Supreme Court ruling restores day-for-day 'good time' credit for inmates convicted of DWI homicide

Jul. 26—The New Mexico Supreme Court issued a ruling this week stating inmates convicted of homicide by vehicle while driving drunk are eligible to earn credit for good behavior to reduce up to half of their prison sentence.

The ruling overturns a decision by a state district judge in Bernalillo County that involved a 2016 law change reclassifying the crime from a third-degree felony to a more serious second-degree felony and increasing the penalty from six years to 15.

The district judge had ruled it was a legislative oversight not to also give judges the discretion to designate a DWI homicide as a serious violent offense, which would allow an inmate to earn far less "good time" credit, the Administrative Office of the Courts said in statement issued Thursday.

The omission resulted in an "absurdity" for sentence reduction eligibility, the judge ruled, because second-degree DWI homicide is a more serious offense than third-degree vehicular homicide due to reckless driving — a charge included in state law as a discretionary violent offense.

Supreme Court justices found the judge had wrongly applied "the legal doctrine of absurdity."

Their opinion emphasized "courts must only invoke the absurdity doctrine in extreme cases and even then, most sparingly."

"We conclude that the classification made by the Legislature ... is not absurd and that the district court erred," Justice Michael E. Vigil wrote in the Supreme Court's opinion. "In arriving at this conclusion we defer to the separation of powers doctrine. It is solely within the prerogative of the Legislature to classify DWI homicide as a serious violent offense through the legislative process."

The ruling received mixed reviews. New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, in a statement issued Friday, urged the Legislature to "fix this law at the next legislative session," to ensure it doesn't lead to drastically reduced sentences in DWI homicide cases, while Criminal Defense Lawyers Association President Jennifer Burrill said in an interview she doesn't see a need to make the change.

Under the Earned Meritorious Deduction Act, inmates convicted of crimes deemed serious violent offenses can earn no more than four days per month of credit for good behavior toward a sentence reduction — ensuring they serve at least 85% of their sentence. Inmates serving time for other types of crimes can earn day-for-day credit, reducing their sentence by up to 50%.

Those convicted of first-degree murder, however, must serve 30 years in prison before they are eligible for parole.

Inmates earn "good time" credits by participating in rehabilitative and educational programs and avoiding behavior that leads to disciplinary actions.

Prisoners can also earn credit for "engaging in a heroic act of saving life or property ... that demonstrates the prisoner's commitment to self-rehabilitation," the law states.

Crimes designated as serious violent offenses under the Earned Meritorious Deduction Act include second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, third-degree aggravated battery, first-degree kidnapping, first- and second-degree criminal sexual penetration, second- and third-degree criminal sexual contact of a minor and aggravated battery on a peace officer.

A judge has the discretion to designate other crimes as serious violent offenses, such as involuntary manslaughter, fourth-degree aggravated assault, second-degree kidnapping, first-, second- and third-degree child abuse and third-degree homicide by vehicle.

Torrez said DWI homicide should be included on the list. He noted the case of Sergio Almanza, who was convicted of vehicular homicide and other charges after he struck and killed a 7-year-old boy at Albuquerque's River of Lights while driving drunk in 2021.

"Anyone who witnessed that crime and the carnage it caused would know that this was a crime of violence, but now, because of the Legislature's failure to properly categorize the offense, Almanza will have five years cut from his final sentence," Torrez said in a statement.

Burrill said, however, designating the crime a serious violent offense wouldn't change the maximum sentence for the charge. People convicted of the charge are still being held accountable, she said.

"Not everyone will earn good time credit," she added.

"I'm not sure what the community benefit is of not motivating them, through good time credit, to engage in classes and courses and school, which would help them rehabilitate while incarcerated," Burrill said. "I don't understand the rationale of wanting to strip someone of those motivations to do better."