State v. Harrison

Certiorari Granted, No. 31,224, August 6, 2008 OPINION {1} A jury found Defendant guilty of driving while intoxicated. NMSA 1978, § 66-8-102 (2007). After determining that this was at least Defendant's seventh DWI conviction, the district court filed its judgment, sentence, and commitment to the Corrections Department imposing a third-degree felony sentence of three years, to be followed by a two-year period of parole, together with additional conditions. Section 66-8-102(J) (stating that upon a seventh or subsequent conviction, an offender is guilty of a third-degree felony and shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of three years). Defendant appeals, arguing that the evidence of his performance on field sobriety tests should have been suppressed because they were administered by a state police officer who is not cross-commissioned with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) or the Navajo Nation, Defendant is Navajo, and the tests were administered following a stop on the Navajo Nation. We disagree and affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND