State v. Chadwick-McNally

{1} Defendant Shanah Chadwick-McNally is charged with an open count of first-degree murder and faces a potential sentence of life without the possibility of release or parole (LWOP). She argues in this interlocutory appeal that, due to her possible LWOP sentence, she must be afforded the heightened procedural protections that apply when the State seeks the death penalty. See, e.g. , Rule 5-704 NMRA (setting forth procedures that must be followed in death penalty cases).

{2} We hold that death penalty procedures do not apply in this case for the simple reason that "[t]he extraordinary penalty…