N.M. R. Crim. P. Magist. Ct. 6-608

As amended through November 1, 2024

Rule 6-608 - Controlled substance test and autopsy reports; preliminary hearings [Repealed effective December 31, 2022]

A.Admissibility. In any preliminary hearing, a written report of the conduct and results of a laboratory analysis of a human specimen or a controlled substance enumerated in Section 30-31-6 through 30-31-10 NMSA 1978, for determining the presence and quantity or absence of a controlled substance and the circumstances surrounding receipt and custody of the test sample, or a written report of the conduct and results of an autopsy for determining the fact and cause of death and the circumstances surrounding receipt and custody of the decedent, is not excluded by the hearsay rule, even though the declarant is available as a witness, if:

(1) the report is of an analysis conducted by:

(a) the New Mexico State Police crime laboratory;

(b) the scientific laboratory division of the Department of Health;

(c) the Office of the Medical Investigator; or

(d) a laboratory certified to accept human specimens for the purpose of performing laboratory examinations pursuant to the federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act of 1988;

(2) the report is regular on its face and is attached to a certification form approved by the Supreme Court; and

(3) a legible copy of the certification form and report was mailed to the defendant or his counsel at least ten (10) days before the preliminary hearing.

B.Admissibility of other evidence. Nothing in this rule shall limit the right of a party to call witnesses to testify as to the matters covered in such report, nor affect the admissibility of any evidence other than this report.

N.M. R. Crim. P. Magist. Ct. 6-608

As amended, effective 1/1/1987; 1/1/1995; Rule 6-608 recompiled and amended as Rule 6-202.1 by Supreme Court Order No. 22-8300-023, effective for all cases pending or filed on or after December 31, 2022.

ANNOTATIONS The 1995 amendment, effective January 1, 1995, added "preliminary hearings" in the rule heading, inserted "human specimen or a" near the beginning in Paragraph A, and rewrote Paragraph A(1) by adding the subparagraph designations and adding Subparagraphs (b) and (d).

For the federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act of 1988, referred to in Subparagraph A(1)(d), see 42 U.S.C. § 463a . Right of confrontation. - The right of confrontation guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article II, Section 14 of the New Mexico Constitution is a trial right that does not apply to probable cause determinations in preliminary examinations. State v. Lopez, 2013-NMSC-047, overruling Mascarenas v. State, 1969-NMSC-116, 80 N.M. 537, 458 P.2d 789. Right of confrontation did not apply at preliminary examination. - Where police officers found a bag containing a green leafy substance and a bag that contained a white powdery substance in defendant's vehicle during a search incident to defendant's arrest for driving with a suspended license; at defendant's preliminary examination, the magistrate court admitted a forensic laboratory report into evidence without an opportunity for the defense to personally cross-examine the laboratory analyst who prepared the report; and the report concluded that the white powdery substance was cocaine and the green leafy substance was marijuana, the magistrate court did not violate defendant's confrontation rights under the United States Constitution and the New Mexico Constitution because the constitutional right of confrontation does not apply to probable cause determinations in preliminary examinations. State v. Lopez, 2013-NMSC-047, overruling Mascarenas v. State, 1969-NMSC-116, 80 N.M. 537, 458 P.2d 789.