City of Farmington v. Pinon-Garcia

OPINION

CHÁVEZ, Justice.

{1} In this case, we discuss the appropriate review by a district court of a municipal court’s pretrial dismissal of a criminal complaint because the government’s key witness failed to appear for the scheduled trial. Because the right of appeal from courts not of record is the right to a trial or hearing de novo in district court, N.M. Const. Art. VI, § 27; State v. Hicks, 1986-NMCA-129, ¶ 6, 105 N.M. 286, 731 P.2d 982, we conclude that the district court must make an independent determination of the merits of the pretrial motion, id.; State v. Foster, 2003-NMCA-099, ¶…