Legal Question in Criminal Law in New Mexico

Re: murder

Not for the same offense. Everything under 1st Degree Murder is a lesser-included offense. A jury could find not guilty on Murder I, and guilty on Murder II, for example. There is no Murder III. After Murder II comes a series of manslaughter charges. In NM, however, the original charge is often an "open charge" of murder, meaning the degree will be assigned later by the prosecution after further investigation. If there were 3 separate homicides, then there could be 3 separate charges which could vary according to the facts of each event.