Legal Question in Criminal Law in New Mexico

Re: Charged with allowing dog to run at large

Actually it is a Motion for Discovery, which is filed well before you go to court, and is designed to reveal to you what evidence of the charges will be presented against you when you go on trial. That way you can prepare to defend against the charges and the evidence underlying them.

Re: Charged with allowing dog to run at large

If Bernalillo County Animal Control brought the charges against you, they are responsible for providing you with a full "preview" of the evidence they have. This is what the word "Discovery" means in the context of criminal charges. It is Bernalillo County's obligation, as the charging party, to prove the case against you, not the neighbor's as somebody seems to have told you.

When you first appear before the judge in court, you are entitled to request that the judge order discovery, which not only means a copy of all written reports, complaints, etc., that the County will rely on at trial, but also the opportunity for you to interview each and every one of their witnesses. You cannot be required to go to trial unless you have been afforded full discovery, and if the County withholds information that it wants to use at trial against you, you then might be entitled to a dismissal of the charges. If the County withholds information that is directly exculpatory (shows that you aren't guilty), you should be entitled to a dismissal of the charges.

The judge should enter an order allowing you discovery.

If, by some chance, this is not a Bernalillo County prosecution, but a private criminal complaint, you still have the same rights. New Mexico is one of only a handful of jurisdictions that allows a private person to bring a criminal complaint, but only for low-level ("misdemeanor")crimes. Otherwise, it must be a district attorney's office or law enforcement officer that does the prosecuting, in the name of the State of New Mexico or one of its governmental subdivisions, such as a county or municipality.

A private person bringing a criminal complaint in New Mexico "stands in the shoes" of the State, and has exactly the same obligation to provide discovery, regardless whether that private person is knowledgeable in the law or not.