State v. Branch

OPINION

SERNA, Justice.

{1} Pursuant to Rule 12-102(A)(1) NMRA, Christopher Branch (Defendant) is before this Court on direct appeal from his conviction for first-degree murder. He raises two issues on appeal: (1) whether the district court erred in admitting evidence of Defendant’s prior conviction for robbery, and (2) whether the predicate felonies on which the jury was instructed constituted an impermissible variance to the indictment. We hold that the district court erred when it admitted evidence of Defendant’s prior robbery conviction, in violation of Rule 11-404(B) NMRA. Given the ample…