February 16, 2016 – State of New Mexico v. Requillo Cardenas, No. 33,564

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO
Opinion Number: ____________
Filing Date: February 16, 2016
NO. 33,564
STATE OF NEW MEXICO,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
REQUILDO CARDENAS,
Defendant-Appellant.
APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF TAOS COUNTY
Sarah C. Backus, District Judge
Hector H. Balderas, Attorney General
Santa Fe, NM
M. Victoria Wilson, Assistant Attorney General
Albuquerque, NM
for Appellee
Alan Maestas Law Office, P.C.
Kathryn J. Hardy
Alan H. Maestas
Taos, NM
for Appellant

OPINION
KENNEDY, Judge.
{1} 	A formal opinion in this matter was filed on February 2, 2016. 	We hereby
withdraw that opinion and substitute it with this Opinion to correct an oversight. The
victim was referred to as “Matthew Lucero” in the preceding opinion, and the correct
name of victim is “Matthew Lujan.”
{2} 	Defendant shot and killed an unknown intruder, who he later discovered was
his friend, by firing a single fatal shot through his front door in the early hours of the
morning. Defendant appeals the district court’s refusal to give a defense of habitation
instruction as well as an involuntary manslaughter instruction. We conclude that
adequate evidence was presented to warrant the giving of both. We therefore reverse.
I. 	BACKGROUND
{3} 	Matthew Lujan and Defendant, Requildo Cardenas, were close friends. At
approximately 1:30 a.m., on July 5, 2012, Lujan was involved in a fight at a party.
Enraged by the fight, Lujan left the party and drove immediately to Defendant’s home.
Lujan arrived at Defendant’s home, opened the screen door, and began knocking and
pounding on the door within. Lujan’s actions were loud enough to rouse Defendant
from sleep. Defendant armed himself and demanded that the visitor identify himself.
Defendant received no answer in response to his demand, and the intruder continued

1During a previous trial, a jury acquitted Defendant of second degree murder,
but it could not reach a verdict on the voluntary manslaughter charge. The district
court declared a mistrial, and the case went to trial again based solely on the voluntary
manslaughter charge.
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pounding on the door. Defendant fired a single shot through the front door, which
killed Lujan. When Defendant fired the fatal shot, Lujan’s identity was unknown to
him.
{4} 	Defendant was tried for voluntary manslaughter.1 He requested jury instructions
on defense of habitation and involuntary manslaughter. The district court denied the
instructions. Defendant was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter. Defendant now
appeals his conviction, asserting that the district court erred in denying his requested
instructions on defense of habitation and involuntary manslaughter.
II. 	DISCUSSION
{5} 	Whether a jury instruction was properly denied is a mixed question of law and
fact that we review de novo. State v. Guerra, 2012-NMSC-014, ¶ 13, 278 P.3d 1031.
“ ‘When considering a defendant’s requested instructions, we view the evidence in the
light most favorable to the giving of the requested instruction[s].’ ” State v. Skippings,
2011-NMSC-021, ¶ 10, 150 N.M. 216, 258 P.3d 1008 (quoting State v. Boyett, 2008-
NMSC-030, ¶ 12, 144 N.M. 184, 185 P.3d 355). While “[a] defendant is entitled to
an instruction on his or her theory of the case if evidence has been presented that is
sufficient to allow reasonable minds to differ as to all elements of the offense[,]” the

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failure to instruct the jury on a defendant’s theory of the case is reversible error only
if there is evidence to support giving the instruction. Boyett, 2008-NMSC-030, ¶ 12
(internal quotation marks and citation omitted). A defendant charged with involuntary
homicide may present a theory of self-defense. State v. Gallegos, 2001-NMCA-021,
¶ 18, 130 N.M. 221, 22 P.3d 689.
A. 	Defense of Habitation
{6} 	Defense of habitation contains both a subjective and an objective element; the
parties acknowledge this. Cf. State v. Coffin, 1999-NMSC-038, ¶ 15, 128 N.M. 192,
991 P.2d 477 (indicating self-defense is made up of both a subjective standard that
focuses on the perception of the defendant at the time of the incident and an objective
standard that focuses on how a reasonable person in the same situation would have
acted). The subjective element allows for the use of deadly force where “[i]t appeared
to the defendant that the commission of [a violent felony] was immediately at hand
and that it was necessary to kill the intruder to prevent the commission of [the violent
felony].” UJI 14-5170 NMRA; Boyett, 2008-NMSC-030, ¶ 21 (requiring felony, in
defense of habitation context, to be a violent felony). In evaluating this element, it is
necessary to look to the subjective belief of the defendant. The objective element
requires that “[a] reasonable person in the same circumstances as the defendant would
have acted as the defendant did.” UJI 14-5170.

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{7} 	Our Supreme Court’s opinion in Boyett sought to clarify the law governing
defense of habitation. 2008-NMSC-030, ¶¶ 9, 11. The Boyett court acknowledged that,
although defense of habitation applies to the prevention of a felony in the home,
felonies no longer solely encompass “forcible and atrocious” crimes. Id. ¶ 20 (internal
quotation marks and citation omitted). As a result, the Court endeavored to clarify
what qualifies as a “felony” in the defense of habitation context. Id. The Court
concluded, based on applicable precedent, that a “ ‘felony’ in the defense of habitation
context is properly limited to those felonies involving violence.” Id. ¶ 21 (stating that
a felony must result “in violence against the occupants were it not prevented”). The
Court reasoned that, using this clarification, an instruction on defense of habitation
would be warranted “if some evidence reasonably tended to show that [the defendant]
killed [the v]ictim to prevent her from forcing entry into his home and committing a
violent felony once inside.” Id. ¶ 22. The Court looked to the evidence presented in
the case and concluded that an instruction on defense of habitation was not warranted
because there was no evidence that the victim was endeavoring to enter the home by
violence or intended to do violence on those inside. Id. ¶ 23. The Court acknowledged
that, assuming the defendant held a reasonable belief that the victim intended to
commit a felony in his home, defense of habitation would justify the defendant’s
actions “only if he could show that [the v]ictim was attempting to force entry to his

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home.” Id. Thus, if there is evidence that the victim is trying to break through the
defendant’s front door at the time he kills the victim, defense of habitation applies. Id.
{8} 	The district court in this case seems to have interpreted Boyett to require an
analysis of the intruder’s intent for the subjective element of defense of habitation,
rather than solely on Defendant’s perception of the intruder’s actions and intentions.
The State asserts that the defense of habitation instruction was not warranted because
there was no evidence that “the commission of [a violent felony] was immediately at
hand.” UJI 14-5170. The State also asserts that, without evidence that Defendant
intended to kill Lujan, no evidence existed to support the assertion that Defendant
believed “it was necessary to kill [Lujan] to prevent the commission of [the violent
felony.]” Id. We address each argument in turn.
1. 	Evidence of a Violent Felony
{9} 	Perhaps following the district court’s ruling, the State suggests that in order to
satisfy the subjective prong of defense of habitation, which requires Defendant to
believe that the commission of a violent felony was immediately at hand, there must
have been evidence that Lujan intended to commit a violent felony within Defendant’s
home. In support of this suggestion, the State cites to Boyett and suggests that by
requiring a certain type of felony—namely, a violent one—the Court super-imposed
a requirement that evidence of Lujan’s intent to commit a violent felony be presented
to warrant a defense of habitation instruction.

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{10} 	Self-defense and defense of habitation are virtually identical, State v. Bailey,
1921-NMSC-009, ¶ 30, 27 N.M. 145, 198 P. 529, and it is well-established that self-
defense focuses on the subjective intent of the defendant. See Coffin, 1999-NMSC-
038, ¶ 15 (indicating that the subjective element of self-defense focuses on the
perception of the defendant at the time of the incident). Defense of habitation employs
the same focus with regard to the subjective prong; the relevant inquiry lies in the
defendant’s own subjective perception of the intruder’s intentions, rather than
interpreting the intruder’s intent itself. By asserting that evidence of the victim’s intent
is required, the State misstates the law governing defense of habitation. UJI 14-5170
contains no reference to the intruder’s intent; instead, the instruction mentions only
the defendant’s perception of what is happening. The State’s shifted emphasis is not
supported by the language of the UJI.
{11} 	Our case law is also clear that the defendant’s interpretation of the victim’s
actions is the relevant criterion in a defense of habitation inquiry. In State v. Couch,
1946-NMSC-047, ¶ 44, 52 N.M. 127, 193 P.2d 405, our Supreme Court decided that
the defendant was entitled to a defense of habitation instruction because he could have
believed that the person attacking his home intended to enter and commit violence
against the occupants. In Couch, the defendant, whose home had been subjected to
other attacks and invasions, awoke late one night while his home was the target of
vandals throwing rocks. Id. ¶ 2. The defendant shot at the intruders and killed one of

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them. Id. The Court concluded that the defendant was entitled to a defense of
habitation instruction: “When one’s home is attacked in the middle of a dark night .
. . the householder, being unable to determine what weapons the [unknown] assailants
have . . . may pursue his adversaries till he finds himself out of danger.” Id. ¶¶ 44, 49.
{12} 	We interpret Boyett to stand not for the proposition that there must be evidence
of the intruder’s intent or that the victim intended to commit a violent felony, but
solely whether evidence exists that could give rise to a defendant’s belief that
commission of a felony of a violent nature was imminent. The instruction must be
given when the evidence presented at trial, viewed in the light most favorable to
giving the instruction, supports Defendant’s alleged belief that he or his home was
subject to the threat of a violent felony.
{13} 	According to the evidence, Lujan arrived at Defendant’s door at approximately
1:30 a.m. and was pounding on the door loudly enough to rouse Defendant from sleep
and threateningly enough to cause Defendant to arm himself. Despite yelling a request
that the intruder identify himself, Defendant received no response before firing the
fatal shot.
{14} 	Evidence at trial indicated that Lujan was in the process of opening the door
when he was shot. Expert testimony suggested, based on spatter patterns of Lujan’s
blood on the hinges and frame of the door, that the door could have been anywhere
between one and four inches open when Defendant fired the fatal shot. Because there

2This came to light as impeachment evidence; defense counsel impeached the
officer using prior statements made regarding Lujan’s actions that evening.
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is no evidence that Defendant opened the door, it is reasonable to infer from the facts
that Lujan did. One of the investigating officers testified that he believed Lujan was
“trying to gain entry” into Defendant’s home.2 Defendant’s father testified that when
he visited the residence the day after the shooting, he observed that the lock on the
door had been damaged. This evidence, considered in the light most favorable to
giving 	the 	instruction, 	Skippings, 	2011-NMSC-021, 	¶ 	10, 	satisfies 	Boyett’s
requirement that some evidence show that the intruder was attempting to force entry
into Defendant’s home. 2008-NMSC-030, ¶ 23. It was therefore adequate to support
an assertion by Defendant that he reasonably believed that a violent felony was about
to occur in his home. Confronted with a violent and unauthorized attempt of an
unknown actor to enter his home, and in the absence of the intruder’s response to
Defendant’s request to identify himself, Defendant’s actions could be found to be
objectively reasonable, as discussed more completely below. We therefore conclude
that the district court erred in refusing Defendant’s requested defense of habitat
instruction.
2. 	Intent to Kill
{15} 	The State incorrectly asserts that Defendant is required to prove he had an intent
to kill Lujan in order to receive a defense of habitation instruction. The district court

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did not deny Defendant’s requested defense of habitation instruction based on
Defendant’s lack of intent to kill. In fact, it appears that the State did not raise this
argument below. The State suggests, however, that we affirm the district court’s
decision using the right for any reason doctrine. While we may affirm the district court
on grounds not relied on by it, we may not do so if it would result in unfairness to the
appellant. State v. Gallegos, 2007-NMSC-007, ¶ 26, 141 N.M. 185, 152 P.3d 828.
Because we conclude that adding an “intent to kill” element to defense of habitation
would be inappropriate, we decline the State’s invitation to affirm on that ground.
{16} 	According to UJI 14-5170, it must appear to the defendant that it is “necessary
to kill the intruder to prevent the commission of [a violent felony].” In Bailey, our
Supreme Court noted, in dicta, that the right to kill in self-defense or defense of
habitation was not at issue in the case and that the defendant was not entitled to have
that issue presented to the jury because the defendant absolutely denied killing the
victim. 1921-NMSC-009, ¶¶ 18, 31 (noting that the defendant “never intended to kill
[the intruder], did not attempt to kill him, and did not kill him”).
{17} 	Bailey is inapposite to the case before us, and the State’s reliance on it is
misplaced. Defense counsel argued at trial that Defendant may have intended the shot
to be a warning shot, and that both the single shot fired and the location of the shot
indicated that Defendant did not intend to kill the intruder. He does not contend that
he did not shoot the victim or that he did not intentionally pull the trigger. The State

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now uses these arguments to assert that Defendant is not entitled to a defense of
habitation instruction because he had no intent to kill the intruder, contrary to the UJI
which requires that the defendant believe it is “necessary to kill the intruder.” See UJI
14-5170.
{18} 	The State’s reading of Boyett, UJI 14-5170, and Bailey misinterprets the
language therein by suggesting that a belief that it is necessary to use deadly force to
prevent commission of a violent felony equates to an intent to kill an intruder. The two
are not equivalent; an intent to kill pertains to a desired result while a belief that it is
necessary to use deadly force relates to the means by which that result may be
reached. The focal point of the jury instruction’s “necessary to kill” language lies on
the defendant’s intent to prevent the commission of the violent felony using whatever
force—including deadly force—is necessary. The explicit language of UJI 14-5170
therefore requires that the defendant believe deadly or lethal force is necessary to
prevent the commission of a violent felony. “The inquiry in a self-defense claim
focuses on the reasonableness of [a] defendant’s belief as to the apparent necessity for
the force used to repel an attack.” State v. Reneau, 1990-NMCA-119, ¶ 6, 111 N.M.
217, 804 P.2d 408.
{19} 	Under UJI 14-5170, once a defendant reasonably holds the belief that it is
necessary to use lethal force to prevent the felony and defend his habitation, he has
satisfied the second half of the subjective element of defense of habitation. This belief

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can be inferred from circumstantial evidence. Cf. State v. Duarte, 1996-NMCA-038,
¶ 7, 121 N.M. 553, 915 P.2d 309 (acknowledging that the defendant’s fear in self-
defense context can be inferred from circumstantial evidence); State v. Wood, 1994-
NMCA-060, ¶ 13, 117 N.M. 682, 875 P.2d 1113 (pointing out that subjective
elements are “rarely established by direct evidence and generally must be proven by
circumstantial or factual inferences”). In this case, a jury could reasonably conclude
that Defendant exhibited a belief that it was necessary to use deadly force by picking
up his gun and firing it. Regardless of whether he intended for that particular shot to
be lethal, the firing of the shot under the circumstances exhibited a willingness to use
deadly force. See Black’s Law Dictionary 760 (10th ed. 2014) (defining “deadly
force” as a “[v]iolent action known to create a substantial risk of causing death or
serious bodily harm”). If the first subjective element is met, and the choice to use
deadly force is reasonable, the elements of the defense are met, and the killing is
legally justified. The existence of any evidence to support the giving of a defense of
habitation instruction, however slight, provides an adequate basis for giving the
instruction. State v. Heisler, 1954-NMSC-032, ¶ 23, 58 N.M. 446, 272 P.2d 660
(“[W]here self-defense is involved in a criminal case and there is any evidence,
although slight, to establish the same, it is not only proper for the court, but its duty
as well, to instruct the jury fully and clearly on all phases of the law on the issue that
are warranted by the evidence[.]”). Because the evidence was sufficient to entitle

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Defendant to a defense of habitation instruction and that instruction was not given, we
reverse. See State v. Salazar, 1997-NMSC-044, ¶ 50, 123 N.M. 778, 945 P.2d 996
(“Failure to give an instruction which is warranted by the evidence is not harmless
error.”).
B. 	Involuntary Manslaughter Instruction
{20} 	There are three circumstances in which an involuntary manslaughter instruction
is warranted: (1) “the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to a felony”; (2)
“the commission of a lawful act that might produce death, in an unlawful manner”; or
(3) “the commission of a lawful act that might produce death without due caution and
circumspection.” State v. Henley, 2010-NMSC-039, ¶ 14, 148 N.M. 359, 237 P.3d 103
(internal quotation marks and citation omitted). “An involuntary manslaughter
instruction is proper only where there is evidence of an unintentional killing and a
mens rea of criminal negligence[.]” Id. ¶ 22. Criminal negligence has been described
in many different ways. It exists where there is a conscious disregard of a substantial
and unjustifiable risk that harm will result from certain conduct. Id. ¶ 16. It exists
where a person acts with willful disregard of the rights or safety of others and in a
manner that endangers any person or property. Id. It also exists where a person’s
actions are so reckless, wanton, and willful that they show an utter disregard for the
safety of others. Id. Defendant requested an instruction pursuant to the third category
of involuntary manslaughter instruction. Because we have held that a defense of

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habitation instruction was available to Defendant, the jury could have found that his
shooting Lujan was in the commission of a lawful act, but was done without due
caution or circumspection. See State v. Romero, 2005-NMCA-060, ¶ 17, 137 N.M.
456, 112 P.3d 1113.
{21} 	Looking at the evidence in the light most favorable to giving the instruction,
we conclude that the trial testimony would establish that Defendant knew that an
intruder was on the other side of the door and that, because he was pounding on the
door, the intruder was within an arm’s length of the door. Despite having at least this
much knowledge, Defendant fired a shot through the door. The jury could have
determined that Defendant was criminally negligent because firing a gun at the door
while someone was on the other side of it was “willful disregard of the rights or
safety of others” and endangered that unknown intruder. Henley, 2010-NMSC-039,
¶ 16 (quoting UJI 14-133 NMRA) (internal quotation marks omitted). The jury also
could have inferred that Defendant unintentionally killed the intruder based on
Defendant’s theory that he fired a warning shot, Duarte, 1996-NMCA-038, ¶ 7
(stating that intent can be inferred), and evidence that Defendant only shot once, shot
high into the door, and requested identification before he fired the shot. Because the
jury could have found that Defendant committed a lawful act, and unintentionally
killed the victim while acting criminally negligently, we conclude that an involuntary
manslaughter instruction should have been given.

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III. 	CONCLUSION
{22} 	Having decided that, when considering the evidence in the light most favorable
to giving the instructions, there was sufficient evidence to support the instructions, we
conclude that the district court erred in refusing Defendant’s request for a defense of
habitation instruction and involuntary manslaughter instruction. We therefore reverse.
{23} 	IT IS SO ORDERED.
___________________________________
RODERICK T. KENNEDY, Judge
WE CONCUR:
_________________________________
MICHAEL D. BUSTAMANTE, Judge
_________________________________
LINDA M. VANZI, Judge