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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO

7 STATE OF NEW MEXICO, 8 9 v. 10 AARON R., 11 Child-Appellant. Plaintiff-Appellee, NO. 29,001

12 APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF LEA COUNTY 13 Gary L. Clingman, District Judge 14 Gary K King, Attorney General 15 Andrew S. Montgomery, Assistant Attorney General 16 Santa Fe, NM 17 for Appellee 18 Hugh W. Dangler, Chief Public Defender 19 J. K. Theodosia Johnson, Assistant Appellate Defender 20 Santa Fe, NM 21 for Appellant 22 23 VANZI, Judge. MEMORANDUM OPINION

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Aaron R. (Child) challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his

2 adjudication of delinquency based on resisting, evading, or obstructing an officer, 3 contrary to NMSA 1978, Section 30-22-1(B) (1981). We affirm.

4 BACKGROUND 5 Child was charged with resisting, evading, or obstructing an officer. At an

6 adjudicatory hearing before a special master, Officer Stanley Benson was the only 7 witness. He testified as follows. 8 Officer Benson was on duty as a commissioned patrol officer with the Hobbs

9 Police Department on December 11, 2007, which was a weekday. At just after 1:00 10 p.m., he was dispatched to a residence on the 1400 block of Cimarron Road in 11 response to a report of a possible breaking and entering. The officer was told that 12 several juveniles were involved and were last seen running in the alley. 13 Officer Benson, who was in uniform and was driving a marked patrol car,

14 checked the front of the residence. When he did not see anyone in front, he drove to 15 the alley south of the house, where he observed at least six juveniles. As he drove 16 west, the juveniles turned, observed his patrol car, and immediately began to run west 17 through the alley. At that point, Officer Benson yelled, "Police officer, stop!" from 18 his vehicle. He was about ten to fifteen feet away from the juveniles.

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Instead of complying with the officer's command, Child and three other

2 juveniles continued to run west down the alley and then jumped over a brick fence that 3 leads to Rose Lane, which is south of Cimarron Road. Officer Benson turned south 4 out of the alley and stopped on Rose Lane. Three of the juveniles, including Child, 5 jumped over a fence in the front yard of a residence on Rose Lane. Officer Benson 6 exited his patrol car and again, from a distance of ten to fifteen feet, yelled, "Police 7 officer, stop!" 8 The three juveniles turned around and ran north from Rose Lane going back

9 over the fence toward the alley where the officer first saw the group. Officer Benson 10 reversed his patrol car and returned to the alley where he saw Child jump over a fence 11 and stop. At this point, the officer had yelled stop and identified himself as a police 12 officer two times. While the two other juveniles continued to run north back to 13 Cimarron Road, Officer Benson yelled stop a third time, and this time Child complied. 14 Officer Benson handcuffed Child and placed him in his patrol car. Child later

15 told the officer that he did not hear him yell stop and that he ran because they were 16 skipping school. 17 Officer Benson testified that when he yelled at the juveniles, he wanted them

18 to stop so that he could determine if they were involved in the possible breaking and 19 entering. He believed that the juveniles saw him and were running from him. There 20 were no noises in the area or disturbances that might have caused the juveniles not to 3

1 hear him. The special master noted that the incident took place on a school day, at a 2 time when school-age children should have been in school. 3 After the hearing, the special master found that Officer Benson responded to a

4 call about a possible breaking and entering involving several juveniles last seen 5 running in an alley, that the officer found several juveniles in the alley, and while in 6 uniform and in a marked police car yelled for them to stop, and that Child 7 intentionally fled and ignored the commands twice before stopping and telling the 8 officer that he did not hear him and that he was scared because he was skipping 9 school. The special master concluded that Child committed the delinquent act of 10 resisting, evading, or obstructing an officer. 11 Child filed exceptions, arguing that there was no evidence that Officer Benson

12 had particularized suspicion that Child was involved in criminal activity or that Child 13 heard the officer tell him to stop. After reviewing the transcript, the children's court 14 adopted the special master's findings and entered a judgment and disposition 15 adjudicating Child as a delinquent child. Child was placed on probation for up to two 16 years. 17 DISCUSSION 18 Child contends that the State failed to present sufficient evidence that he

19 committed the delinquent act of resisting or evading an officer. Child argues that the

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1 State failed to prove that Officer Benson had reasonable suspicion to apprehend him 2 or that Child knew that Officer Benson was attempting to apprehend him. 3 "In determining the sufficiency of evidence, this Court must ascertain whether

4 there is substantial evidence of a direct or circumstantial nature to support a finding 5 of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt with respect to every element essential to each 6 conviction." In re Ruben O., 120 N.M. 160, 165, 899 P.2d 603, 608 (Ct. App. 1995). 7 "In applying this test, we scrutinize the evidence contained in the record in a light 8 most favorable to sustain the decision entered below." Id. We do not weigh the 9 evidence or substitute our judgment for that of the fact finder as long as there is 10 sufficient evidence to support the judgment. State v. Gutierrez, 2007-NMSC-033, 11

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