June 22, 2020- City of Roswell v. John Monafo, No. A-1-CA-38638

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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO	1
CITY OF ROSWELL,	2
Plaintiff-Appellee,	3
v. 	NO. A-1-CA-38638	4
JOHN MONAFO,	5
Defendant-Appellant.	6
APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF CHAVES COUNTY	7
James M. Hudson, District Judge	8
Office of the City Attorney	9
Parker William Patterson	10
Roswell, NM	11
for Appellee	12
John Monafo	13
Roswell, NM	14
Pro Se Appellant	15
MEMORANDUM OPINION	16
VARGAS, Judge.	17
{1} 	John Monafo (Defendant) seeks to appeal his convictions for driving on a	18
suspended or revoked license, lack of registration, and lack of insurance. We	19
previously issued a notice of proposed summary disposition, proposing to dismiss on	20
grounds that Defendant failed to timely file his notice of appeal with the district court.	21
Court of Appeals of New Mexico
Filed 6/22/2020 11:40 AM

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Defendant has filed a memorandum in opposition. After due consideration, we remain	1
unpersuaded. We therefore dismiss the appeal.	2
{2} 	As we observed in the notice of proposed summary disposition, notice of appeal	3
must be filed with the district court within thirty days after the entry of a final order.	4
See Rule 12-201(A)(2) NMRA; Rule 12-202(A) NMRA. Because the timely filing of	5
notice of appeal with the district court is a mandatory precondition to the exercise of	6
jurisdiction, see Garcia v. State, 2010-NMSC-023, ¶ 25, 148 N.M. 414, 237 P.3d 716,	7
we do not ordinarily entertain an appeal if the notice of appeal is filed late. See State	8
v. Upchurch, 2006-NMCA-076, ¶ 5, 139 N.M. 739, 137 P.3d 679 (“[In the absence	9
of exceptional circumstances, we rigidly enforce the mandatory time limits for filing	10
the notice of appeal.”).	11
{3} 	In this case, the final order of the district court was entered on October 15,	12
2019. It was therefore incumbent upon Defendant to file notice of appeal no later than	13
November 14, 2019. See Rule 12-308(A)(1) NMRA (describing the computation of	14
time, where the relevant period is eleven days or longer). We surmise that Defendant’s	15
assertion to the contrary [MIO 1] is premised upon a misapprehension of the relevant	16
rules. See id. Defendant did not file his notice of appeal with the district court until	17
November 15, 2019. As we previously observed, this was untimely; and absent a	18
showing of extraordinary circumstances, dismissal is warranted. See, e.g., Upchurch,	19
2006-NMCA-076, ¶¶ 1-6 (dismissing an appeal filed one day late, where exceptional	20

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circumstances were not demonstrated and the presumption of ineffective assistance	1
of 	counsel 	did 	not 	apply). 	There 	has 	been 	no 	suggestion 	of 	extraordinary	2
circumstances in this case. As a consequence, we adhere to our initial assessment.	3
{4} 	Accordingly, for the reasons stated above and in the notice of proposed	4
summary disposition, the appeal is dismissed.	5
{5} 	IT IS SO ORDERED.	6
__________________________________	7
JULIE J. VARGAS, Judge	8
WE CONCUR:	9
_________________________________	10
JACQUELINE R. MEDINA, Judge	11
_________________________________	12
BRIANA H. ZAMORA, Judge	13