June 18, 2020- City of Roswell v. John Monafo, No. A-1-CA-38639

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1 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO
2 CITY OF ROSWELL,
3 Plaintiff-Appellee,
4 v. No. A-1-CA-38639
5 JOHN MONAFO,
6 Defendant-Appellant.
7 APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF CHAVES COUNTY
8 James M. Hudson, District Judge
9 Office of the City Attorney
10 Parker William Paterson, Deputy City Attorney
11 Roswell, NM
12 for Appellee
13 John Manafo
14 Roswell, NM
15 Pro Se Appellant
16 MEMORANDUM OPINION
17 VARGAS, Judge.
18 {1} Defendant John Monafo seeks to appeal his conviction for driving on a
19 suspended or revoked license. We previously issued a notice of proposed summary
20 disposition, proposing to dismiss on grounds that Defendant failed to timely file his
Court of Appeals of New Mexico
Filed 6/18/2020 10:59 AM

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1 notice of appeal with the district court. Defendant has filed a memorandum in
2 opposition. After due consideration, we remain unpersuaded. We therefore dismiss
3 the appeal.
4 {2} As we observed in the notice of proposed summary disposition, notice of
5 appeal must be filed with the district court within thirty days after the entry of a final
6 order. See Rule 12-201(A)(2) NMRA; Rule 12-202(A) NMRA. Because the timely
7 filing of notice of appeal with the district court is a mandatory precondition to the
8 exercise of jurisdiction, see Garcia v. State, 2010-NMSC-023, ¶ 25, 148 N.M. 414,
9 237 P.3d 716, we do not ordinarily entertain an appeal if the notice of appeal is filed
10 late. See State v. Upchurch, 2006-NMCA-076, ¶ 5, 139 N.M. 739, 137 P.3d 679
11 (“[I]n the absence of exceptional circumstances, we rigidly enforce the mandatory
12 time limits for filing the notice of appeal.”).
13 {3} In this case, the final order of the district court was entered on October 15,
14 2019. It was therefore incumbent upon Defendant to file notice of appeal no later than
15 November 14, 2019. See Rule 12-308(A)(1) NMRA (describing the computation of
16 time, where the relevant period is eleven days or longer). We surmise that
17 Defendant’s assertion to the contrary [MIO 1] is premised upon a misapprehension
18 of the relevant rules. See id. Defendant did not file his notice of appeal with the

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1 district court until November 15, 2019. As we previously observed, this was
2 untimely; and absent a showing of extraordinary circumstances, dismissal is
3 warranted. See, e.g., Upchurch, 2006-NMCA-076, ¶¶ 1-6 (dismissing an appeal filed
4 one day late, where exceptional circumstances were not demonstrated and the
5 presumption of ineffective assistance of counsel did not apply). There has been no
6 suggestion of extraordinary circumstances in this case. As a consequence, we adhere
7 to our initial assessment.
8 {4} Accordingly, for the reasons stated above and in the notice of proposed
9 summary disposition, the appeal is dismissed.
10 {5} IT IS SO ORDERED.
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12 JULIE J. VARGAS, Judge
13 WE CONCUR:
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15 J. MILES HANISEE, ChiefJudge
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17 ZACHARY A. IVES, Judge