to threats by implication. Neither statutory language nor case law limit the term “threat” to explicit, verbal threats of force.
{11} Finally, we are not persuaded by Defendant’s reliance on State v. Sanchez,
Applicability of Receiving Stolen Property Statute
{12} Defendant advances a two-fold challenge to his conviction for disposing of stolen property, which is one aspect of our statute prohibiting the receipt of stolen property. NMSA 1978, § 30-16-11 (1987). First, he contends that under the relevant statute the term “property” does not include money but instead refers exclusively to goods with an exchangeable market value. Second, he claims that even if the statute applies to money, his actions did not constitute “disposing” within the meaning of the statute. Statutory interpretation presents a question of law that we review de novo on appeal. State v. Rowell,
{13} Preliminarily we note that New Mexico permits convictions for both robbery and disposing of the property stolen in that same robbery. State v. Tapia,
Money is Property
{14} The language prohibiting disposal of stolen property provides in relevant part that “[receiving stolen property means intentionally to receive, retain or dispose of stolen property knowing that it has been stolen or believing it has been stolen.” Section 30~16-11(A) (emphasis added). Section 30-16-11(0(2) provides: “For the purposes of this section: ... ‘stolen property’ means any property acquired by theft, larceny, fraud, embezzlement, robbery or armed robbery.” The statutes on larceny, fraud, embezzlement, and robbery provide further guidance because they all refer to property
{15} Moreover, common sense supports the conclusion that “anything of value” includes money. See State v. Richardson,
{16} Given the clarity of the relevant statutes and ease law, we are unpersuaded by Defendant’s assertions that the term “property” is ambiguous. Defendant attempts to interpret “property” based on the fact that the statute does not include the term money, whereas many other statutes refer to “money and property” or “money or property.” See, e.g., NMSA 1978, § 10-2-14(F)(1) (1986) (defining “surety bond coverage” as “conditioned on ... a proper accounting for all money and property”); NMSA 1978, § 30-36-2(D) (1963) (defining “thing of value” as including “money, property, services, goods and wares” for purposes of Worthless Check Act); NMSA 1978, § 30-43^1 (1980) (referring to “money or property” in statute prohibiting the financing of extortionate extensions of credit). We disagree. The other statutes relied upon by Defendant do not pertain to disposal of stolen property, and we see no ambiguity in the applicable statute. See In re Gabriel M.,
Defendant’s Actions Constituted Disposing
{17} In Defendant’s second challenge to his conviction for disposing of stolen property, he contends that even if money is property, his actions did not constitute disposing within the meaning of the statute. In order to uphold Defendant’s conviction for the fourth-degree offense of receiving stolen property, we need only decide that transferring money to Michel and Leslie falls within the definition of disposing.
{18} Analyzing the meaning of the statutory language “dispose of stolen property,” Tapia relied on a dictionary definition to explain that “[t]he ordinary meaning of this language is to transfer, relinquish or get rid of.”
Entitlement to Jury Instruction on Intoxication Defense
{19} Defendant alleges error in the trial court’s refusal to give the jury instruction on intoxication as a defense to the robbery and tampering charges. The trial court refused Defendant’s tendered instruction on the basis that although there was some evidence that Defendant had consumed alcohol on the day of the robbery, there was no evidence that Defendant was intoxicated.
{20} Voluntary intoxication provides a defense to specific-intent crimes “where the intoxication is to such a degree as would negate the possibility of the necessary intent.” State v. Lovato,
{21} Defendant presented evidence that he had consumed alcohol, including testimony that he drank beer, and testimony that he smelled of alcohol at the bank. Defendant presented no evidence, however, that he was intoxicated to any degree, let alone to the point that it affected his ability to form the necessary mental state for a specific-intent crime.
{22} Defendant’s primary argument on the issue of intoxication, as opposed to mere consumption of alcohol, is that his conduct was impulsive and irrational, and therefore must have been a consequence of intoxication. For example, he points to the fact that he identified himself to Nowell and then, just a few moments later, returned with no mask or disguise and demanded money from Nowell. Defendant claims that this and other impulsive actions subsequent to the crime are evidence of intoxication. We disagree. Defendant offers no ease law supporting his argument that impulsive or irrational actions are evidence of intoxication, and he offers no other evidence tending to show intoxication. Cf. State v. Priven,
CONCLUSION
{23} For the foregoing reasons, we affirm.
{24} IT IS SO ORDERED.