State v. Payne

OPINION

WOOD, Judge.

Defendant, Mary Tex Payne, appeals her conviction of voluntary manslaughter with firearm enhancement. The victim was Betty Lou Telles. We discuss two issues: (1) the presentation to the grand jury, and (2) prosecutor misconduct. We reverse because of prosecutor misconduct.

Presentation to the Grand Jury

This issue involves the denial of defendant’s pretrial motion to dismiss the indictment because of the prosecutor’s failure to present exculpatory evidence to the grand jury. The motion was denied after an evidentiary hearing.(a) The Effect of Maldonado v. State, 93 N.M. 670,…