## Facts

- Julian Tafoya rode in a car in Roswell, New Mexico, with Kaprice Conde, Crystal Brady (driver), and Andrea Larez (front passenger) while using methamphetamine, marijuana, and alcohol.
- From the back seat, Tafoya suddenly fired a gun inside the vehicle, killing Larez and shooting Brady in the face when she turned around.
- Brady escaped and survived; Tafoya and Conde fled separately.
- The State prosecuted Tafoya for first-degree felony murder (predicate felony: shooting at or from a motor vehicle), attempted first-degree willful and deliberate murder of Brady, tampering with evidence, and felon in possession of a firearm.
- A jury convicted Tafoya of felony murder, attempted first-degree murder, and tampering with evidence; the court entered a conviction for felon in possession based on a special verdict.
- Tafoya received a life sentence plus additional time and appealed directly to the New Mexico Supreme Court.

## Issues

1. Whether a shooting occurring entirely inside a vehicle satisfies “shooting at or from a motor vehicle” under NMSA 1978, § 30-3-8(B), and may serve as the predicate felony for felony murder.
2. Whether sufficient evidence supported “deliberation” for attempted willful and deliberate first-degree murder.
3. Whether the trial court improperly used the same prior felonies both to prove felon-in-possession and to enhance the attempted-murder sentence.
4. Whether Tafoya received ineffective assistance of counsel.

## Decision

- The court held that shooting entirely within a motor vehicle is neither shooting “at” nor “from” a motor vehicle under § 30-3-8(B).
- The felony-murder conviction was reversed; the case was remanded to vacate that conviction and enter judgment for second-degree murder.
- The attempted first-degree murder conviction was reversed for insufficient evidence of deliberation; the case was remanded to enter judgment for attempted second-degree murder.
- The convictions for tampering with evidence and felon in possession of a firearm were affirmed.
- The court rejected Tafoya’s sentencing-enhancement and ineffective-assistance claims.

## Legal Principles

- Statutory terms “at” and “from” in § 30-3-8(B) require a spatial relationship involving a motor vehicle as the origin or target of gunfire in relation to persons or objects outside the vehicle; an entirely intra-vehicle shooting does not satisfy the statute.
- A felony-murder conviction requires a valid predicate felony; if the charged predicate felony’s elements are not met, felony murder cannot stand on that predicate.
- An appellate court may remand for entry of judgment on a lesser-included offense when the evidence supports the lesser offense but not the greater.
- “Deliberation” for first-degree murder (and attempted first-degree murder) requires a calculated judgment and some reflection, however brief, and is not established by a sudden, unexplained, impulsive shooting without evidence of planning or reflective intent.
- Using prior felony convictions to prove felon-in-possession and to enhance a separate sentence is permissible under the applicable New Mexico sentencing framework as applied in this case.
- Ineffective assistance requires deficient performance and resulting prejudice; absent record support for both, the claim fails.

## Conclusion

The court limited § 30-3-8(B) to shootings directed at or from a motor vehicle in a manner involving targets outside the vehicle, reversed Tafoya’s felony-murder conviction for lack of a valid predicate felony, reversed attempted first-degree murder for insufficient evidence of deliberation, and ordered entry of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder while affirming the remaining convictions and rejecting sentencing and ineffective-assistance challenges.


State v. Tafoya, 285 P.3d 604 (N.M. 2012)